Research on Body Language And Non-Verbal Communication in the Classroom

1. Your body tells more
than your words!
Feliciano Navarro de Haz
Professor Noelia Tintilay
Análisis del Discurso
Científico y Técnico
2014

2. Research Design
• Problem: How can body language help teachers see through their students?
Can classroom management be improved by the appropriate use of
body language and nonverbal communication?
• Objectives: Create a tool to help teachers build positive rapport with their students.
Bring awareness over the importance of body language and its
underlying meanings.
Enable teachers to read nonverbal expressions with a didactic purpose.
• Justification: Reading about body language I became aware of the connections it
has with teaching theories like NLP, TPR, and CLT.

3. Research Design
• Plausibility: I carried out interviews to 14 teachers, 2 psichologists and 1 psycho-pedagogue. In addition, I
elaborated a questionaire to which 73 students responded.
I consulted Paul Ekman’s and Chris Caswell’s Works on body language, along with web pages related to that topic.
• Theortical background: “The teacher’s primary responsibility is response-ability” (Peter Wilberg)
Body language is a voluntary movement of a part of the body in relation to an emotion, a thought or a sense.
Teachers are having lessons in how to read children’s body language and modify their own to tackle bad behaviour
in the classroom. (Henry, The Telegraph)
I Salta,most teachers claim to have taken courses in classroom management but not in body language specifically.
• Methodology: After conducting a survey investigation, this work adopted the form of a Descriptive Research.

4. Chapter 1: What is Nonverbal Communication?
• Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages. It has got
two dimensions; verbal (7%) and nonverbal (93 %). (Elfatihi 2006)
• Nonverbal Communication refers to all aspects of message exchange
without the use of words. These include:

5. Chapter 1: What is Nonverbal Communication?

6. Chapter 1: What is Nonverbal Communication?
• Universal Body Language: Seven facial expressions of emotion.

7. Chapter 1: What is Nonverbal Communication?
• Cross-cultural Body Language: Differences may show up in ways such as
physical touch, conversational distance, interactions between genders and use
of gestures.
• Reliability: 1- It backs up the limitations words have.
2- It reinforces the expression of feelings.
3- It is difficult to control.
4- It is more spontaneous than words.

8. Chapter 1: What is Nonverbal Communication?
• Categorization of nonverbal communication based on Zoric, Smid et al
(2007):
Chronemics, Vocalics, Haptics, Kinesics, Oculesics, Olfatics, Physical
Appearance, Proxemics, Silence and Symbolism.

9. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Why nonverbal communication for teachers?
With the advent of Communicative Language Teaching, communication became the
pivotal focus, which brought nonverbal communication to the surface (Elfatihi 2).
Verbal communication (7%) stimulates cognitive meanings for the students, while
nonverbal communication (93%) stimulates the student’s feelings and attitudes towards
the material (McCroskey 2006).
As teachers we look for confirmation that our students are grasping the concepts, and
identifying student’s nonverbal cues will help (Brock 1).

10. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Nonverbal signals in the classroom and their meanings.
Visual signals are in the spot light. These include:
1. Spacing and posture (proxemics and kinesics).
• Interpersonal distance (personal, social, public)
touch (intimate distance)
and sitting arrangement.

11. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom.
• Where do you prefer the teacher?
• Close 10 %
• Not far 75 %
• Far 15 %
• Do you like the teacher to move around the classroom?
• Yes 89 %
• No 11 %

12. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom.
• How often do you want the teacher to do so?
• Always 34 %
• Sometimes 62 %
• Never 4 %
• Which desk arrangement to you prefer?
• Pairs 53 %
• Circle 32 %
• Single rows 15 %

13. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Posture often indicates what a person’s intentions are.
Leaning Forward Leaning Away Leaning Over

14. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
2. Gaze (oculetics and kinesics). It is related to interpersonal spacing. People distance
themselves by looking down or away to avoid eye contact (Neill and Caswell 11).
Elfatihi claims that eye contact is a major requirement for classroom communication.
It serves, primarily, three functions:
• Comprehension checking.
• Motivation.
• Class control.

15. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• You look at te teacher when… :
• You understand 11 %
• You want to understand 81 %
• You do not understand 8 %
• How often do you like the teacher to look at you?
• Always 12 %
• Sometimes 74 %
• Never 14 %

16. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Do you like to provide answers when the teacher looks at you?
• Yes 74 %
• No 26 %
Eye contact establishes the background for communication.

17. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
3. Head position and facial expressions (Kinesics).
• The effects of head position are often the same as those of posture on a
smaller scale (Neill and Caswell 11).
A raised chin, like stanting over someone is dominant.
A bowed head, like kneeling down is non-threatening.

18. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Facial expressions are both, easy and difficult to interpret.
• You can tell the mood of the teacher from his/her… :
• Speaking tone 42 %
• Gestures 12 %
• Facial expressions 45 %

19. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Smiling and frowning are the most prominent classroom expressions.
• Facial expressions which cause confusion:

20. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
4. Hand gestures (Kinesics). These can be grouped in:
• Speech-related gestures (two purposes)

21. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Relationship-oriented gestures. These include quick movements like pointing, and
holding up a hand. There are also more static gestures related to status and
confidence, which may show up during transitions from one class activity to another
(Neill and Caswell 90).
• There are three main objectives for using gestures in EFL classrooms, according to
Elfatihi:
• Presenting language items.
• Providing feedback.
• Managing the classroom.

22. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Do the teacher’s gestures help you to understand?
• Yes 85 %
• No 15 %
• What should the teacher use to explain?
• Speech 5 %
• Gestures 1 %
• Both 93 %

23. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• What should the teacher use to point at you?
• Finger 32 %
• Open palm 68 %
• A finger point is downgrading and arrogant while an open palm conveys
more confort and value.

24. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
5. Intonation and pace of speech.
• Effective teachers have animated intonation; “flat”, unethusiastic speech
shows uncertainty (Neill and Caswell 98).
• The teachers interviewed for this research claim to make good use of
intonation patterns to communicate ideas, get attention, command authority,
etc. Most of them hardly ever resort to yelling.

25. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Two well known classroom issues are: behaviour deviancy and making
confrontations.
1. Deviancy is non-compliance with rules. Disruption represents a challenge
to authority. There are two categories in behaviour deviancy. The first are
defined as “open challenges”, the second are called “closed
challenges”(Neill and Caswell 51).

26. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Open challenges are characterised by:
o A high level of control checks.
o Variation in gaze direction.
o Visual involvement of prepherial pupils.
o Postural changes.
o Low task involvement.
o Increased noise level.
o Willingness to argue with the teacher.

27. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
• Closed challenges are characterised by:
o Limited gaze direction.
o Directed conversation.
o Relaxed posture.
o Few, or no control checks.
o Rapid head and arm movement.
o Increased smiling.
o Sporadic involvement in the work.

28. Chapter 2: Nonverbal Communication in the
Classroom
2. Making confrontations.
• In order to deal with open challenges a teacher needs to exert calm, desicive
control, using rules to depersonalise conflicts, and friendly relationships to
make conformity rewarding.
• Two techiniques that can be effective are: showing up, and confrontation in
privacy.

29. Chapter 3: Case Studies
• In order to obtain reliable results, different techniques were used ranging
from spontaneous observation and interviews to close ended questionnaires.
10 of the respondents were teachers of English from different provinces in
Argentina, and 2 of them from England.
• The main reason for interviewing mostly EFL teachers lies on the fact that
the objectives of an EFL classroom interaction is learning a foreign language
of which students have little or no command yet.

30. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Monica Jorgensen from Santiago del Estero (living in Salta).
Teaching Experience: More than 30 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Hand gestures, silence and intonation variation.
Anecdote: “The invisible student”.

31. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Melisa Villalba from Santa Fe.
Teaching Experience: Approximately 6 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Eye contact, and touch.
Anecdote: “Relieving caress”

32. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Analia from Buenos Aires.
Teaching Experience: More tan 10 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Eye contact, silence, and hand gestures.
Anecdote: “Staring to confront deviancy”

33. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Juliana from Capital Federal
Teaching Experience: 6 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Hand gestures, folded arms, serious face, voice.
Anecdote: “The talkative boy”

34. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Agustina from Salta.
Teaching Experience: 10 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Eye contact.
Anecdote: “Queue up!”

35. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Sabrina Altamiranda from Jujuy.
Teaching Experience: 2 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Eye contact, and moving around.
Anecdote: “Getting closer”

36. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Alec Macnaughton from London, UK.
Teaching Experience: 10 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: loud voice, clear and consistent expectations.
Anecdote: “Pack up, sit, and leave at my command”.

37. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Mauro Romero from Salta.
Teaching Experience: 3 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Loud voice, hand gestures, facial expressions.
Anecdote: “Asking the obvious?”

38. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Andrea Martinez from Salta.
Teaching Experience: 8 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Tone of voice.
Anecdote: “Creating a positive atmosphere”

39. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Fernanda from Salta.
Teaching Experience: 2 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Loud voice, hand gestures.
Anecdote: “Exhaust the naugthy one”

40. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Laura Singh from Salta.
Teaching Experience: 6 years.
Primary nonverbal cues: Voice, hand gestures, moving around.
Anecdote: “Breathe in, breathe out”.

41. Chapter 3: Case Studies
Teacher: Paula Yvette Smyth from UK.
Teaching Experience: Not specified.
Primary nonverbal cues: Voice, moving around, facial expressions.
Anecdote: “Talk to the wall”.

42. Concluding Remarks
• Teachers can learn how to see through their students in order to evaluate
how to assist them.
• Classroom management is complemented by body language.
• Nonverbal communication can help to improve the teaching practice and
learning process.
• The study managed to bring some valuable contributions to the domain of
teaching and learning.

43. Bibliography
• Amos, Julie Ann. "Body Language Across Cultures." Body Language Expert. N.p., 2012. Web. 07 Aug. 2013. <http://www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/bodylanguageacrosscultures.html>.
• Breed, and Colauita. Looking, Blinking and Sitting: Nonverbal Dynamics in the Classroom. N.p.: Journal of Communication, 2006. Print.
• Brock, Barry E. Student Nonverbal Communication in the Classroom. Thesis. Center for Teaching Excellence, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2011. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
• Ekman, Paul. Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life. New York: Times, 2003. Print.
• Helweg-Larsen M. Cunningham, To Nod or Not to Nod: An Observational Study of Nonverbal Communication and Status in Female and Male College Students. N.p.: n.p., 2004. Print.
• James Millar. Secrets of Body Language. 2008. DVD.
• John J. Okon, Role of Non-Verbal Communication in Education 2011.
• Julie Henry. "Teachers Get Lessons in Body Language." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7229102/Teachers-get-lessons-in-body-
language.html>.
• Mccroskey, J. C., and Richmond V. P. Nonverbal Communication in Instructional Contexts, The SAGE Handbook of Nonverbal Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2006.
• Miller, Patrick W. Body Language: An Illustrated Introduction for Teachers. Munster, IN: Patrick W. Miller and Associates, 2005. Print.
• Mohamed Elfatihi, The Role of Nonverbal Communication in Beginners’ EFL Classrooms (2006)
• Neill, S. R. St. J., and Chris Caswell. Body Language for Competent Teachers. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.
• Pelham, Libby. "Guide to Body Language Cues in Oppositional Children." Guide to Body Language Cues in Oppositional Children. N.p., 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/guide-body-language-
cues-oppositional-children.html>.
• Rosas, Jesús E. Lenguage Corporal En 40 Días. N.p.: n.p., 2011. Print.
• White, John, and John Gardner. The Classroom X-factor: The Power of Body Language and Nonverbal Communication in Teaching. 2012
• Zoric, G. Smid. Facial Gestures: Taxonomy and Applications of Non-verbal, Non-emotional Facial Displays for Embodied Conversation Agents. N.p.: Nishida, 2007. Print.