Docent Tsay E.N, senior teacher Seitmagambetova U.K.

Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan

NONVERBAL LANGUAGE IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

Contemporary world is becoming transparent, more integrated and globalized. Under these conditions, the desire of a human being to engage in a dialogue with people of other cultures, to make a general idea of the whole world does not seem surprising. National and cultural identity has a huge impact on the effectiveness of communication. Coming into contact representatives of different nationalities, though speaking the same language, act in accordance with their national behavior patterns.

Nonverbal communication, better known as the language of postures and gestures is the subject of numerous studies over the past few centuries. The first works devoted to gestures appeared in the 16th century and were associated with such spheres of human activity as rhetoric, medicine, psychology, education, art and physiognomy.

Later on, John Bulwer, who lived in the 17th century, managed to describe and analyze some of the gestures. In the period from the 18th to the 19th century, many scientists in Europe investigated the problem of generation and understanding of sign and mixed sign and speech texts. At this time, ideas and theoretical studies of such prominent thinkers as Wundt, Didro, Condillac being carried out mainly in Germany and France were greatly popular [1].

Since the second half of the 19th century gestures were thought to be the signs, helping to penetrate into the natural history, thinking, feeling and understanding [2].

In the 20th century, nonverbal behavior became the subject of study of mostly psychology. Psychology science was able to give the description of this phenomenon more fully compared with the attempts made previously in other fields of knowledge. One of the pivotal discoveries of psychology in relation to non-verbal behavior was the recognition of its communicative function. Russian psychologist S. Rubinstein formulated a statement that expressive movements are not merely accompanying of emotions as Darwin thought. They perform the function of communication [3].

The study of nonverbal communication is carried out in two main directions as paralinguistic and linguacentric approaches. Until the middle of last century in the Western and Russian psychology, nonverbal communication was considered a supplement to the verbal communication (paralinguistic approach). In the mainstream of this approach, researchers were mainly interested in such phenomena as the frequency range of speech, voice volume, rate and duration of speech, melody design, the distribution of pauses, speech errors.

Besides paralinguistic, in the study of nonverbal communication linguacentric approach based on the studies of the image and similarity of human speech within linguistic criteria has long played an important role. Birdwhistell R. L. made great contribution to the development of research devoted to non-verbal communication. Developing methodological problems in kinetics, he offered to distinguish a unit of human gestures. The main argument is based on the experience of structural linguistics. Gestures consist of units and then these units are formed into structures that are more complex. Birdwhistell R. L. found out that set of units is a kind of alphabet gestures [4]. The smallest semantic unit proposed as kin or kinema (by analogy with the phoneme in linguistics). Out of kinemas are formed kinemorfemes (similar to phrases), which are perceived in a situation of communication.

Studies of an American psychologist P. Eckman became a strong argument against linguacentric approach that has long studied the universality of basic human emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness), regardless of cultural differences and the level of human civilization [5].

In the 70s century of the twentieth century, the activity approach the essence of which is that nonverbal communication is a direct channel of conveying of personal meanings. Currently activity approach has developed into a personal approach. In the framework of a personal approach, non-verbal communication is a form of existence and development, the way of the purposeful formation of a personality as individuality and subject of dialogue in the society.

Urgency of the study of nonverbal communication becomes most apparent in the context of the globalized world. It is particularly important to study nonverbal cues more because they are spontaneous, unconscious and, unlike words, are always sincere. Undoubtedly, the effectiveness of any communication contacts is determined not only by how clear words and other elements of verbal communication are for an interlocutor, but also the ability to correctly interpret visual information, i.e. look of the partner, his body language, gestures, posture, dis stance , tempo and tone of speech. Even if the language is the most effective and efficient tool for human communication, yet it is not the only tool.

Scientists have found that using the language we transfer no more than 35% of information to our interlocutors. Gestures, facial expressions, posture, clothing, hairstyles, our surrounding as well as habitual for us actions represent a certain kind of messages, called nonverbal messages that are transmitted without use of words. They accounted for the remaining 65% of the information, given in the communication process [4].

When dealing with other cultures, most people judge other people's cultural values using as a model and criteria cultural values of their own ethnic group. Thus, we can say that the crucial issue in achieving effective communication is the question of the importance of cultural differences, person’s ability to recognize and understand different cultural features adequately taken into account in the process of communication.

Intercultural competence is formed in the process of intercultural communication caused by the intense interaction of cultures generated by the process of globalization and integration. It is a collection of diverse knowledge about another culture, customs, traditions, rules of etiquette. Therefore, one of the important factors in achieving effective communication is knowledge about nonverbal communication of other cultures.

References:

1. Kreidlin G. Neverbalnaya semiotika. Yazik tela i estestvenii yazik. – M.: «Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie», 2004. – 592s.

2. Gorelov I. N. Neverbalnie komponenti kommunikacii. – M.: «Nauka», 1980. – 238s.

3. S. Rubenstein. Osnovi obschei psihologii. – SPb: Isdatelstvo "Piter", 2000. – 685s.

4. Birdwhistell, R. L., Background to Kinesics, ETC: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 13, No. I, Autumn 1955.

5. Ekman P., Friesen W.V., Tomkins S.S. Facial Affect Scoring Technique (FAST): A first validity study. Semiotica, 3, No.1, 1971, 37-58.