TEMA INGLÉS

2 Desarrollo de los temas

La comunicación en la clase de
lengua extranjera: comunicación
verbal y no verbal. Estrategias
extra-lingüísticas: reacciones no
verbales a mensajes en diferentes
contextos.

Communication in foreign language

classrooms: verbal and non-verbal
communication. Extralinguistic strategies:
non-verbal reactions to messages in
different contexts.

elaborado por
EL EQUIPO DE PROFESORES
DEL CENTRO DOCUMENTACIÓN
2.2 CEDE ED. PRIMARIA - INGLÉS

INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION

2. VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

2.1. Verbal communication

2.2. Paralinguistic resources
2.3. Verbal interactions in EFL classrooms

3. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE

CLASSROOMS

4. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON-VERBAL REACTIONS TO

MESSAGES IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

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1. INTRODUCTION

Communication among humans is a basic need and a complex

phenomenon. We communicate feelings, moods, attitudes and factual information in an
interconnected way as we attend to different variables; the context, the participants, the channel
or the purpose of the message are some of the factors that influence the forms of our
utterances, either oral or written. However, we do not only use linguistic signs to communicate.
Speakers also share a non-verbal code that conveys meaning. Both listeners and speakers use
non-verbal resources to communicate their purpose and many of these extralinguistic signs are
unconscious and cultural-bound. Either linguistic or non-linguistic, we use signs to express and
interpret meanings. Acquiring a foreign language means learning a new system of signs to
transmit a message effectively, in an accurate and appropriate way.

In the context of EFL classrooms, non-verbal communication is one of the

first ways of expressing and understanding messages, as it is also in native speakers children.
The next sections will look at verbal and non-verbal communication in the EFL classrooms and
to some extralinguistic strategies for messages in different contexts.

2. VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE

CLASSROOMS

As we have just stated, communication among humans involves the use of

signs and the need to express and receive a message. Senders and receivers of messages
may choose a verbal or a non-verbal code according to the interviening factors in any
communicative act and to psychological factors, being both codes shared among he
participants.

2.1. VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Language is the main means by which people communicate. There have been many
different definitions of what a language is throughout history but language can broadly be
defined as a ruled system of signs that are combined to transmit a message. According to
Hocket, some of the main features of a human language are the following

Arbitrariness: we can say that there is not a link between the linguistic signs and the
reality to which they refer to. For example, there is no intrinsic link between the word “book” and
the object it represents.

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Feedback: speakers (and writers) can reflect upon everything they say. Feedback is a
basic to maintaining a conversation, for instance.

Traditional transmission: language is acquired by a long and complex learning

process. This language acquisition capacity is innate to human beings and developed in
society.

Productivity: humans can understand and produce sentences which they have never
heard or said before. Human language is esentially creative.

Structure dependence: the language elements are related to each other and language
operations depend on an internal understanding of its system and structure.

This human resource of the language to communicate messages is also influenced by

several psychological factors, which, of course, are also present for EFL learners. Among
them, we will signal the next ones:

Desire to communicate: spontaneous verbal expression is not only the product of

knowledge or a skill. It is not only assumed that the speakers (and the EFL learners) have
something to communicate, but also that the hearers want to listen to the message, understand
it and react to it. Language learning activities must direct the students to have the desire to
communicate a message to a person or group of people in the target language. Designing
significant activities based on learners’ needs will promote meaningful interactions and
communication in class in the target language.

Comprehension as well as expression: learners need to be exposed to lots of

meaningful input before attempting verbal responses. Understanding is a receptive skill which
comes earlier than speaking; therefore, EFL learners may use other non-linguistic signs to show
comprehension of messages and to answer to them.

Personality factors: teachers and learners are influenced by their personalities in

verbal and non.verbal interactions. Some students are talkative, others are shy or cautious; the
learner’s nature somehow affects participation and interactions in classrooms.

Limitations of expression: it may be an inhibiting factor as learners could feel unable

of expressing themselves effectively in the target language. Acquiring a language is a very
complex process and teachers should promote communication through tasks and activities
which are appropriate to the learners’ developmental stage.

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Verbal communication is a complex phenomenon in which many factors intervene. The

language system, the communictive setting and the psychological features of the participants
are some of them.

2.2. PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES

Some scholars reserve the term paralinguistic to specific non-linguistic features of

communication, such as body language, and prefer the term “prosodic” to deal with those
language elements which are part of the phonological system of the language. In this section
we will briefly look at the suprasegmental features of verbal communication which also help to
construct meaning and affect to verbal interactions. Pitch, intonation and modulation are some
of them.

Debatable as it is, voice quality may have both a psychological and a cultural
component as it refers to “the permanent background vocal invariable for an individual’s
speech” (Crystal, 1969). It may be the personal identity sign of a speaker of a language by
which he /she is recognized from the rest. The pitch, the voice quality, the way everyone speaks
also plays a role in verbal interactions as we all answer differently to sounds and tunes.

Intonation and stress are the main prosodic features operative in English. They do not
exactly serve to identify the word-forms of which the utterance is composed and yet they are
essential in the decoding of a message. Stress and intonation convey attitudes, mood and
feelings of the speakers which are meaningful and significant in the interpretation of messages.
Closely related to intonation is modulation. That is the variation of tone or pitch in one’s voice
by superimposing a particular attitudinal message, which may be indicative of the speaker’s
involvement in what he/she is saying or his/her desire to impress or convince the hearer, for
example.

Although this section is focussed mainly on oral language, we would like to account for
punctuation, which is considered a paralinguistic feature of the written code of the language.
Punctuation means the marking of boundaries whithin a text; it is also a way to segment the
utterance into manageable information units for the reader, a resource to emphasize particular
expressions or a tool to express the writer’s feelings.

The importance of attending to these prosodic features of the language within the EFL
classroom relies not only in the fact that they all of them form part of the messages themselves,
and, therefore, of communication, but they are also language specific and have to be acquired
equally to the other elements of the target language.

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2.3. VERBAL INTERACTIONS

There are two major types of verbal communication within classroom interaction:
student-to-student and teacher-to-student. Student-to-student interaction is based on peer
relationships, which allows the maximum degree of communication. On the other hand, teacher-
to-student relationship is based on superior knowledge and authority. The teacher is a language
expert; however, the teacher’s superiority does not prohibit effective interaction provided that
there is the will to communicate naturally with the student.

Student-to-student interactions develop speaking fluency and the use of

communication strategies. In pairs or groupwork, there is a chance for everyone to use the
language and feel involved; learners feel more secure and help each other, sharing ideas and
knowledge. The learning activities may be really varied, from dialogues to conversations, drama
or information-gathering.

Interactions among students at the early steps of foreign language acquisition are still
domained by their incipient knowledge of the target language system and its resources. In
addition, the age of the students is a key factor to be accounted for, as their knowledge about
the world around is limited. Therefore, the language and the topics around any interaction
among students must be carefully planned and correspond to the learners’ background
knowledge and experiencies. However, teachers should also provide pupils opportunities to use
the language among themselves as much as possible: greetings, congratulations, thanking
formulas or simple requests may be easily internalized by students and used in class almost
from the very beginning. Although yet innapropriate or inaccurate, student-to-student interaction
promotes language acquisition.

Since dialogue represents the most common form of oral communication, it may be
fairly used in comunicative activities within the classroom. Activities based on dialogues may
take different forms, such as dialogues with visual aids or directed dialogues. Within the first
stages of foreign language acquisition, dialogues should always be based on a model, as the
learners’ production competence is still quite limited. Poetry and drama activities are also rich
vehicles for encouraging students play and learn language in a personal way. So do
information-gathering activites, like interviews or guessing games.

Teacher should also promote student-to-student interaction using the written code once
they have mastered a bit on it. Collective writing or note-leaving are two of the tecniques we can
use in the EFL classroom.

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Teacher-to-student interaction is, of course, basic in the EFL classroom. Teacher-

students conversation is assymmetrical; for example, pupils do not give directions to their
teachers or elicit words from them. EFL teachers adjust their language to the learners’s level by
simplificating their discourse, a strategy that is also used by native speakers when talking to
children and foreigners. In addition, teacher talk has its own features, which have been the
object of several studies within the field sociolinguistics. Research shows that:

− Classroom language is mainly dominated by the teacher, who selects the topics and
decides how they will be discussed. The teacher often controls the turn-taking, the
beginnings and endings of the conversations, too.

− Teachers use special frames, regurlarly and very often, to pass from one verbal
transaction to another. The favourite frame used by teachers is “now”. These frames
form a closed set (well, okay, right, look, now, all right) and they are followed by a
pause. The frames indicate different meanings. For example, “well” can mean okay,
agreement, or a request. They give learners clues to the structure of the discourse and
refer to the different aspects of teaching −content, organization and discipline.

− Non verbal elements like hand gestures or glances are complementary features in
classroom discourse.

Surely, the most extended type of verbal interaction among teacher and students
includes questions for many different purposes: eliciting, language practice or rising awarenes,
for example. There is also quite a lot of giving directions on part of the teacher mainly to
organize activities, to show how to do a task or to keep discipline in classrooms.

Following a communicative approach to language teaching will mean increasing both

the amount and the quality of verbal interaction in the EFL class on part of the learners.

3. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN EFL CLASSROOMS

The use of non-verbal resources is one of the defining characteristics of the

oral language. It is the way people reinforce the spoken messages, or even it replaces the
spoken word by using the body to make visual signs. Non-verbal communication helps us to
manage our social relationships and, broadly speaking, it helps to present the self that we want
others to see – social status, group membership, personality (appearance). We can suggest
that non-verbal communication serves three main functions in oral interactions:

• Speakers and hearers convey their mood and interpersonal feelings.

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• Supports the verbal message and

• Provides feedback.

Nonverbal communication has received much attention in the areas social

psychology, business presentation, sales and marketing. In this sense, it can be analysed as an
area of study by itself. However, as we pointed above, non-verbal signs constitute a part of the
language and intervenes in the communicative act as one of the elements that form the context
and the shared knowledge. One of the most significant characteristics of this paralinguistic
phenomenon is that, as language itself, it is culturally-dependant. Every language (or culture)
has its own non-verbal resources to communicate different meanings. It is well known, for
example, that the speaker of Greek will throw his head back to show disagreement or disent,
instead of moving it from side to side. Therefore, non-verbal communicative strategies are not
always transferable from the L1 to the L2. In the first place, like speech, non-verbal
communication has both form and function, and, secondly, it is not always directly translatable.
It is the first of these factors which makes nonverbal communication difficult to teach, and the
second which leads to breakdowns and misunderstandings in intercultural communication.

When analysing non-verbal communication, we see that it can be conscious

or voluntary sometimes, but, quite often, it is involuntary or unconscious. Hearers or speakers
use body language to show they are shocked, embarrassed or amused, for example, in an
unconscious way. On the other hand, we can also use non-verbal reactions in a more conscious
manner as to reinforce a message or to attract somebody’s attention.

Non-verbal communication includes three main areas. One of them is

kinesics which refers to facial expressions, gestures and movements. For example, smiles may
be reassuring, frowns can show surprise or eye contact tells us if someone is interested in our
message. Head movements carry meaning too, such as nodding for agreement or showing
incredulity by shaking it. Equally, we use our fingers for counting or to ask for silence; and arms,
hands, legs and feet are also used to express meanings.

Another big area of non-verbal communication is proxemics. Proxemics is

about positioning, orientation, and space and physical contact. Regarding the first two elements,
we can consider where we stand or sit in relation to others, or how much space is between the
participants in a chat. Here again, culture makes a difference and if Spanish people tend to sit
or stand closer than the British, EFL learners must also be aware of this fact and follow the rules
within native settings as part of their full communicative competence. Proxemics is also about
physical contact in greetings (do women kiss each other when introduced or do they shake
hands?), congratulating (do they pat on the back?), insulting, etcetera.

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The third big area in non-verbal communication corresponds to

paralinguistics. This includes the tone and feedback sounds, which may show agreement,
impatience, annoyance, or surprise. As we saw in previous sections, they can be very helpful to
the spearkers as an indication of how the message is being received.

On the one hand, the functions of non-verbal signs vary from culture to
culture, although there are some universal nonverbals such as smiles, laughter and sour
expressions. There are also differences according to gender and age. On the other hand,
nonverbal communication tends to be relatively ambiguous and open to interpretation, but it is
an essential part of the language behaviour. As Abercrombie puts it:

“We speak with our vocal organs, but we converse with our entire bodies...
Paralinguistic phenomena... occur alongside spoken language, interact with
it, and produce together with it a total system of communication... The study
of paralinguistic behaviour is part of the study of conversation: the
conversational use of spoken language cannot be properly understood
unless paralinguistic elements are taken into account” (1968; p. 55).

4. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON-VERBAL

REACTIONS TO MESSAGES IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

Nonverbal and verbal communication are normally inseparable, and,

therefore, both need to be taught and practised situationally, in the right contexts, and with
plenty of cultural input and awareness.

An important aspect in the use of non-verbal codes within the EFL

classrooms is that they have to be shared by teachers and learners. Non-verbal strategies fairly
used by EFL teachers respond to what is generally accepted as classroom language. They
constitute an efficient and quick system of gestures to deal with aspects of classroom
management. Gestures for 'work in pairs', 'open your books', 'listen' and 'write' are universal,
while individual teachers have developed nonverbal repertoires involving systems for instruction
(for example, the use of fingers to represent words), correction (gestures to indicate time, tense
and other linguistic features), and management.

As Darn points out, the effective use of nonverbal cues assists in a wide
range of classroom practices by adding an extra dimension to the language:

• Reducing unnecessary teacher talking time.

• Increasing learner participation.

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• Confidence building.
• Reducing fear of silence.
• Clear instructions.
• Efficient classroom management.
• Classroom atmosphere.
• Improving listening skills.
• Improving performance in pair and group activities.
• Self and peer correction.
• Avoiding misunderstandings.
• Improving intercultural competences.

The following paragraphs will show how non-verbal strategies are used by
learners to send and react to messages which will also help them in the development of their
communicative competence. According to Ellis, communication strategies are
“psycholinguistic plans which exist as part of the language user’s communicative competence.
They are potentially conscious and serve as substitutes for production plans which the learner is
unable to implement.” (Ellis, 1985; p.185). Many of the communication strategies are verbal, but
some of them include the use of extra-linguistic devices. These communication tools used by
speakers in order to cope with difficulties in communicating in the foreign language are problem-
oriented, and look for a short-term answer. Most of the non-verbal strategies used by primary
school EFL learners will be compesating strategies and they will be used when participating as
speakers and as hearers, too.

From the earliest stages of FLA, learners may use non-verbal devices to
express messages and show their understanding of messages:

− By physically responding to orders (“Sit down, stand up), directions (“Go

to the blackboard and take a piece of chalk”), requests (“Can you close the
door, please?”), questions (“How many boys are there?) or words of a song
(“You put your right foot in/ you put your out/ you put your right foot in/ and
you shake it all about/...”).

− By pointing to objects and drawings (“Which one is red?”, “Can you see
the flowers?”).

− By sequencing or ordering elements (from oral narratives or dialogues, for

example).

− By drawing (“The alien has a very big head and three eyes”).

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In addition, EFL learners employ non-verbal strategies when they are

interacting with others and maintaining conversations, for example by using gestures to ask for
repetition or clarification, or to show they do not agree, or they do not know an answer, etcetera.

Finally, there are communicative activities which are based on the use of
non-verbal devices and tecniques in the EFL setting and which are part of the classroom
procedures:

− One of the most extended activities in classrooms is pantomimes, a scene

in body language which can be used to elicit oral or written language.

− Tecniques from the Total Physical Response method or from the Silent
Way are also quite used in many EFL lessons, such as the use of
cuisenaire rods, colours and charts.

− Other tecniques include the discussion of the meaning of gestures and

expressions after the watching of a video clip without sound; or the acting
out of a dialogue using gesture and expression only. The following sample
dialogue is taken from Darn:

• A: Excuse me. Can you take a picture of me?

• B: Yeah, sure.
• A: Just press that button.
• B: Er, which one?
• A: The one on the top.
• B: OK, right. Er... can you move back a bit?
• A: Is this OK?
• B: Fine, now smile. That's it. Very nice.
• A: Thanks.
• B: Not at all. You've got a lovely smile. Er... fancy a drink?
• A: OK, but I've got no money on me.
• B: That's OK. I'll pay.

In spite of non-verbal communication being an indivisable element of oral

language, the teaching of a foreign language must promote the acquisition of the
communicative competence in verbal communication, in its oral and written forms. Therefore,
learners will progressively be led to make use of their linguistic resources, as body language
and non-verbal communication do not domain human interaction, except in specific cases such
as in the language of signs among deaf- mute people. Teachers should also be aware that

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target cultural aspects are a part of the communicative competence in a language, and the
transferability or not of those culture-bound features need to be raised and taught.

SUMMARY AND KEY POINTS

1. INTRODUCTION

• Both listeners and speakers use non-verbal resources to communicate their purpose
many of which are unconscious or cultural-bound. Either linguistic or non-linguistic, we
use signs to express and interpret meanings.

• In the context of EFL classrooms, non-verbal communication is one of the first ways of
expressing and understanding messages, as it is also in native speakers children.

2. VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

2.1. Verbal communication

• Language:a ruled system of signs that are combined to transmit a messages.

• Main features of a human language:
− Arbitrariness: there is not a link between the linguistic signs and the reality to
which they refer to.
− Feedback: speakers (and writers) can reflect upon everything they say; basic to
maintaining a conversation.
− Traditional transmission: language is acquired by a long and complex learning
process, innate to human beings and developed in society.
− Productivity: human language is esentially creative.
− Structure dependence: the language elements are related to each other and
language operations depend on an internal understanding of its system and
structure.
• Language is influenced by several psychological factors: desire to communicate;
comprehension as well as expression; personality factors and limitations of expression.

2.2. Paralinguistic resources

The suprasegmental features of verbal communication also help to construct meaning

and affect to verbal interactions:

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• Voice quality may be the personal identity sign of a speaker of a language by which
he /she is recognized from the rest.

• Intonation and stress are the main prosodic features operative in English. Stress
and intonation convey attitudes, mood and feelings of the speakers which are
meaningful and significant in the interpretation of messages.

• Closely related to intonation is modulation. That is the variation of tone or pitch in

one’s voice by superimposing a particular attitudinal message, which may be indicative
of the speaker’s involvement in what he/she is saying or his/her desire to impress or
convince the hearer, for example.

• Punctuation is considered a paralinguistic feature of the written code of the language.

The importance of attending to these prosodic features of the language within the EFL
classroom relies not only in the fact that they all of them form part of the messages themselves,
and, therefore, of communication, but they are also language specific and have to be acquired
equally to the other elements of the target language.

2.3. Verbal interactions in EFL classrooms

a) Student-to-student interactions are based on peer reletionships and allow a

maximum degree of communication. They develop speaking fluency and the use of
communication strategies:

− There is a chance for everyone to use the language and feel involved; learners
feel more secure and help each other, sharing ideas and knowledge.

− The learning activities may be really varied, from dialogues to conversations,

drama or information-gathering.

− Interactions among students at the early steps of foreign language acquisition

are still domained by their incipient knowledge of the target language system and
its resources.

− The age of the students is a key factor to be accounted for, as their knowledge
about the world around is limited.

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− The language and the topics around any interaction among students must be
carefully planned and correspond to the learners’ background knowledge and
experiencies.

− Teachers should also provide pupils opportunities to use the language among
themselves as much as possible.

− Student-to-student interaction promotes language acquisition.

− Dialogue represents the most common form of oral communication; Poetry and
drama activities are also rich vehicles for encouraging students play and learn
language. So do information-gathering activites, like interviews or guessing
games.

b) Teacher-to-student interaction is, of course, basic in the EFL classroom. Teacher-

students conversation is assymmetrical as it is based on the teacher’s superior
knowledge and authority. . EFL teachers adjust their language to the learners’s level by
simplificating their discourse. Teacher talk has its own features:

− Classroom language is mainly dominated and controlled by the teacher.

− Teachers use special frames, regurlarly and very often, to pass from one verbal
transaction to another. These frames form a closed set (well, okay, right, look,
now, all right) and they indicate different meanings. They give learners clues to the
structure of the discourse and refer to the different aspects of teaching −content,
organization and discipline.

− Non verbal elements like hand gestures or glances are complementary features
in classroom discourse.

Types of verbal interaction among teacher and students include questions for many
different purposes: eliciting, language practice or rising awarenes, for example. There is also
quite a lot of giving directions on part of the teacher mainly to organize activities, to show how
to do a task or to keep discipline in classrooms.

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3. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS

• Non-verbal signs are a characteristic of oral language. These signs differ from culture
(and language) to culture, and there are not always transferable from the L1 to the L2.
In addition, they are often unconscious and ambiguous.

• Functions:
− Reinforces the oral message.
− Manages social relationships.
− Helps present the self.
− Conveys mood and feelings.
− Provides feedback.

• Main areas:
− Kinesics: facial expressions, gestures and movements.
− Proxemics: positioning, orientation, and space and physical contact.
− Paralinguistics: tone and feedback sound.

4. EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON-VERBAL REACTIONS TO MESSAGES

IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS

• Classroom language: an efficient and quick system of gestures to deal with

classroom management, instruction and correction.

• Learners use extralinguistic communication strategies: plans and tools used by

speakers in order to cope with difficulties in communicating in the L2. They are problem-
oriented.

a) Students may show message comprehension by:

− Physically responding to orders, directions, requests, questions, etcetera.
− Pointing to objects or drawings.
− Sequencing or ordering.
− Drawing.

b) Learners maintain interaction by the use of gestures to ask for clarification or

repetition, to show agreement, etcetera.

c) Tecniques:
− Pantomimes.

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− Tecniques fro the TPR and the Silent Way.

− Silent video watching.
− Dramatizations, mimed dialogues, etc.

(The pictures below show how non-verbal signs convey different meanings according to
culture)

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

• BENNET, J. (1976). Linguistic Behaviour. C.U.P.

• CAZDEN, C.B. (1986). Classroom discourse, in M.C. Wittrock (ed.), Handbook of

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