Body Language, Guide, Progetti e Ricerche di Linguistica Inglese

Scarica Body Language e più Guide, Progetti e Ricerche in PDF di Linguistica Inglese solo su Docsity! When verbal communication is not enough... Helps us understand! Body Language Nonverbal behaviour is peculiar to each culture; as a consequence, each group of people have particoular ways of understanding and making them understood. It can be learned (eyewink) , innate (eyeblink) or mixed (laugh/cry); studies have discovered that most of the body movements are innate, but researchers do not always agree on the innate nature of body gestures. In low-context cultures, nonverbal communication is considered something marginal. On the other hand, in high-context cultures, it is essential in comprehension. Illustrators change according to situations and communication styles: Passive style: slouched posture, need to lean against something for support, difficult eye contact. Aggressive style: gestures are intimidating, erect posture, hands on hips. Assertive style: direct eye contact, balanced and erect posture. Congruence is essential to make nonverbal communication effective. Among the most important body movements: • Facial Expressions: are the most immediate; they can give a good description of people’s mood. Facial expressions might be similar in different countries, but their interpretation usually changes; however, according to Paul Ekman, some facial expressions such as surprise are the same all around the world. Moreover facial expressions seem to be even more believable then words. •Gestures: All parts of the body are involved in gesture. Arms and Hands (Hanshake, O.K. Gesture… ) Legs and feet (sitting with uncrossed legs/with one ankle over the other knee… ) Gestures such as eye rub, a chin rest, crossing arms… are usually unintentional; for this reason they are often used in unusual situations, such as poker games, in order to pick up signals from the opponents or to send secret messages to partners, making other peolple believe they are unintentional. •Posture and Breathing (slumped/erect posture, rapid/slow breathing… ) By paying attention for example to someone’s breathing, we can understand his/her mood, how healthy is he/she etc… — FTALIAN Po?ulh8 GEsTURES -— (3zust A Few.) LATE z Fino > pere - frtaneo!_ qunere) eg ) ion) €, "E; ) * “ € n A dI, ZA — ITALIAN PoPULAR GESTURES — CHAPITER TL Uta MAZZATE! UMMA 7/7 ° (you Labate) : (Uber E gd To BE - M 3 Bemenid 2° Ri MW THE HANDS DISPLAY THE SIZE OF THE Ass. - ITALIAN PoPUuAX 6ESTURES — CHAPTEC IL Hunery Prejudgement has both positive and negative aspects: -It helps people categorize strangers we meet every day; BUT: - As it is based on little information, it is difficult to have a correct first impression of people at a first sight, so it is often uncorrect. - It becomes dangerous when stereotypes are connected to biological groups. Spatial Relationships are connected to the notion of Proxemics, which is the study of the things that people communicate by occupying a particoular position in the space during a conversation or during interactions with other people. In countries such as North America we can notice the tendency to prefer large distances, while in other countries, for example in Europe, people seem to prefer smaller personal spaces and, for this reason, they tend to stand closer while talking to each other and actions such as touching the others are common between them. According to Edward Hall, the father of proxemics, people live surrounded by 4 zones characterised by different levels of intimacy: - Intimate distance (lovers, family) - Personal distance (close friends, friends) - Social distance (formal buisness relationships) - Public distance (when people meet in work place) On the other hand, there are people who are particoulary good at creating contacts. In order to reach this purpose, people have to adopt a specific body language: - Moving towards other people; - Leaning foreward; - Uncross arms and legs; - Look for eye contact; - Smile; - Taking part to the conversation; - Using brief touches on the shoulder The upshot is that it is important to remember that linguistic competence are not enough for an effective communication. In particoular, when we try to say something, we have to keep in mind that communication is made up of: Only 7% Verbal communication 38% Vocal 55% Non verbal communication.