An Empirical Study On Teachers’ Nonverbal Communication In English Classroom Teaching Of High Schools

Human communication can be divided into two kinds：verbalcommunication and nonverbal communication. However, until1950s, as anemerging and developing subject, nonverbal communication gradually attracted theattention of sociologists, psychologists and linguists. Generally speaking,nonverbal communication means that which happens wherever a person receivesany message transmitted by another without using any words．Nowadays, most of the nonverbal communication research in China isconcentrated on Chinese and foreign culture differences. Even in the pedagogicaldomain, the research of nonverbal communication is closely linked with collegeEnglish classroom teaching. Through investigating teenagers’ physical and mentalcharacteristics and cognitive development, the author finds it more appropriate toconduct the research of nonverbal communication in English classroom of high school.It can strengthen classroom management, raise students’ learning interests andimprove results in teaching. This thesis studies systematically and scientificallythe definition, source, classification and function. There are three major researchquestions:1) What are the students’ views about teachers’ nonverbal communication?2) What is the present situation of nonverbal communication used by teachers inEnglish classroom teaching of high schools?3) What are the problems makingteachers’ nonverbal communication inadequate to satisfy students’ needs?The author did a survey in three high schools of Yiyang district. This surveylasts for a semester.320students from six classes and six English teachers areinvolved in this study. Through questionnaires, interviews and classroomobservation, the author found that high school students not only pay muchattention to teachers’ nonverbal communication but also have their ownpreferences. They are more interested in the encouraging, friendly, warmnonverbal communications. Compared with students’ views, the actual practicenonverbal communication by teachers seems not optimistic. Teachers’ nonverbalcommunication can affect classroom teaching in different aspects, including retentionof lectures, relationship of teachers and students, students’ participation in class andhigh school classroom management. Based on the analysis of the results, the author finds that such problems making teachers’ nonverbal communication inadequate tosatisfy students’ needs as teachers’ traditional concepts, the absence of nonverbalcommunication skills training, indifference to feedback and misusing of nonverbalcommunication.