INTRODUCTION IN NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATION
Communication in general is process of sending and receiving messages that
enables humans to share knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Although we usually identify
communication with speech, communication is composed of two dimensions - verbal and
nonverbal.

Nonverbal communication has been defined as communication without words. It

includes apparent behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, and tone of voice,
as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two
or more people.

Everything communicates, including material objects, physical space, and time systems.
Although verbal output can be turned off, nonverbal cannot. Even silence speaks.

No matter how one can try, one cannot not communicate. Activity or inactivity, words or
silence all have message value: they influence others and these others, in turn, cannot not
respond to these communications and are thus themselves communicating.

He who has eye to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a
secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at
every pore.

Commonly, nonverbal communication is learned shortly after birth and practiced and
refined throughout a person?s lifetime. Children first learn nonverbal expressions by
watching and imitating, much as they learn verbal skills.
Young children know far more than they can verbalize and are generally more adept at
reading nonverbal cues than adults are because of their limited verbal skills and their
recent reliance on the nonverbal to communicate. As children develop verbal skills,
nonverbal channels of communication do not cease to exist although become entwined in
the total communication process.
Humans use nonverbal communication because:

1. Words have limitations: There are numerous areas where nonverbal

communication is more effective than verbal (when explain the shape, directions,
personalities are expressed nonverbally)
2. Nonverbal signal are powerful: Nonverbal cues primary express inner feelings
(verbal messages deal basically with outside world).
3. Nonverbal message are likely to be more genuine: because nonverbal behaviors
cannot be controlled as easily as spoken words.
4. Nonverbal signals can express feelings inappropriate to state: Social etiquette
limits what can be said, but nonverbal cues can communicate thoughts.
 5. A separate communication channel is necessary to help send complex messages:
A speaker can add enormously to the complexity of the verbal message through
simple nonverbal signals.

Researches in communication suggest that many

more feelings and intentions are sent and received
nonverbally than verbally. Mehrabian and
Wienerfollowing suggested that only 7% of message
is sent through words, with remaining 93% sent
nonverbal expressions (depending on author, verbal
part goes up to 35%).

Nonverbal communication in classroom

Nonverbal communication is also a critical aspect of interpersonal communication in the
classroom. The most credible messages teachers generate, as communication sources are
nonverbal.

Galloway views educators as ?multi-sensory organisms who only occasionally talk.?

Balzer? reported that approximately 75% of classroom management behavior was
nonverbal.
Smith noted that teachers? nonverbal behaviors are for students signs of the
psychological state of the teacher.
Rosenthal and Jacobson?s ?Teacher Expectations for the Disadvantaged? suggested that,
through nonverbal behavior, teachers? expectations for the progress of their students
become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Many of the cues students use to make judgments about teacher?s competence or
characters are obtained by observing the teacher?s nonverbal behavior.

From my own experience, as a student and as a teacher, I know that there is

variety of nonverbal signals emitted from teacher in classroom which to deepest levels
influence classroom atmosphere, students moods, perception, learning and eventually
attitudes towards knowledge and school generally.
On the other hand teacher has powerful tool to identify what is actually going on
with his class in general and each individual per se, without any word being said.
 This is extremely important in lecture like classes when teacher is primarily
supposed to talk.
Verbal signals (in direct communication) are never so powerful.
Yet, nonverbal signals are much more difficult to capture, describe and rationally
explain because we necessarily have to use words to do that and words are not enough
fine and precise tool for this (similar as they are not for describing pictures).
So one who wants to learn how to control nonverbal signals and behavior in order
to teach more effectively finds many difficulties on this way.
Besides problem with describing those behaviors, there is cultural problem with
interpreting them, can be amazingly quick and subtle, most often are unconscious, but
most importantly - they are valid only if genuine.
Here we have blessing and curse of nonverbal signalization. We cannot pretend it
but we can really change our attitudes and feelings in the way we would like them to be.
This is real developing challenge.

But certainly there are things, which can be described and analyzed in this sense,
and which can greatly add to our understanding of NVS.

Nonverbal communication in the classroom occurs with distance, physical environment,

facial expression, vocal cues, body movements and gestures, touch, time, physical
attractiveness, and dress. Each will be separately discussed.

BODY MOVEMENTS, GESTURES AND POSTURES

Movements and gestures by the hands, arms, legs, and other parts of the body and face
are the most pervasive types of nonverbal messages and the most difficult to control. It is
estimated that there are over 200.000 physical signs capable of stimulating meaning in
another person (some social scientists state even 700.000). For example, there are 23
distinct eyebrow movements, each capable of stimulating a different meaning.

Humans express attitudes toward themselves and vividly through body motions and
posture. Bodies movements elucidate true messages about feeling that cannot be masked.
Because such avenues of communication are visual, they travel much farther than spoken
words and are unaffected by the presence of noise that interrupt, or cancels out speech.?

People communicate by the way they walk, stand, and sit. We tend to be more relaxed
with friends or when addressing those of lower status.
Body orientation also indicates status or liking of the other individual. More direct
orientation is related to a more positive attitude.

Body movements and postures alone have no exact meaning, but they can greatly support
or reject the spoken word. It these two means of communication are dichotomized and
contradict each other, some result will be a disordered image and most often the
nonverbal will dominate.

Body movement and gesture in the classroom

The variety of ways in which teacher and students walk, stand, or sit can all affect
interpersonal perception. The teacher who slouches or twitches when talking to students
is not likely to be perceived as a composed person. Conversely, the teacher who always
appears unruffled regardless of the circumstances is likely to be perceived as cold and
withdrawn.

Body postures and movements are frequently indicators of self-confidence, energy,

fatigue, or status. In the classroom, students keen to receive body message of enthusiasm
or boredom about the subject matter being taught can sense confidence or frustration
from the unconscious behaviors of teachers.

Observant teachers can also tell when students understand the content presented or when
they have trouble grasping the major concepts. A student who is slouching in his seat
sends a very different message than the student who learns forward or sits erect.

Gestures

Cognitively, gestures operate to clarify, contradict, or replace verbal messages. Gestures

also serve an important function with regard to regulating the flow of conversation. For
example, if a student is talking in class, single nods of the head from the teacher will
likely cause that student to continue and perhaps elaborate.

?I hope he would make ?What a ?!

?up something good now? And I have to stand behind him?!??
?
 ?No, no. You misunderstood.?

Posture

Postures as well as gestures are used to indicate attitudes, status, affective moods,
approval, deception, warmth, and other variables related to classroom interaction.

Ekman and Friesen (1967) have suggested that posture conveys gross or overall affect
(liking), while specific emotions are communicated by more discreet, facial and body
movements.

FACIAL EXPRESSION
The saying ?A picture is worth a thousand words? well describes the meaning of facial
expression. Facial appearance - including wrinkles, muscle tone, skin coloration, and eye
color-offers enduring cues that reveal information about age, sex, race, ethnic origin, and
status.

Varieties of expressions
A less permanent second set of facial cues-including length of hair, hairstyle, cleanliness,
and facial hair-relate to an individual?s idea of beauty.?

A third group of facial markers are momentary expressions that signal that cause changes
in the forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, nose, lips, and chin, such as raising the
eyebrows, wrinkling the brow, curling the lip.

Some facial expressions are readily visible, while others are fleeting. Both types can
positively or negatively reinforce the spoken word and convey cues concerning emotions
and attitude.

Next to words the human face is the primary source of information for determining an
individual?s internal feelings.

Face talks

Facial expressions may be unintentional or intentional.

The facial expression for fear is an example of an involuntary gesture - people generally
do not think of how to move facial muscles when truly frightened.
Facial expressions can also be voluntary, as when an individual wants deliberately to hide
feelings for different reasons
.
Often people try to hide feelings and emotions behind masks. The frown, jutting chin,?
raise eyebrow, open mouth, and sneer are facial expressions that can betray and
ultimately broadcast deception. All humans are capable of faking a happy or a sad face, a
smile or a frown. I found interesting statement that the timing gives them away. They
cannot determine how long to keep it or how quickly to let it go. Makes sense.
 How much can we fake?

Facial expression in the classroom

All people and thus certainly teachers and students use facial expressions to form
impressions of another. A cold hard stare has long been in the repertoire of teachers
weapons. Similarly, a smile can be useful tool in reinforcing desired student behaviors
(this time in affirmative way).

A teacher can also use student’s facial expressions as valuable sources of feedback?
When, for example, delivering a lecture, a teacher should use student’s expressions to
determine whether or not to slow down, speed up, or in some other way modify his
presentation.

Facial expression involves some of the smallest body movements, but its impact in the
classroom may be greater than any other body language the teacher exhibits. The teacher
probably communicates more accidentally by his or her facial expression than by any
other means.

Scientists who study facial expression refer to ?micro-momentary movements, changes in

expression that constantly occur in all human communicators and are usually so fleeting
that it requires highly technical photography to be able to isolate them for study.
However, as quickly as they pass across a persons face, they are picked up by other
people and produce responses.

This is the reason why, soon after taking nonverbal communication for final project I
realized that I am in troubleJ.

When teachers are responding to students, these changes in facial expression can serve as
reinforces to the student or as non-reinforces. Unfortunately, the teacher normally has
very little control over such micro-momentary movements, but should be able to control
more long-lasting expressions, such as smiles or frowns.
 ?

How many birds in seven soft-boiled eggs??

Smiles and grimace can therefore still be very effectively used in the classroom. But
according researches, more commonly, teachers simply respond to the student without
thinking what their nonverbal physical response may be communicating.

Often a teacher does not want to communicate what he or she is thinking to the student.
While the teacher may not say that, his or her facial expression may communicate it very
clearly.

EYES
The most dominant and reliable features of the face, the eyes, provide a constant channel
of communication. They can be shifty and evasive; convey hate, fear, and guilt; or
express confidence, love, and support.

Referred to as mirrors of the soul, the eye serve as the major decision factor in
interpreting the spoken words.
The eyes of the man converse as much as their tongues, with the advantage that the
ocular dialect needs no dictionary, but is understood, all the world over. When the eye
say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on eye.

Except for extremely shy individuals, most people look for social acceptance by studying
the eyes of others.
Eyes also can accurately indicate a positive or a negative relationship. People tend to look
longer and more often at those, whom they trust, respect and care about than at those
whom they doubt or dislike.

Researches show that a speaker who looks at an audience is perceived as

Much more
• Favorable • Qualified
• Confident • Honest
• Credible
And less
 • Formal
• Nervous

than the same person delivering the identical message while avoiding eye contact.

Normal eye dilation is not under control of the individual. But when looking at something
pleasing, an individual?s pupil will measurably dilate; when viewing something
displeasing, the pupils will constrict.
Personally characteristics such as introversion and extroversion also influence eye
behavior.
Eye behavior in the classroom

Eye behavior seems to be particular importance and is generally used to indicate whether
one is open to communication. This can be observed when a teacher asks the class a
question: students who think they know the answer will generally look the teacher, while
students who do not will usually try to avoid eye contact.

Visual contact with the instructor appears related to student?s comprehension. Jecker,
Maccoby, and Breitrose isolated visual cues given by students which seemed associated
with comprehension of lecture content and reported that teachers trained to recognize
such cues became more accurate in their judgment of student comprehension that did
untrained teachers.

The results of a study by Breed, Christiansen, and Larson suggest that visual contact with
the instructor increases attentiveness, which in turn makes for better grades. Students in
group who were looked at almost continuously by lecturer received higher quiz scores.

Exline (1971) reports that, in responses to a questionnaire, college students said they
thought that they would be more comfortable with another who, when speaking,
listening, and sharing mutual silence, looked at them 50% of time as opposed to 100% of
the time or not at all.
I believe that only very self-confident, knowledgeable and attentive students will prefer
100% of eye contact time. Nobody is in this mood all the time and many are never. On
the other hand 0% of time of eye contact would mean that speaker has great deal of
trouble with self-confidence, knowledge or care for students.
This explains this result of 50% and it is the valuable information for teacher.

Eye contact is often used to control an interpersonal interaction. When people do not
wish to be interrupted, they will often glance away and continue talking.
When they wish the other person to speak, they will pause, making direct eye contact.

Teachers often use eye contact in the classroom to decide who is prepared to answer a
question, or who was completed a homework assignment.

One interesting information to be aware of.

Eye contact is often used as an indicant of whether or not a person is laying. The
stereotype is that a dishonest person will not look you in the eye.
Many teachers who suspect a student is cheating on a test may, in the absence of other
evidence, decide a student is lying because the student fails to look them in the eye when
answering a direct question about the test. Unfortunately, there seems to be little validity
to this theory. Research has actually found the reverse to be true-people who are lying are
more likely to look the other person directly the eye, probably as a conscious response to
the stereotype.

Teachers can have individual eye contact with every student in the classroom through eye
contact. Attitudes of intimacy, aloofness, concern, or indifference can be inferred by the
way a teacher looks or avoids looking at a student.

Most experienced teachers are aware when students are bored with the subject matter
being presented. Students? eyes often signal listening and nonlistening behaviors, thus
transmitting subtle messages about their lack of attentiveness.

Students? who are constantly looking at the wall clock rather than watching and listening
to the teacher may be indicating the need for a break, the dullness of the content, or a lack
of teacher motivation and preparation.

In any case, observation of eye behavior can be used in evaluating teacher and student
performance.
 DISTANCE
Horizontal distance
Schwebal and Cherlin found that elementary school children seated in the front row were
attentive and were evaluated more positively by their teachers than were students who sat
in the middle and back rows.
Edward T. Hall?s categories can lend insight. Hall (1966) specifies four distance zones
which are commonly observed by North Americans.

1. 1. Intimate distance - from actual touching to eighteen inches. This zone is

reserved for those with whom one is intimate. At this distance the physical presence
of another is overwhelming. Teachers who violate students? intimate space are likely
to be perceived as intruders.

2. 2. Personal distance from eighteen inches to four feet. This is the distance of
interaction of good friends. This would also seem to be most appropriate distance for
teacher and student to discuss personal affairs such as grades, conduct, private
problems, etc.

Appropriate distance depends on many factors

3. 3. Social distance exists from four to twelve feet. It seems to be an appropriate

distance for casual friends and acquaintances to interact.

4. 4. Public distance outward from twelve feet a speaker becomes formal. Classes
of teachers who maintain this distance between themselves and their students are
generally formal, and some students may feel that the teacher is cold and distant.
Hall?s system for the categorization of distance can constructively be used to lend insight
into the nature of various student-teacher interactions. It should be noted, however, that
appropriate distance is determined by a myriad of variables including the situation, the
nature of the relationship, the topic of conversation, and the physical constraints which
are present.

Vertical distance
The vertical distance between communicators is often indicative of the degree of
dominance a sub ordinance in the relationship. People are affected by literally looking up
at or looking down on another person.

The implications are that vertical distance can be used by teachers both as a tool and as a
weapon. Teachers, and especially those who work with small children, should realize that
students will interact more comfortably with a teacher when they are in same vertical
plane. Used in this way, an understanding of vertical distance can become a tool for
improved teacher-student communication. On the other hand, the disciplinarian can put
this information to use in order to gain psychological advantage over an unruly student.?

TOUCH
Even a handshake tells much about an individual?s character. The human skin has
hundreds of thousands of submicroscopic nerve endings, serving as tactual receptors and
detecting pressure, temperature, texture, pain, stroking, tickling.

Parents transmit feelings to an infant physically, not verbally.

In most human relationships, touching cab give encouragement, express tenderness, and
show emotional support.
In general, the meaning of touching depends of the situation, culture, sex, and age.
Workers in hospitals and nursing homes have long been aware of the therapeutic value of
a sympathetic touch. There are empirical supports for this.

Tactile communication can serve useful function in the classroom situation but it also
becomes a delicate matter.

Since teachers are considered superiors in the classroom, they often initiate touching
behaviors. Teacher judgment is the best indicator. A teacher who grabs the arm or
shoulder of an unruly student enters the student?s space uninvited.
Aside from embarrassment, the student may develop other negative feelings toward the
teacher.
More positively, however, touching can also be used as a reinforcer.
At times, a teacher can develop a close relationship with students by invading their space.
A simple pat on the back for a job well done is a much used and usually accepted from
praise.
There is also some limited evidence that touching behaviors can actually increase
learning. One recent investigation (Kleinfeld) has shown that teachers employed such
behaviors as smiling, touching, and close body distance, small children ?tended to learn
significantly more.??
As children grow older, however, these touching behaviors become less appropriate.

Touch has different impacts in the classroom depending on the age and sex of the
students.
Still, with older students, hand shaking and an occasional pat on the back could prove
effective.
Four younger children in the lower primary grades, touch plays an important
development role. It can communicate a sense of belonging, security, and understanding
to the child. Conversely, when a teacher withholds touch, a child may feel isolated and
rejected, which can lead to the acquisition of negative attitudes toward school.

Children in the lower elementary grades also have a strong need to touch things around
them. They learn this way about environment. It is not uncommon for small children to
wish to touch the teacher?s clothing or hair. They will also touch one another a lot. The
teacher must be very careful to interpret children?s touching behavior on the basis of
adult touching norms.

While certain general norms govern touching behavior in the North American culture,
considerable differences exist among ethnic groups.? The teacher must recognize that
these are set cultural variations and should be viewed in that light.

Although the use of touch as a reward is appropriate in the elementary school as children
move into junior and senior high school, changes occur that require an alteration of
teacher behavior. Awakening sexual interest in adolescents results in adaptation to adult
to touch terms.
The use of the touch as a reward at this stage may be greatly misinterpreted, particularly
by other people who observe the touch. Most male teachers of junior and high school
students soon recognize that it is highly inappropriate to touch female students under
almost any circumstance.
 VOCAL INTONATION AND CUES
The proverb ?It is not what we say that counts, but how we say it? reflect the meaning of
vocal intonation.

An unconscious bias of the listening public is a widespread positive prejudice in favor of

man with low, deep voices with resonant tones, such as those qualities possessed by most
male newscasters. Studies have also reported the use of vocal cues as accurate indicators
of overall appearance, body type, height, and race, education, and dialect region.

Paralinguistic cues often reveal emotional conditions. Difference in loudness, pitch,

timbre, rate, inflection, rhythm, and enunciation all relate to the expression of various
emotions.

Experimental findings suggest that active feelings, such as rage, are exemplified vocally
by high pitch, fast pace, and blaring sound. The more passive feelings, such as despair,
ate portrayed by low pitch, retarded pace, and resonant sound. In addition, stress is often
vocalized by higher pitch and words uttered at a greater rate than normal. The reverse
(lower pitch, slower word pace) is likely during depression.

We are generally aware of some of the common uses of vocal cues. People indicate the
ends of declarative sentences by lowering voice pitch and the ends of questions by raising
it. The vocal message can contradict the verbal one and, when done consciously, is
considered an indication of sarcasm. Vocal cues play a prominent part in people?s
determination of whether or not someone is laying to them.

Mehrabian in his research concluded that listeners? perception of the attitude of a speaker
were influenced 7% by the verbal message and 38% by the vocal tones which were used.

Same words or phases can have many different meanings, depending on how they are
said. For example, analyze the phrase ?Thank you.? If uttered sincerely, it generally
means an expression of gratitude; if intoned sarcastically, it can insinuate an entirely
opposite intention.

Vocal cues in classroom

This powerful nonverbal tool can readily affect student participation. Generally, to
correct answers the teacher respond with positive verbal reinforcement enhanced by
vocal pitch or tone, expressing the acceptance and liking of the students? answer (often
accompanied by a smile or other forms of nonverbal approval).
Opposite is the case when teacher do not like the response (or behavior in the same way).

Some early studies, found that large variations of rate, force, pitch, and quality produced
higher levels of retention than did messages delivered without these variations.
For example ?mono-pitch? reduces comprehension for both prose and poetry when
compared with ?good intonation?.

There is distinction between a child?s and adult?s response to nonverbal behavior,

particularly in terms of nonverbal vocal behavior. While the adult will almost universally
accept the nonverbal vocal behavior as the correct cue when vocal behavior and verbal
behavior are in conflict, young children often operate in the reverse manner.

Therefore for the small child, conflicting verbal and nonverbal messages will cause
considerable trouble. One of the best examples of this is the use of satire, which is for this
reason generally inappropriate means of communication with small children.

Vocal behavior is also capable of arousing stereotypes about either a teacher or a student.
For example, a teacher who has a very nasal speaking voice is often perceived as having
a variety of undesirable personal and physical characteristics. Female teachers with very
tense voices are often perceived as being younger, feminine, more emotional, easily
upset, and less intelligent. Male teachers with the same vocal characteristics are often
perceived as being older, more unyielding, and cantankerous.

Of course vocal characteristics affect teachers? perception of students as well, and the
stereotypes noted above can be applied again. Fortunately, as students and teachers get to
know each other better, they are able to overcome some of these stereotypes.

However, in the upper grades and secondary schools, students and teachers my never
interact frequently enough to overcome stereotypic responses based on vocal behavior.
Many teachers would be shocked at students? imitations of them, often imitation
mimicking the teacher?s vocal pattern. While teachers may be somewhat not always that
different.

When teacher does not speak the same accent or dialect as children in his or her
classroom, a conscious or unconscious prejudice may develop from both sides.

While it is certainly true that children who leave their ethnic or regional background in
order to gain employment and acceptance in other areas of the community will have
difficulty because of their accent or dialect, it is also true that most importantly, a child?s
speech pattern is an intrinsic part of the child?s personality and self-image.

Children learn their spec from their parents and the other people in their environment.
Their assumption is that the accent or dialect they have learned is the ?correct? one. To
fin that accent or dialect rejected by a teacher and/or the school is usually interpreted by
the child as a personal rejection. Frequently this leads to rejection of self and a lowered
self-image and/or a rejection to teacher and school.?
 SPACE AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Research in the area of proxemics, the study of the ways how people use space while
communicating, indicates that the use of space in the classroom can have a major impact
on communication. To understand the impact of space on classroom communication we
need to distinguish between territoriality and personal space.

Territoriality, a trait shared by human beings and lower forms of animal life, is the
instinct to secure space for oneself and to defend that space against potential intruders.
Violations of territory, depending how serious are, will produce different reactions on the
part of the person invaded. From tension and nervousness to, (especially if the situation
persists), verbal or physical aggressive response.

Personal space, unlike territory, has no fixed or semi-fixed geographical position.

Personal space has been likened to an invisible bubble that moves with the individual and
may expand in size or become smaller depending on the given situation.?
As human being grow and mature, they increasingly learn to control their responses to
invasion of their personal space. However, small children have not yet learned to do so.
They may respond very negatively to one another, with both verbal and physical
aggression, without being aware of what exactly has produced their behavior.
Teachers must be particularly conscious of this phenomenon, both in the classroom and
in other school environments.

The classroom itself has limited amount of space and the way that space is employed will
certainly affect the kind of communication. We will here see some advantages and
disadvantages of most usual classroom arrangements.

Traditional classroom arrangement

Circles represent students? seats. People occupying the dark seats will account for a very
large proportion of the total interaction between teacher and the students in this type of
arrangement.? People seating in the gray seats interact some, but much less frequently
than those in the darkened areas and people in the white seats will participate very
infrequently, if at all.

Most common explanations for this variance in participation are that students sitting in
the dark seats have the best visual contact with the teacher and they are in comparatively
closer proximity to the teacher.

But is seems that this is not all. Some students are quite anxious about communicating
with other people, particularly teachers, while other students look forward to such
experiences and seek them.

Shy students generally attempt to avoid interaction in the classroom and thus will
gravitate to the seats depicted in above picture as white areas. Outgoing students, on the
other hand, will tend to take dark seats.? Students with moderate communication
apprehension are likely to select gray seats.

Each of these different types of students, therefore, employs space in the classroom
differently if they are given free choice. The question thus arises as to whether the teacher
should permit the students to have free choice.
Research shows that rearranging students (alphabetically or by some other arbitrary
method) does not change anything in terms of participation of particular students
Verbal, low communication - apprehensive students will continue to participate, no
matter where they are seated in such a system and vice versa. This suggests free choice as
better solution.
If the teacher wishes to dominate the interaction in the classroom, the traditional
arrangement is probably the best because students are seated side by side and the primary
focal point is the teacher; thus, most interaction will go from teacher to student and form
student to teacher.
 ??????????????????????

Variations of traditional arrangement

Horseshoe classroom arrangement

(Different colors of seats have same meaning as above)

Classes with fairly small enrollments are often arranged in this fashion. When students
are given free choice of arranging the classroom, this is one of the most popular option.
Such an arrangement provides for each student equivalent visual access to most other
students and the teacher.
Some research suggests that there is more participation in classes arranged in this way.
Students who are at the opposite end of the horseshoe from the teacher, however, are
those most likely to interact, while those at the right and left hand of the teacher are those
least likely to interact.

If the teacher desires that the full-class interaction occur, the horseshoe arrangement may
be the most desirable. This will encourage interaction both among the students and
between students and teacher.

According some research, this arrangement results not only in greater participation, but
also in wider participation than the traditional arrangement.
It also seems safe to say that a teacher is perceived as less intimidating when he is seated
in a circle with the students rather than behind the formal and imposing symbol of his
large desk.
 Modular classroom arrangement

This arrangement is particularly desirable for classes requiring interaction among smaller
groups of students. Modular arrangements such as this one tend to increase the amount of
student interaction, but at the same time make interaction with the teacher more difficult.

If very important part of the learning in the class is dependent on student interaction with
other students, the modular arrangement may be preferable. This arrangement permits
many students to be interacting at the same time without interrupting on one another.
 ???????????????????

Preparing for future

While many other elements will determine the nature of communication in a given
teacher?s classroom, the arrangements of classroom space may have the largest impact.

How can this information be of use to a teacher? A teacher may assume that a student
who sits himself in dark areas wants to be involved.
Teachers should be careful, however, not to play to these students at the expense of the
rest of the class. Students who seat themselves at the back of the room want to maintain
maximum distance between themselves and the teacher. The extent to which a teacher
will seek to involve these students is likely to be the result of an individual?s own
pedagogical decision.

Some teachers will be content with minimal disruption from the rear, while others will
assume that these are the students who need the most help.
Some teachers may want to arrange student?s desks in a circle or open square
configuration.

OBJECTS
Environmental research has clearly indicated that communication differs greatly from one
physical environment to another.
The physical environment of the classroom is determined in the large measure by the
objects in that classroom. Some of them are intrinsic for the classroom itself, while others
are objects that the inhabitants bring with them. Such objects may have a significant
(either negative or positive) effect on classroom communication.

???????????????????

Certainly, there is difference

In an interesting study of the impact of environment on communication, students were

randomly assigned to one of two different rooms. One room, known as the ?beautiful
room,? was well decorated, and had sufficient but subdued lighting. The room was clean
and attractive. The other room, known as ?ugly room,? was devoid of carpeting, was
painted in a drab color, and had brilliant lighting. The room was dirty and cobwebs were
noticeable in the corners. The students were engaged in an interaction task for about a
half hour. Subsequently, they were removed to a third room that was moderately
attractive. They than competed questionnaires indicating how pleasant they found their
interaction to have been, whether they would like to continue interaction with the same
people with whom they had been interacting, and whether they would like to return to the
same room for future discussions.

The difference between the two groups were dramatic.

The people in the ?beautiful room,? enjoyed their experience, liked the people with they
interacted with, and looked forward to interacting in that environment further. The
students who had been in the ?ugly room,? however, did not like the people with whom
they interacted, did not enjoy the task, and did not want to return to that place for future
discussions.
We can walk through almost any school at random and find some classrooms that appear
much more conductive to learning and positive communication between teachers and
students than to other classrooms.

Unfortunately, many of the classroom with which teachers must cope more closely fit the
description of the ?ugly room.? And to change this we do not have to build a new school!

?Would anybody mind if I add one picture on the wall??

The teacher can do a great deal to overcome the negative elements of the environment,
which can adversely affect communication. However, many teachers seem to be totally
unaware of the problem, or have simply given up to it.

If the room have movable chairs, it is easy to arrange them so that students do not have to
cope with excessive glare from outside windows.
It is often possible to adjust the lighting in the room. Brilliant lightning may make it
easier to the children to see the paper on their desks, but over a period of time it tends to
increase the irritability of both the teacher and the student.

It every classroom, it is possible for the teacher to add decorations (general or even better
? educational) to make the room more pleasant environment. Many teachers employ
bulletin boards for this purpose and display students? work around the room.

Besides inexpensive photographs, paintings can also greatly alter the appearance of the
room.

In addition to characteristic objects of the classroom, both - students and teacher may
wish to bring it more personal objects to enhance their classroom. All too often, teachers
discourage such contributions. In doing so, they limit the students? attempts to express
their individuality.
When possible, teacher should allow students to alter and decorate the small part of the
room, which is theirs, whether that to be their desks or whatever. Usually this is not a
problem. Some teachers even allow students to alter areas outside of their own small desk
area. Some encourage the children to bring their favorite poster, photograph, or painting
to be displayed in the room. This created a more intimate atmosphere for young people
and made school seem more a part of them rather then something imposed on them.
Regarding students? individual wearing apparel and adornment the best policy for the
individual teacher is to not interfere with individuality of the student in this area unless
forced to by the administration or because an individual?s extreme behavior is proving to
be a disturbance to the other students. Limiting a young person freedom of expression
almost ensures rebelliousness on his or hers part, and consequently interferes in the
communication between teacher and student, but, if sufficient tolerance for this devotion
is permitted, there is usually movement toward more restraint fairly soon.

???????????????????????

Notice me!
 DRESS
Although most people are only superficially aware of the wear of others, clothing does
communicate. Often dictated by societal norms, clothing indicates a great amount of
information about self.
It identifies sex, age, socioeconomic class, status, role, group membership, personality or
mood, physical climate, and time in history.

In addition, attitudes most often associated with clothing relate to

1) 1) A desire to conform
2) 2) A desire for self-expression
3) 3) A desire for aesthetic satisfaction
4) 4) Prestige values
5) 5) The desire for social participation
6) 6) Physical comfort, and
7) 7) Economy

Much empirical evidence supports the view that one who is well dressed is likely to be
much better accepted by not known people than if not well dressed thus increasing
interpersonal effectiveness.
Some research suggests also that a relationship exists between success of student and the
acceptability of their dress.

Clothing also affects self-confidence. In one early investigation (Hurlock, 1929) all of the
men studied believed that their estimate of a person was affected by his clothing, and
97% of all subjects reported feelings of increased self-confidence when they were well
dressed.
I believe that this is the case also today but definition of being ?well dressed? is surely
somewhat changed.

But some authors contradict the opinion that a person should always strive to be ?well-
dressed.? Gandhi is offered as an example of a leader who understands this point and who
would successfully ?dress down? in order to better, relate to the masses he sought to
influence.

Clothing and classroom

Because clothing affects others? perception, people often dress to ?fit the part.? These
clothing cues, however have little effect on those with whom one is familiar. But opposite
is true when regarding students? impression of teacher especially first one.

In order to establish credibility, the teacher should strive to appear comfortable and at
ease in the role, thus removing some of the typical teacher/student barriers. Although
outward appearance does not, of course, indicate a person?s knowledge, values, or
philosophy, dress can communicate; but, in most cases, it is only a outward show.
Students see instructors based on their motivation, sincerity, and fairness; they will be
fooled only momentarily by clothing. A Savile Row suit or a Givenchy dress cannot turn
a grouch into a lively, dynamic teacher. A smile is worth many times whatever the
teacher might pay for clothes.

Another aspect of this situation is that it seems that students form some lasting
impressions of their instructors during the first few moments (around 30 seconds) of their
contact.
Gordon Allport has written: With briefest visual perception, a complex mental process is
aroused, resulting within a very short time in judgment of the sex, age, size, nationality,
profession and social caste of the stranger, together with some estimate with his
temperament, his ascendance, friendliness, neatness, and even his trustworthiness and
integrity.

Your first estimation. How much can you say?

Personal artifacts
?????????????????
The personal artifacts (makeup, jewelry, glasses) with which people choose to adorn
themselves also communicate a message to others.

Horn also argues that the process of inferring characteristics based on personal
appearance, is based on a sort of ?logic? although often erroneous.
For example, she writes, a person who wears glasses probably suffered from eye strain;
eye strain is often caused from too much reading; a person who reads a lot is apt to be
very intelligent; consequently, it is ?logical? to assume that people who wear glasses are
intelligent.

It is interesting to note that some older research found that college students rated people
who wore glasses higher in intelligence and industriousness. Today glasses are more
often connected with closed nature, clumsiness and religiousness.
What will prevail in teachers? cases depends on others (again nonverbal) clues we emit.
 PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

Body type communicates a variety of meanings, particularly as it relates to physical

attractiveness. Three general types, each capable of arousing several stereotypes about
personality, can be identified.
The first of these is the ectomorph. Ectomorphs are tall, thin, and fragile looking and are
thought of as being tense, anxious, reticent, and self-conscious.
Mesomorphs are bony, muscular, and athletic and are thought es being dominant,
energetic, and talkative.
Endomorphs are described as soft, round, and fat and are thought of as complacent,
warm, and sociable.
Whether these adjectives are accurate is irrelevant; they represent and arouse the real
stereotypes.

?????????????????

In our world attractiveness plays a role

The reason we stress various body types is that teachers, like other people, tend to
stereotype students based on their physical characteristics. The body type considered
most physically attractive to most people in this culture is mesomorph. Mesomorphs tend
to get higher grades, not because they are more intelligent, but because they are more
attractive and are likely to be targets of interaction. They are more popular with other
students and teachers and often are the opinion leaders among their peers.
Various studies have explored the effects of personal attractiveness and showed positive
relationship between physical attractiveness and:

• Effectiveness in influencing audience opinions

• Speakers? success
• In an educational context, a positive relationship was found between
attractiveness and grade-point average

The physical attractiveness of students and teachers does serve to influence classroom
interaction. This variable, however, is probably less deserving of attention than some
others, since communicators do not easily manipulate it.

Teachers must be very careful about the stereotypes. Intelligent students don?t all look
alike, they don?t all wear glasses, and they are not all thin.?
Plump children are not all happy and contented and easy-going. Athletically built young
people are not all ?jocks.?

Perhaps the most practical use of this research for educators lies in the admonition that
they need to be aware of these tendencies and should strive to avoid favoring attractive
students.
 TIME
Though this has not been adequately studied, per se, it seems safe to say that teacher?s
use of time has nonverbal communicative value. Consider an elementary teacher who
tells his students that math is as important as history, yet devote much more classroom
time to history. His students can probably tell which subject he really thinks is more
important.

A college teacher may tell his students that he wants to get to know then better, but if he
schedules only one office hour per week, they likely to be more influenced by latter
message.
A teacher also communicate by the extent to which he is punctual for class and by
formality or informality of the way in which he schedules appointments.

Statement usual in the North American culture, such as, ?Time is money? or ?We?ve out
of time.? Reflects that time is viewed as commodity.
Teachers tell students not to waste time, or to use their time more efficiently. Classes are
scheduled to meet at certain times during the day and lateness is punishable offense.

Watch it!

Colleges and universities have carried time considerations to their absurd extreme;
undergraduate degrees are awarded partially on the basis of a minimum number of credits
which are computed in terms of the number of contact hours a week students spend in
classes.? In many states, pay increases for public school teachers are based on a ?thirty
hours plus,? model.

There are also a non written norms related to how long students are expected to wait for
late instructors, and it varies according to rank.?

Since students ate accustomed to classes running for a certain amount of time, they tend
to expose nervousness when their expectancies are violated. If reading is scheduled to
end at 9:50 A.M.? and arithmetic to begin at 10:00 A.M., students will start to engage in
some nonverbal ?leave-talking? behaviors around 9:45, such as putting away pens ad
pencils, closing notebooks, shuffling feet, and looking at a clock.
Some authors suggests that it is probably not good to introduce new material near the end
of a class period, since the time for attentiveness has in all likelihood passed its peak.
On the other hand some research suggests that attention rises before the end of the class.
Solution could be to be consistent in ending class at the time so that students know that
their time will not be violated and there is no need for nonverbal ?warnings?.

One of the more important uses of time on the part of the teacher is the use of the pause.
Pausing while presenting information usually emphasizes the content that has just
preceded or will immediately follow.

Most classrooms involve interactions between teachers and students, with the teacher
asking questions to which the student is expected to respond. One of the hardest things
for teachers to learn is to take sufficient time between asking the question and expecting
an answer. Very often, the teacher expects an instant response. Frequently, no such
response is forthcoming. The teacher may then give the answer, or may call on some poor
student who is not ready to answer. Voluntary responses to questions in the classroom
almost always occur if the teacher is willing to wait long enough.
It is not suggestion, of course, to wait a 10 min. waiting period, but if we examine teacher
behavior, we find that teachers seldom wait as long as 5 seconds!

In addition, children have different response rates. Some children can process question
and determine what their answer will be quickly, while other children take two or times
time as long to determine their response. This does not indicate a difference in
intelligence or preparation on the part of the children, only a difference in response
pattern.
Children who respond quickly, of course, tend to become favorites of the teacher. Those
who wait a long time probably participate much below average in most teachers?
classrooms.
So advice to teacher is to learn how to wait for a response and do not always call on the
first student who is ready to respond.

An interesting thing can be added here. It is well known that most children, as well as
most adults, can be placed into one of two categories relating to their bodily time: ?
sparrows? and ?owls?.? Sparrows are early risers and are at their best in the morning.
Conversely, owls, like their namesakes, do not function well in the morning, but begin
functioning better as the day proceeds and are at their best in the evening.
While the largest percentage of both children and adults fall into the owl category,
elementary and secondary schools in the United States almost exclusively follow a
sparrow pattern.

This is still strong cultural norm and it is probably not going to be drastically changed in
foreseeable future, so that it is valuable for teacher to keep this in mind.
.
 CONCLUSION
Words are accented and punctuated by body movements and gestures, while the face
shows a myriad of expressions. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which
express the whole movement.

It is important to be aware of the dominance of the nonverbal message. If there is

disagreement between the verbal and nonverbal message, the nonverbal will win. Also,
the validity and reliability of verbal messages are checked by nonverbal actions. Again, if
discrepancy exists, the nonverbal will dictate.
Therefore students see the teachers? nonverbal messages as more honest reflections of
what he is really thinking or feeling.

Based on this, and all other stated findings, we can reasonably conclude that further
serious investigation of the effects of nonverbal signalization in the classroom could
result in extremely useful pedagogical information.

Effective teaching depends on successful communication and successful

communication - on successful. By definition of NVC (non-verbal communication),
without uttering a single word, teachers and students constantly send messages to each
other.

In this paper, I highlight certain aspects of nonverbal classroom communication. There is

certainly much more to explore in this area, and this discussion encouraged me to pursue
the topic further.

In writing this paper my primary interest was to gather useful knowledge for my own
later reference. Wonderful books I found on this topic were real discovery because this is
the first time I am dealing with this with topic in this way.
Before this, I just knew from experience that there is extremely powerful nonverbal
communication going on in every classroom all the time and.

Being aware of this, I thought it could be useful to find out more about it? - and I was
right. At first I tried to describe my observations in real classrooms but it was too subtle
for describing and without any experimental or other objective evidence (I could not
interview students or teacher after class and ask them if they really felt like I thought in
some particular moment).
So I took this approach with intention to benefit from already known resources instead of
discovering new knowledge.
Literature:

Communication in the Classroom: ?????????????????????????????????

Thomas Hurt
?????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????Michael Scott
?????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????James McCroeskey

Nonverbal Communication in the Classroom: ????Allan Rollman

Nonverbal Communication:
??????????????????????????????????????????Patrick Miller

Bodily Communication:
????????????????????????????????????Michael Argyle

Nonverbal Communication in human interactions: ??????????Mark Knapp

?????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????Judith Hall
?????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Web sites:

http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/linguist/issues/9/9-230.html
http://www.ling.gu.se/~biljana/gestures2.html
http://mambo.ucsc.edu/psl/nsf.txt
http://www.ditto.com/