body language used in English teaching英语本科毕业论文.doc

IntroductionAs everybody knows , the classroom teaching is one of the most important ways that the studnts learn English . As far as the English teaching in the shools is concerned , teachers have to arouse the students interest so that they may learn . There are many ways to arouse the studentsinterest and help them to learn better , body language used in English teaching is one of them .Body language is an important media through people communication with each other . “ It refers to the patterns of facial expressions and gestures that people use to express their feelings in communication . (He , 1999:65) The specialist who studied on body language reaearch called Fen Lafle . Angles , once said :“ Once it wase lost , a baby couldt have grown into a normal person . Its also true to the juveniles . In shool education , body language play a positive role in cultivating the students characters . For teachers are usually respected , and factually , what or how the teachers say and do will possibly imitate by the students (sometimes subconsciously ). In a word , teachers graceful body language helps to improve the students “artistic-appreciation “(Bi , 1999:38 )And moral charater . If the students develop a wonderful body language , which will possibly leads them to form an optimistic and active feeling , they will surely have a more smooth interpersonal relation . The affection of teachers body language on the students is reflected not only by establishing a good example , but also shortening the teacher-student arrangement by which a more harmonious studying atmosphere is created . As a matter of fact , teachers friendly appearance can greatly encourage the students studying enthusiasm . Furthermore , the charateristic of theoretic and abstraction of knowledge also requires the vivid , dramatic and an accessible gestures to make it specific and figurative . As a result , the students interest is motivated and the effect of teaching is greatly improved. I The classification of Body Language Body language is one of sub-branch of nonverbal communication ; the same as “nonverbal communication” (Deng,1989:109), it can respect，contradict ,complement , substitute , and regulate verbal meanings . In teaching classrooms , it has been endowed with pedagogical functions and used as a teaching assistant . Being interested in body language and its appplications in language teaching classrooms , the author conducts an empirical study on teacher body language in college English teaching classrooms . Although it is limited to Jilin University with 225 students under survey and 10 teachers observed , the researching data and results reveal some suggestive findings on this topic . Among them , several items are confirmed : such as the gestures , posture , facial expression , eye contact , voice variation and proximity . 1.1 Gestures According to KnappHall , there are many different types of gestures (and variations of these types ), but the most frequently studied are the following ones : Speech independently . Such kinds of gestures are also known emblems or autonomous gestures . They are not tied to speech , but have a direct verbal translation or dictionary definition , ustually consisting of a word or two or a phrase . The most typical one is an OK , or a “ V ”for Victory hand gesture in the American culture Speech-independent gestures may be used when verbal channels are blocked or fail , but they are also used during verbal interaction .(Bavelas , 1976:197 )For example , a person may be telling the story of another persons strange behavior and may conclude by making a gestures that communicates , “ Hes crazy . In this case the circular gesture at the side of the head substitutes for the entire sentence . Speech related . These gestures are sometimes called illustrators , which are directly tied to , or accompany speech ofen serving to illustrate what is being said verbally . (Kendon , 1984:198 )Many attempts have been made to clarify the various types of this kind of gestures , by using different terms , but the most common ones are as follows : l Gestures related to the speakers referent-concrete or abstract . l Gestures indicating the speakers relationship to the referent .l Gestures that act as visual punctuation for the speakers discourse .l Gestures that assist in the regulation and organization of the spoke dialogue between two interactions .(Kendon, 1984:198 )1.2 Postures Knapp and Hall states that postures is normally studied in conjuction with other nonerbal signals to determine the degree of attention or involvement , the degree of status relative to the other interactive partner , for exemple , can be associatd with higher involvement , more liking , and lower status in studies where the interact ants do not know each other very well . Posture is also a key indicator of the intensify of some emotional states , for exemple , the dropping posture associated with sadness or the rigid , posture associated with anger . The extent to which the communications mirror each others posture may also reflect rapport or an attempt to build rapport . Postures is vital in the face-to face conversation in that it could indicate degree of alertness or sleepness , and some more specific reactions as well . Listeners are bored they prop their heads up , if interested they lean forward , they disagree they tend to fold their arms (Argyle , 1992:11)1.3 Facial Expressions Faces are also used to facilitate and inhibit responses in daily interaction “parts of the face are used to :l Open and close channels of communication .l Complement or qualify verbal and /or nonverbal responses .l Replace speech .(KnappHall, 1977:334)The most commonly studied facial expressions are anger , sadness surprise , happiness , fear , and disgust . The most frequent studied areas are the mouth and eye regions on the face . Chovil identified four ways the face is used in the manager of conversation . The most frequent function is syntactic display . Syntantic facial displays act as markers for words and clauses ; they are directed toward the organizational structure of the conversation , marking beginnings , endings, restarts , continuations , and emphasis . The facial actions made by the speakers that are directly connected with the content of what being said are called semantic displays . They may be redundant with the verbal behavior , or they may involve additional commentary on the spoke words . The face could also provide listener responses . These are primarily facial displays that facilitate the flow of interaction but also include those than give personal reactions and seemingly empathic displays in the form of minicry . The last kind mentioned by Chovil is called facial adapters , which are biting ones lip or a twitch resulting from physiologial activity . II. The Necessity and Importance of Using Body Language in English Teaching English teaching is a key part of the shool education . With the English teaching methods reform , more and more English teachers organise the teaching process in English so that they may realize the “Communicated English (Shen , 1999:96 ) . The Communicated English means that teachers instruct the students and explain questions basically in English , and the students are also required to use English in class . Contemporarily , however , the students in the middle school cant speak very well ; neither can they understand why they should use different tones in different time or situation ; their vocabulary and expressive ability are limited too . According to the studentspresent level and practical situation , body language is required . For example , a teacher gives an instrution : “ You two , please come to the blackboard . The students can easily understand it if the teacher looks at some two students . Then , the teacher points to the blackboard clearly . Furthermore , teachers usually have to explain some language points , and at this time , they have to differentiate the classroom expressions and the examples . Take it for example , we ought to use the form “ have done such as Have you finished that job jet ? To made the students understand clearly , a teacher has lota of ways . To do it by speed , reading “we ought to use the form have done”, and reads slowly when giving examples ; he can also get the effect by repeating the example Have you finished that job jet ; a more frequently way is to use gestures to lay emphasis on the key points when he said “have done”, he reaches out his index finger , pauses in the air , and then gives out the exemple . This action will usually give the students a deep impression . From the above we can learn , the use of body language in English teaching is necessary and practical . In the English teaching , “ body language is frequently used to improve the teaching effect and the students ability” ( Ding Hao , 2001 :87 ).2.1 . For Teaching Young Learners English Now more and more young learners start to learn English. It is popular for them to learn English when they are still very young. They have no or little vocabulary. So if a teacher wants to teach them well，body language will play an important and necessary part in the teaching Obviously, if the teacher can use body language well in teaching, it will be likely to lead the children to success in language learning and it will make the lessons a pleasant experience for them. For instance, when we are teaching the children how to say hello when they meet their friends，we can teach them to say Hello directly. Meanwhile，with the words we may shake their hands and smile to them. By observing these gestures, they will soon know how to greet when they meet their friends. Then when we teach good morning and good evening we can also make gestures as below: Then the children will understand that whats the meaning of “morning” and “evening”. Also they can practice these words with their classmates. Another example when we are teaching words about the parts of our body, we can make it like this: We can make some gestures by using body movement to teach some actions to the children, too: We may sit down and stand up to explain “sit” and “stand”, and point out our fingers to explain “up” and “down”. So we can also use the gesture like a picture to show the action to the children. Because the children are very young，they all like playing games. If teachers make some activities for the children and use body language as much as possible, for sure, the children will get a deep impression，and they can also remember what is taught to them very well. 2.2 . For Classroom English Teaching in School Body language in teaching is an effective way in terms of language teaching method, which can be proved either in language teaching or language theory or in practice. So by enforcing the study of body language and making it scientific and systematic, the body language will play a more important role in real classroom teaching and in teaching method research. English teaching is a key part of school education. With the reform of the English teaching methods, more and more English teachers organize their teaching process in English, so that they may realize the communicative English in class. The communicative English also means that teachers instruct and explain basically in English, and the students are also required to use English in class contemporarily. However, the students in schools cant speak English very well; neither can they understand why they should use different tones in different time or situations. Besides, their vocabulary and expressive ability are limited, too. These limitations have made it difficult to realize the communicative English in classes. According to the students present level and practical situation, body language should be required to develop classes to be more communicative, for example, when a teacher gives an instruction: “You two please come to the blackboard. The students can easily understand it if the teacher looks at or points to some two students and then points to the blackboard. Furthermore, teachers usually have to explain some language points, and at this time, they can also carry out their teaching task easily with the help of body language in the teaching process. In order to evaluate the true role of English in the school system, it is important for the teachers who are not native speakers to evaluate their knowledge of and ability to use English. English teaching is really a key part of the school education. In school education, body language plays a positive role in cultivating the students characters. Body language is also an important media through which people communicate with each other. Briefly speaking, Body Language is expressing a certain meaning of a kind of silent language by gesture, manner and countenance, which includes eyesight language, facial language, hand language, body language and so on. According to experts, our nonverbal language communicates about 50% of what we really mean (voice tonality contributes 38%) while words themselves contribute a mere 7%. Our bodies send out messages constantly and often we dont recognize that were communicating a lot more than we realize. The behavioral scientists tell us that almost the whole body language can be used as the manners for human communication and be served for the teaching. The foreign language teacher should be able to perform and dance for joy, make a vivid gesture, movement and countenance as an actor, should not always be gentle and cultivated or just stand stiffly on the platform. Body Language not only replenishes and deepens the verbal language, but also takes a non-substitutable effect on the verbal language. If the teacher can use the Body Language fittingly, accurately and proficiently to assist the teaching in the classroom, it can not only draw on the students attention, bring up their study interest, but also enable them the accurate understanding of language contents, deepen their impression. From the above we can learn the use of body language in English teaching is necessary and practical. In the English teaching, body language is frequently used to improve the teaching effect and the students ability.Based on the analysis above, we can learn that the use of body language in English teaching is necessary and practical. In the actual English teaching, body language is frequently used to improve the teaching effect and the students language ability.III The Application of The Body Language in Listening , Speaking , Reading , and Writing 3.1 Body language helps to improve listening The Greek philosopher Epictetus ever wittily said : “ Nature has given man one tongue and two eas that he may hear twice as much as he speaks . From the saying we can learn how important the listener is in our daily life . “ To understand others is a basic purpose in English teaching , and teachers ofen train the students listening accordingly . ( HuZhuanglin Jiang Wanqi , 2001 : 96 ) In this process , if the body language is used , the effect will be . When beginning a mew lesson , the teacher narrates the story outline in English . The body language may help . For exemple , a teacher can stretch his arms slowly he says , “ She is so beautiful a lady. As a result , the students will have such an impression : She is very beautiful indeed ; a teacher who imitates the crying or the movement of the animals under the premise of teaching order will surely achive a better effect . 3.2 Body language helps to improve speakingThe spoken language is one of the important ways to communicate , so we should try to develop the students ability of speaking . Factually they are helped to reach the aim in a certain degree by their teachers body language .“ The contemporary emphasis is gradually laid on spoken English teaching . The first lesson of every unit in Senior English begins with dialogue . The teaching programs require the teachers to organize the class to practice English according to the characteristics of dialogue . Generally speaking , the body language can arouse and sustain the students interest of learning and using English . In the English class , the teachers should not only use body languages themselves , but also ask the students to use them according to the different situation . Take it for exemple , the first lesson in unit one , Book one is about the time when the new students first meet , and they do not know each other . So a teacher can introduce himself first , such as : “ Hello , everyone , nice to meet you here . Now Iwill introduce myself to you . My name is Arther . I like playing basketball , for , it makes me such stronger ; I like playing chess , for it makes me more clever ; and I like reading books , for , reading makes one perfect . During the introduction , the teacher should use the new vocabularies and sentence structures together with a vivid expression and mating gestures as possibly as he can . He smiles when he says hello to the class ; he shakes hands with some students saying “ Nice to meet you ; he writes name down on the blackboard ; he imitates the action of dribbling and shooting at the basketball , playing chess and turning pages to explain his hobby . After his introduction , the teacher can create a circumances for the students to practice : “ Mary and Jack are mew classmates . They are walking together in the street , and they meet one of Jacks old friends , Yangpei . Then Yangpei and Mary are introduced to each other by Jack . After the students practice the dialogue is introduced naturally from it . Usually , the application of body language in different situation will result in an attracting