时间：2022-10-29 04:52:32
1. Introduction
Language is a way for communication， but people can use the other way which is called nonverbal communication to express their thoughts feelings and attitudes. This kind of communication is that people do not use language to communicate with others （Hu Wenzhong， 1999）. In the middle of 1960’s， Rivers （1946）， an American applied linguist， brought the achievement in nonverbal communication into foreign language teaching （Wang Jun and Duan Chunyun， 1999）. With which the foreign language teachers realize that there was a close relationship between the research of nonverbal communication and foreign language teaching. And as a teacher， he or she should nurture and train the students’ understanding of nonverbal communication （Guo Zhongcai， 2001）.
2. Nonverbal communication
From 1960’s， researchers began to study the nonverbal communication. The pioneer of nonverbal communication is Charlie Chaplin， who sent the nonverbal messages successfully in silent screen to audiences （Wang Fuxiang， 1988）. And what is nonverbal communication and what the functions about it？
People have two ways to communicate： verbal communication and nonverbal communication. When people communicate with each other， they use nonverbal communication unconsciously. The researchers gave the similar definitions about it. Lin Dajin pointed out the nonverbal communication is the communicational behaviors that a man （or men） does （or do） not use language but paralanguage to send the messages to the person （or several persons）. In a word， nonverbal communication is the way to converse with each other without using language.
We use substitution in nonverbal communication when we perform some action instead of speaking. When a friend tells your shortage in the public， you may give him or her on angry stare. Your friend can understand your meaning.
The necessity for learners of English
As foreign language learners， try to understand the different cultures is necessary. As we all know， nonverbal communication has something to do with the culture. Nonverbal communication often expresses people’s thoughts and attitudes. The different nonverbal behavior has the different forms of sending messages. If people want to make a successful communication， they should not only learn something more about culture， but also learn the messages of the expressions. The purpose of English learners is that to learn English is the way to communicate with foreigners and try to understand the various cultures. Therefore， to understand the different cultures from different countries are necessary and it can help people understand the real meanings of the nonverbal behaviors when they communicate with each other.
3. Teachers’ nonverbal behaviors for classroom teaching
Teaching is a process of communication， teachers teach the students the theories by using the professional language and they should have the professional knowledge. After we use language， human being communicate with others mainly use language， at the same time， nonverbal communication does also have a useful effect during communication. For example， when teachers explain a word C“sneeze” to students， in order to make them grasp its meaning vividly， teachers will not use language to explain it. They may use the nonverbal behavior to show the word’s meaning. When teachers ask a question to several students， teachers may make some facial expressions or use the different volume to show whether the answers are right or not. Students can catch the meanings of the teachers’ paralanguage.
Huang Hebin （2001） stated that， among the style of teaching， there is the Total Physical Response， which was developed by American psychologist J. Asher. Adapted to the learning mother tongue from the native children， Asher exploits this method of teaching. Teacher orders the students to do some actions while the teacher asks them what they should do. Asher thought this process can be considered as a play that “teacher is the director， students are actors”. Although this method is interesting and exciting for students’ learning， but grammar is difficult to show by behaviors. Many researchers developed many methods of teaching to improve students’ interest of learning. And a lot of them suggest using the reasonable and practical nonverbal behavior. In language teaching， researchers try their best to develop the good method to teach， and they realize the importance of nonverbal behavior in language teaching.
3.1 Importance for students of English
Teachers’ nonverbal behavior of classroom teaching is also necessary. It can help teachers to express themselves clearly， and make the courses interesting and exciting. The students can accept the knowledge vividly and lively.
The purpose of learning English for students is to communicate with foreigners， and absorb the useful knowledge from them. However， we can easily find out， people communicate with each other do not only use language but also use the body language and gestures. Students should learn how to use language to express their minds and how to understand the nonverbal behavior to complement the verbal communication during the conversing with each other. B.M.Grant and D.G. Hennings researched that， in classroom teaching， the effect of teaching =82 percent of teachers’ nonverbal behavior （such as facial expression and gestures） + 18 percent of the verbal behavior. Even Mehranbian pointed out 93 percent the efficient messages spread by nonverbal elements.
3.2 Use nonverbal communication reasonably while teaching
Although nonverbal communication is important in communication， everyone should use it reasonably， especially during teaching. Kinesics is an important point of nonverbal communication during the process of foreign language teaching. Use it reasonably while the teaching can have a good effect on classroom teaching. Such as， teachers can walk around classroom and relax the students’ eyes. Meanwhile， teacher should pay attention to his or her eye contact. That is the key point for communication between teachers and students. In a word， teacher should make good use of the kinesics and use it reasonably， that can lead the class air relaxed and happy （Guo Zhongcai， 2001）.
3.3 Risk at maximizing the importance of nonverbal communication while teaching
If we pay too much attention to nonverbal communication， it may lead us to go the other extreme. With the thorough going research in this field， some people begin to pay more attention to nonverbal behavior. Some of researchers overemphasize nonverbal communication’s functions. In classroom teaching， we admit some incomparable functions of nonverbal behavior； we also need to realize its limitations. Verbal communication and nonverbal communication are two ways of communication. But both of which have the effect on communication. Teacher teaches students knowledge by using his or her words. It is necessary to use some nonverbal behavior to complement the explanations and to make the class air relaxed. Thus it is necessary for teacher to balance the relationship between verbal and nonverbal communication. Neither should the role of verbal behavior be overemphasized， not the functions of nonverbal communication are exaggerated. Remember to risk at maximizing the importance of nonverbal communication while teaching.
3.4 Avoid the exaggerated nonverbal behavior while teaching
Avoiding the exaggerated nonverbal behavior while teaching is helpful， and teacher should keep the using of verbal behavior and nonverbal behavior in balance consciously （Wang Jun and Duan Chunyun， 2001）. Does everything should obey the rule and respect its limitation. While teaching， teacher should avoid the affected nonverbal behaviors. For example， when teacher wants to conclude the article’s main idea， in order to make his or her expression wonderful and vivid， he or she may use some gestures to complement his or her language. At this moment， the teacher’s behaviors may make students feel uncomfortable， because no one likes be interloped exaggerated behaviors during listening or speaking. If the teacher wants to attract the students’ attention， he or she can use the different intonation or volume or stress when he or she says some words or sentences. But everyone does not welcome the exaggerated nonverbal behavior.
4. Conclusion
Communication is not only the efficient approach to language learning， but also the objective of foreign language teaching. In foreign language teaching process， we should not only train the verbal communication ability of students， but also nurture the nonverbal communication ability. We should nurture students’ nonverbal communication awareness. Before we improve the students’ ability of communication， we should improve ourselves in many ways. We should understand the importance of nonverbal behavior during the foreign language teaching， at the same time， we should control the using of nonverbal behaviors much too frequently. Thus， we can deal with the relationship between the verbal and nonverbal communication naturally and in balance， and remember to nurture students’ nonverbal communication awareness relaxed and consciously or unconsciously.
References
Anderson， P. “Explaining Intercultural Differences in Nonverbal Communication” in Samovar. L. A. and Porter （eds）， 1991 Intercultural Communication： A Reader. Belmont， CA： Wadsworth Publishing Company， 1991.
（作者单位：甘肃省兰州市第八十二中学）