Гребенник А.Ю., Дидович Г.И.

Национальный Технический Университет

«Харьковский Политехнический Институт»

Socialization: Non-verbal Communication

Before we are going to speak, our appearance and body language are saying something to the people around us. In his article ‘Talking without words’,

R.Gibson wrote that “sometimes one gesture is worth a thousand words…, although estimates vary, as much as 70 to 90 per cent of messages we send are communicated without using words. We are unlikely to prove the fact that a business deal or transaction has failed because a Westerner handed over a business card in the wrong way to an Asian customer”. Nevertheless, an awareness of non-verbal communication and the cultural differences in the way it functions can help people working internationally to avoid misunderstandings. This can be particularly important in the case of face-to-face negotiations or service situations. You need to know what message your partner is sending and, at the same time, be aware of the possible impact of the messages he/she is receiving from you. Most of the time, this process is unconscious, so it requires a bit of effort to increase your consciousness of the non-verbal cues you are sending and receiving. But it needs the extra work to gain this key skill.

Non-verbal signals such as gestures, posture we send as messages during a conversation unconsciously, are known to have different meanings in different cultures. The experts have studied these phenomena and they have come to interesting conclusions. Here are some of them. In Germany “V” gesture means “victory”, in the US - “two” and in France - “peace”, while in Britain, Australia and New Zealand this is a rude gesture. With the palm of the hand the other way round, the gesture becomes the positive “V for victory" sign in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US as well. The “thumbs up” gesture is used universally by pilots and in many countries by hitch-hikers, in Japan it is used to mean “five”. “Zero"-sign means “OK" in the US, while in Brazil it is obscene; in Japan it signifies money and in France “zero" or "worthless".

Now, let’s analyze the following situations which the same author presents:

“The manager from Germany of a German-lndian team is concerned that the deadlines for an important project are not going to be met. If the project is not finished on time, the company will have to pay penalty fees for late delivery. When the manager speaks to the Indian team’s project leader, he has the impression that the Indians cannot be trusted. The German comments: “He didn’t even look me in the eye when I mentioned the deadlines.” What do you think is happening in such a case? The use of eye contact differs from culture to culture. In some cultures, such as the US and Germany, looking someone in the eye is seen as a sign of openness and trust. In others, such as India, respect is often shown by avoiding eye contact. Not only national cultural differences influence the way people communicate. Scientists have divided non-verbal communication into various categories. One of the most important one is kinesics, that is, the study of body movement and gestures. As we saw earlier, gestures that have a positive meaning in one culture can be negative or even highly offensive in another. Posture presents one more category which should be mentioned here. In Arab cultures, it is considered rude to show the soles of your shoes to your conversation partner, as they are considered to be dirty. Then comes proxemics - the study of body distance; this varies between different cultures. In Latin America, for example, people generally stand closer to each other when talking than people from northern Europe do. The differences can lead the Latin American to feel that the partner from northern Europe is cold, while the northern European partner can feel uncomfortable with the closeness of the Latin American. Facial expressions, even if identical, can have different meanings. The smile is universal, but for the American it is essential in the service situation, while for the Russians in our example it is a sign of shallowness. Ocuiesics, or eye contact, or ocuiesics, differs from culture to culture as well. This it is not only a question of whether you make eye contact, but also of how intense the eye contact is and how long it is kept up. Haptics is concerned with the sense of touch. The way people greet each other differs in different cultures. Do you shake hands, kiss or even hug each other when you meet your business partner? Don’t just slavishly follow a list of dos and don’ts but watch what other people are doing and try to adapt to what is going on around you. Different cultures vary as to how the same touch is used. In some cultures, a kiss may be used for greeting relative strangers, but in others this is reserved for intimate partners. Confusion can result if you are not aware of the different cultural norms. While in some cultures it is considered normal to touch people frequently during a conversation, in other cultures touching may be more limited. If someone from a culture where touch is rarely used in conversation between business partners meets someone from a culture where touch is more frequently used, this can cause discomfort on both sides. In some cultures (typically Islamic and Hindu), it is considered insulting to touch someone or handle food with the left hand, as this hand is seen as dirty and used for toilet functions. Adornment - the way you dress, your hairstyle and the jewellery you wear or don’t wear send out signals to your communication partners. Again, there are no strict rules to follow, but it is important to be aware of what might be appropriate in a particular situation in a particular culture. For example, if you are the only person wearing a tie in a meeting and all the others are dressed more informally, you may be sending signals about power and status. If this is what you want to do it is fine, but it might be creating an undesired distance between you and your colleagues. If you are invited to important meetings or social functions, it is best to ask a local contact what might be appropriate for the occasion.

Although people say that actions speak louder than words, it is useful to increase our awareness of non-verbal cues. Even when we remain silent, we are communicating in some way because it is impossible not to communicate.

References: 1. Williams M. & Burden R., Psychology for language teachers. A social constructivist approach. Cambridge University Press, 2009. 2. R. Gibson. Talking without words. Business Spotlight, July-August 2007. 3. Hymes D. On communicative competence// Pride J.S.&Holmes J. (Eds.) Sociolinguistics. N.Y.: Penguin, 4th ed.- 2005.