Paralinguistics Assignment

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
BS Translation and Interpretation

5th semester
IMPORTANCE OF GESTURING AND PARALINGUISTIC
CHARACTERISTICS WITH EXAMPLES
Submitted to: Ma’am Mehak

Submitted by: Qanita Masood
Introduction:
Non-verbal communication refers to ways through which people communicate such as
gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and posture and so on. We focus so much on our
fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation we fail to realize that communication is much more than
conveying ideas through words. According to experts, only 7% of a message is conveyed
through words and the rest is expressed without words using gestures, facial expressions, and
eye contact and so on.
Paralinguistics:
Definition:
“Paralinguistics is the aspect of spoken communication that does not involve words. These may
add emphasis or shades of meaning to what people say. Some definitions limit this to verbal
communication that is not words.”
Historical Background:
The term ‘paralinguistic’ was coined in 1940 by an American linguist A.J. Brought in by Hill. As a
field of study of paralinguistics, we can take a non-verbal communication. Phonetic units, facial
expression, gestures, hand gestures, and more are used directly to facilitate communication.
Importance:
Paralinguistic features of language are extremely important as they can change the message
completely. Tone and pitch of voice is commonly dealt with at all language levels, but a fuller
consideration of paralinguistics is often left to very advanced courses.
Characteristics:
Examples of paralinguistic features are body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone and
pitch of voice.
● Body Language or Kinesics:

Body language is the unspoken element of communication that we use to reveal our
true feelings and emotions. It's the relaxed facial expression that breaks out into a
genuine smile – with mouth upturned and eyes wrinkled. It can be a tilt of the head that
shows you're listening, sitting or standing upright to convey interest, or directing
attention with hand gestures. It can also be taking care to avoid a defensive, arms-
crossed posture, or restlessly tapping your feet. When you can "read" signs like these,
you can understand the complete message of what someone is telling you. You'll be
more aware of people's reactions to what you say and do. And you'll be able to adjust
your body language to appear more positive, engaging, and approachable.
● Gestures:
Gesture is a fundamental component of language that contributes meaningful and
unique information to a spoken message and reflects the speaker’s underlying
knowledge and experiences. Theoretical perspectives of speech and gesture propose
that they share a common conceptual origin and have a tightly integrated relationship,
overlapping in time, meaning, and function to enrich the communicative context. We
review a robust literature from the field of psychology documenting the benefits of
gesture for communication for both speakers and listeners, as well as its important
cognitive functions for organizing spoken language, and facilitating problem-solving,
learning, and memory. Representational gestures are symbolic and can only be
interpreted within the context of speech, in contrast to other non-gesture hand
movements such as emblems which are conventionalized signs (e.g., an umpire crossing
and extending his arms to indicate the runner is “safe”) or pantomimes which are
imitations of motor actions and can replace speech entirely. Representational gestures
are the focus of this paper for the meaningful role they play in spoken language.
Importance:
Gestures come in handy, especially to portray you as a confident person, in control of
his/ her self. The right gestures used at the right time can enhance the meaning of the
spoken words and even add another layer to them. They, in fact, become the second
line of communication, in addition to the spoken word. A firm handshake, for instance,
reveals a person’s confidence level and self- belief and tells the other person that you
mean business. A nod of the head during a conversation conveys acknowledgement and
shows that you are focussed on the conversation. Conversely, inappropriate gestures
can reduce the import of the spoken word and create an unfavourable impression. For
instance, people who bite their nails, stare at the ground, sweat due to anxiety, reveal
their lack of confidence as well as nervousness, which works against them and leaves a
poor impression.
● Facial Expressions:
Many facial expressions are universal, such as happiness, sadness, and surprise. Others
though, are not. When reading a child’s facial expressions, a teacher must be careful not
to jump to conclusions. How cultures use facial expressions differ. For example,
Japanese children often refrain from showing emotion through facial expression –
especially negative emotions. Along the same lines, reading eyebrow movement is very
telling in many cultures.
● Eye contact:
Eye contact provides necessary feedback for conversations to take place such as turn
taking, as well as beginning and ending conversations. The amount of eye contact
deemed appropriate is very culturally based – too much or too little can show boredom,
intimidation, or disrespect.
Conclusion:
Paralinguistic cues are powerful enough to make even good news sound bad if not matched to
the message. Just as the integration of multiple empirical senses heighten the experience of an
event, so does the presence of multiple paralinguistic cues, working in harmony, improve the
communication impact and internalization by the recipient.
References:
6 Important Aspects Of Non-Verbal Communication - Life Skills (introworldeducation.com)
Frontiers | The Role of Gesture in Communication and Cognition: Implications for Understanding and
Treating Neurogenic Communication Disorders | Human Neuroscience (frontiersin.org)
Paralinguistics | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC
Paralinguistic Communication (gpbhadrak.org)

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NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES

BS Translation and Interpretation

Submitted to: Ma’am Mehak

● Body Language or Kinesics:

Paralinguistics | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

Paralinguistic Communication (gpbhadrak.org)

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