The Analysis of Teachers" Nonverbal Communication on Teaching in Middle School

贺汀

（云南師范大学 云南昆明 650500）

Abstract： Teaching is a process， delivering messages via both verbal and nonverbal communications. However， in teaching reality， nonverbal communication is considered an unconscious behavior. Thus， most of the teachers and students do not realize and neglect the importance of teachers nonverbal behavior in teaching class. Therefore， this article， based on the theory of the nonverbal communication， is going to explore the functions and effects achieved by teachers nonverbal communication in teaching. Meanwhile， four strategies are put forward after the analysis of the current situation of teaching and the factors affecting the practicing teachers nonverbal communication.

Key words： Nonverbal Communication； Teachers Nonverbal Communication； Teachers in Middle School

1.Introduction

It has been reported that by Grant & Hennings[1] that 82 percent of the gestures which are used in a classroom by the teacher are nonverbal while only 18 percent are verbal. From the recent research， the analyses of teachers nonverbal communication （NC） are mainly from the perspective of teachers verbal communication. Therefore， this article， based on the theory of the nonverbal communication， is going to explore the functions and effects achieved by teachers NC in teaching. Meanwhile， several strategies will be put forward after the analysis of the current situation of teaching and the problems arose from practicing teachersNC.

2.Literature Review

Knapp[2] said： “the phrase nonverbal communication refers to communication effect by means other than by words.”

There are mainly three theoretical foundations of teachers NC， i.e. the communication between teachers and students， the gradation of peoples need， the theory of educational aesthetics.

Being a teacher， acting as the model of others will be actions and behaviors both in a broad and narrow sense. But Zhou Pengshen[3]，taking teachers profession into consideration， found that teachers NC had some new features： Demonstrating； Self-consciousness； Opening； Professional.

In recent years， scholars[4][5] have reached common understanding that usually nonverbal communication has six functions： Repeating， Complementing， Substituting， Regulating， Adapting and Contradicting. Zhou Pengsheng[3] thought that nonverbal behavior of teachers must have three main functions in classroom teaching： Supporting； Communicating； Stimulating.

3. The Current Situation and Factors Affecting Teachers in Practicing Teachers NC

Through interviewing these teachers， it is obviously to know that these teachers in their daily teaching paid much more attention to their verbal communication than their nonverbal communication； the unsuitable practicing of teachers nonverbal communication is another factor； the personal habits or character also accounts for a part.

Firstly， the schools have attached little importance to teachers nonverbal behavior in the process of teaching. Thus， there is almost no systematic training about how to conduct teachers nonverbal behavior during their teaching. Secondly， the current situation in China is that students parents paid more attention to the growth of their childrens grade instead of the way that their childrens teaching employed. Teachers accordingly will spend more time and energy preparing for their clear and logical verbal behaviors instead of their nonverbal behavior.

4.The Strategies for Improving Teachers NC

Given the fact there are still some problems in practicing teachers nonverbal behavior， the following four suggestions are put forward.

Firstly， it is an essential step to renew the idea of education to implement the quality education. In addition， it is important to improve teachers abilities to employ teachers nonverbal behavior. To achieve this goal， teachers ought to get the systematic training about teachers nonverbal behavior. In that case， they will know how to use it to promote their teaching. Moreover， Teachers are supposed to utilize teachers nonverbal behavior in a proper way and take full advantage of its positive effect in teaching. Finally， teachers should release their pressure from various kinds of ways so that they can have proper time and energy to come out some special ways to fully and properly use their nonverbal behavior.

5. Conclusion

From the above-mentioned， it is obvious to know that teachers nonverbal behavior plays an essential role in teaching both to students and to teachers themselves. If teachers can employ their nonverbal behavior properly， it will make a great contribution to the successful teaching. On the contrary， if not， it will impair the function of the teaching. Although there are some problems and difficulties， four suggestions are put forward to give a hand. It is profound to study teachers nonverbal behavior at the present as well as in the future.

References：

[1]Grant， B. M. & Hennings， D. G. （1971）， The Teacher Moves： An Analysis of Nonverbal Activity， New York： Teachers College Press.

[2]Knapp， M. L. （1978/1992）， Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction （2nd ed.）， Orlando： Holt， Rinehart and Winston， Inc.

[3]周鵬生 （2006）， 教师非言语行为研究简论， 北京：民族出版社.

[4]Samovar. L. A. & Porter. R. E. & Stefani， L. A. （2000）， Communication Between Cultures （3rd ed.）， Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[5]Jabusch & Littlejoin （1990）， Elements of Speech Communication. （2nd ed.）， California： Collegiate Press.