TOPIC 2: COMMUNICATION IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM: VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON VERBAL REACTIONS TO MESSAGES IN DIFERENT CONTEXTS. In order to develop this unit some remarkable works regarding didactics in Primary education have been used. In addition to this, some references from actual legal regulations have been equally introduced. Both listings are showed below. BIBLIOGRAPHY
LITTLEWOOD, W. (1992): Teaching Oral Communication: A Methodological Framework. Blackwell. Oxford. UK. KNAPP, M. & HALL, J. (1992): Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. H. R. & W. New York. MEHRABIAN, A. (1981): Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes. Wadsworth. California. MEHRABIAN, A. (1972): Non-Verbal Communication. Aldine. Chicago. LEGAL FRAMEWORK:
rd
Organic Law of Education /2006 (3 May), called LOE. th
Royal Decree 1513/2006 (7 December), which establishes the minimum teaching requirements of Primary Education. th
Decree 286/2007 (7 September), which establishes the curriculum of Primary Education in the Region of Murcia.
1. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the learning of a foreign language goes beyond the traditional grammatical approach. On the contrary, the main goal of English teaching and learning today is to achieve communicative competence through using the foreign language for real communication. Clearly it is our aim to achieve this communication verbally. Our subject matter is, after all, the English language, and our ultimate objective is for that language to be the vehicle of communication. However, it is necessary to accept that it is not always within the capabilities of our students to achieve verbal communication, and for that reason at times we have to accept, and even encourage non-verbal communication, either to acknowledge messages or to send them. This unit aims at analysing in depth the different elements that intervene in communication within the foreign language classroom in terms of verbal and non-verbal communication. In doing this, we will first establish the general framework for the unit……………………. 2. COMMUNICATION IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM.
The study of human communication in all its modes is known as semiotics. There are several types of communication and, although from a wide open perspective any of the five senses can be used as a medium of communication, in practice only three, auditory-vocal, visual and tactile, are used in both active-expressive and passive-receptive ways of communication.
Auditory-vocal communication: speech, psychological vocal reflexes, musical effects and voice qualities. Visual communication: includes sign languages, writing codes and Kinesics (facial expressions, gestures or any kind of body language). Tactile communication: involves touch, deaf and blind language and proxemics (manipulation on physical distance and body orientation in order to communicate).
Developing pupils’ ability to communicate is one of the primary aims of foreign language teaching. However modern approaches insist on this communication not only by means of an audiovisual experience, but also as a total one which must include gesture, behaviour, mime and other aspects occurring in first language communication traditionally neglected in the foreign language classroom. Verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication are therefore the subject of study in the following sections.
2.1. VERBAL COMMUNICATION
We understand human verbal communication as transferring ideas and information through spoken or written words, this is language. One of the primary manifestations of language is the transmission of information trough the auditory-vocal channel (speech). This occurs by encoding and decoding of sounds through arbitrarily acquired rules; therefore, we must be aware of the different rules of usage and use that govern this type of communication (Widdowson, 1989):
Rules of usage refer to what is known as Grammatical competence, this is to say the knowledge of the phonetics, phonology, syntax, morphology and semantic systems of the language. Rules of use, which are essential for communication to take place, are the ones referred as Discourse, Sociocultural and Sociolinguistic competence, which address to appropriateness, cohesion and coherence of language.
Furthermore, for verbal communication to take place efficiently, Canale and Swain (1980) also mention the use of Strategic competence, which is composed of mastery of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that may be called into action or two main reasons: a) to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual communication or to insufficient competence in one of more of the other competences; b) to enhance the effectiveness of communication. So far we have looked at different elements involved in verbal communication, which should be taken into account in the Foreign Language Area as affect the effectiveness of the message in order to achieve communicative competence. However, we must also be aware that verbal communication implies two basic processes that must be analyzed in the foreign language classroom: decoding and encoding, or in classroom language terms, listening (decoding) and speaking (encoding).
LISTENING (DECODING) precedes speaking. It consists of the decoding of sound according to acquired rules. It can be defined as the process of discriminating the sounds of the English language through a process of hearing and understanding them. Listening is related to PHONOLOGY this science studies the phonemes, the relationship between units of sounds and differences in meaning. SPEAKING (ENCODING): is the encoding of the acquired sounds into signals, deduced by listening. The aim is to communicate something to someone and is related to PHONETICS the study of sounds, how they are produced and how they are received.
2.2. DEVELOPING VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASROOM
Pupils need a lot of practice in comprehension (listening) in order to produce English language (speaking). Both skills are linked in the learning process with the main goal of achieving communicative competence, as establishes the th Curriculum in Primary Education (Decree 286/2007 of 7 September). Among the Foreign Language Area Objectives stated in the aforementioned document, number 1, 2 and 9 dispense special attention to the development of listening and comprehension abilities; to the promotion of communicative verbal and non-verbal strategies, and to the identification of aspects related to phonetics, rhythm, stress and intonation, as well as linguistic structures and lexical aspects of the foreign language and the use them as basic elements of communication. In order to achieve these objectives, the following guidelines can be followed in English learning classroom: 1. Simplify your language by using short and simple sentences when speaking to a student for who English is a new language. 2. Do not assume that the student understands what you say. Accompany your words with pictures, gestures, and movements that will help to convey your meaning. 3. Do not ask too many questions at first. Remember that the student will not understand everything you say and that he or she may nod his or her head just to please you. 4. Do not force the child to make eye-contact with you. Prolonged eye-contact between a child and an adult may be interpreted as disrespectful in some cultures.
5. Slow down when you speak with your student. 6. Do not raise your volume when speaking. Loudness does not compensate for lack o f understanding, and may be interpreted as anger towards the st udent. 7. Accept a student’s initial silence as a natural stage of development. 8. Do not force your student to speak, especially in front of other children or adults. 9. Do not force your student with expressions such as: " I know you know th e name of this, "or "I’m waiting for you to say something." 10. Do not "over-celebrate" the student’s first efforts at English. "Good, Kim," or "That’s great language, Juan," will suffice. 11. Do not correct the student’s errors when they attempt to speak Englis h. Instead, model the correct form in your response. 12. If you do ask questions, incorporate the answer into the question, or give the student choices so as to give a child a base to work from. Instead of asking: "Whose shoes are these?" ask: "Are these shoe s the children’s shoes, or the teacher’s shoes?" The child can then use your own language in his/her response. 13. Allow plenty of time for the child to answer a question or wait a bit and then re-phrase the question in simpler language. Don’t jump in with the answer. Remember, when answering a question, your student first must be sure to understand the English words you have used, then he or she must figure out a response to your question, and then she or he must remember the English way of saying that response. Keeping these steps in mind will help you to allow your student plenty of time for considering and responding to your questions. 14. Remember that there are differences between the Spanish sounds and the English sounds. We must allow the children to be clear on these differences, using accent, rhythm and intonation. 2.3. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
In verbal communication we are aware that the message is made up of sounds that have been articulated by the speaker’s speech organs. However, the message is also communicated by non -verbal signals. Everything communicates something, including material objects, physical space, and time systems. Although verbal output can be turned off, non-verbal cannot since even silence speaks. Humans use non-verbal communication because: 1. Words have limitations: there are numerous areas where nonverbal communication is more effective than verbal. 2. Non-verbal cues primary express inner feelings whereas verbal messages deal basically with outside world. 3. Non-verbal message are likely to be more genuine due to non-verbal behaviours cannot be controlled as easily as spoken words. 4. Through non-verbal signals important amount of information can be add to the complexity of verbal communication. Non-verbal acts are culturally related; different cultures may use different gestures with diff erent meanings. Mark Knapp and Judith Hall (1992), classify the non verbal aspects as follows:
1. Body movements: includes gestures, limbs, hands, head, feet, facial expressions, eye behaviour, direction of sight and also posture. 2. Physical characteristics: includes physical appearance, body scents, height, hair, skin tone, etc. 3. Paralanguage: refers to the set of non-phonemic properties and qualities of speech, such as speaking tempo, vocal pitch, and intonation. 4. Proxemics: the study of use and perception of social and personal space. Individuals determine their own space based on social and personal rules.
5. Tactile conduct: it is an important factor in the first development stages of childhood. The subcategories of tactile conduct can include caressing, kissing, hand shaking, hitting, guiding someone else’s movements, etc. 6. Artifacts: include the manipulation of objects, which can act as non-verbal stimuli in personal interaction. These artifacts can be: perfume, clothing, lipstick, etc. 7. Surrounding factors: this category includes those elements that intervene in human relations but they are not a direct part of it, such as furniture, interior decoration. Albert Mehrabian (1981), point out five main functions loaded by non-verbal elements:
1. Psychological function. In order to communicate emotions during the interaction. 2. Relational function. Non-verbal elements intervene to regulate communicative flow. A gesture can tell the degree of attention of the hearer in a communicative interaction which helps the speaker to modulate the interaction. 3. Interpretative function. Nonverbal communication helps to interpret verbal communication. In situations where the verbal message and the non-verbal message clash, there is a tendency to give more credibility to the non-verbal one since it is more spontaneous and, thus, less prone to m anipulation. 4. Identifying function. Non-verbal factors convey many clues about the social nature of the speaker kinesics behaviour that can reveal the social origin of the speaker. 5. Cultural function. There are differences in nonverbal behaviour among various cultures that are useful for to understand, especially in multicultural interaction. 3. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON VERBAL REACTIONS TO MESSAGES IN DIFERENT CONTEXTS.
The places where we communicate are countless: on the bus, at home, in hotels, on the street, in the ci nemas, in the classroom, and so on. The person receiving the messages can also experience a change in her/his perception of the setting, i.e., we are influenced by our milieu and at the same time we have an influence on it. Mehrabian claims that we react emotionally to our setting. Every milieu consists of 3 main components:
The natural setting The presence or absence of other people The architectural and designing features: movable objects.
An aspect of non verbal communication that is associated with teaching is the study of space in the classroom. It has been shown that the distribution of space in the classroom can have a negative or positive effect on the learner and influence her/his reactions. Some of the factors can be the colour of the classroom decoration. Sommer has shown that the participation of students in class depends partly on how the chairs and desks are arranged. There are atmospheres that produce a warm sensation, we feel relaxed and comfortable. This has to do with spaciousness, distribution, comfort. The colour of the room can also influence its occupants and produce particular reactions. Noise and light also influence interpersonal reactions and academic achievement. A different ambient can be created by rearranging the objects in a classroom. The seating arrangement affects communication between individuals. The architecture helps to determine whom we have to locate and where. Other aspects of non verbal behaviour include the study of physical contact. The shape and size of the body also convey non verbal messages to the individuals before whom we react.
Skin colour is decisive in some communities with regard to the impressions it causes on others. There are certain cultures, such as the Arabic one, where it’s polite to breathe into your friend’s face, because if you don’t, it means that you are ashamed of something you are hiding. Consequently, when a European talks to an Arab and does not breathe into her/his face, the Arab will consider the European to be rude. Therefore, the FL teacher must be aware of the importance of non verbal messages in the study of languages and communication. 3.1 SPEECH, GESTURES AND MOVEMENT
Generally, when a child starts learning a language, s/he cannot use it to communicate but can, in its default, resort to gestures, odd words, and moves to show s/he understands, and so on. Therefore, gestural language is important from the first stages of learning. 3.1.1 Total Physical Response
The pedagogic development takes different ways in Europe and the USA. In the States the influence of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the linkage of semantics produce a change of respective in the language acquisition research which bring about the appearance of methods that claim the role of cognitive strategies in the L2 acquisition. In 1962, Asher presents the Total Physical Response Method that focuses on developing comprehension by means of physical responses to command forms. Asher claims that body movements increase retention because they involve the right side of the brain normally not used in the more “intellectual” approaches to learning. This idea of starting with the listening skill instead of the speaking comes from the way children acquire their mother tongue. Asher lists the 3 principles of the TPR system: 1. Delay speech from students until understanding o f spoken language “has been extensively internalized” 2. Achieve understanding of spoken language through utterances by the instructor in the imperative. 3. Expect that, at some point in the understanding of spoken language, students will indicate a “readiness” to talk. Production occurs following a process that consists in:
The teacher gives a list of orders. The children prepare sentences for their classmates; some will prepare easier sentences than others, but all the children should produce something. The importance of TPR is to help the students to grasp the general meaning of texts within a situation with the help of gestures and miming. If well-combined, these non verbal strategies can transmit simple messages that can clearly convey meaning.
3. CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, I would say that since our National Syllabus for FL has adopted the communicative approach, it is quite obvious that the target language, English in our case, should be the language of communication and interaction in English class. This refers to communication and interaction between teacher-students and between and among students. And on the other hand we must also acknowledge the importance of strategies in the language-learning process, and consequently we should help students acquire and put into practice any strategies that may help them learn the target language, English. The communicative act through the spoken language involves not only the understanding and the articulation of sounds but also the use and interpretation of nonverbal elements which cannot be ignored. These elements are aids for communication. Therefore, the use of non-verbal items combined with verbal language should be encouraged in the foreign language classroom in order to help children to infer meaning and to use all sorts of extralinguistic strategies to improve communication.
