Nonverbal Communication With Language Barriers

The small group that I attend through my church has been fostering a refugee family from Somalia for the past few months. The family is moving to another state soon, so we decided to throw a going away party for them. Needless to say, there are a TON of culture differences between us, and the most notable one is language. The younger kids in the family speak English the best because they pick it up in school. The older kids and adults have been more resistant to learning a new language, and as a result have a really hard time communicating with the rest of us.

At the going away party, it was really interesting to note how the family members who didn't speak much English found ways to communicate with those of us who did speak English. They used their hands to mimic the things they were looking for, they would act out activities that they couldn't describe, and they would use facial expressions instead of words in response to a lot of things. I was surprised at the end of the night that I sort of felt like I'd been talking to the family all night, when really we'd just been exchanging facial expressions and funny actions.

I found it especially interesting that some expressions or actions matched perfectly between our two cultures. For instance, when thanking the host of the party for all her efforts, the mother grasped the host's shoulders affectionately and gave a big smile. This is probably exactly what I would do while at the same time using words to say thank you in English. Another example I noticed was that when one of the daughters was trying to ask where the trashcan was, she made a throwing motion with her hand, like she was holding something and tossing it away. I also recognized this as a motion commonly seen in our culture.

Expressing Emotion through Nonverbal Communication in Interviews

I recently went through a mock interview on campus. Talk about 'nonverbal communication'! The goal of this interview was for the interviewer to "nit-pick" at every nonverbal action I was putting forward.

Things such as nervousness, anxiety, deception, and confidence are all things that are noticed in an interview by the interviewer. I was told that it was extremely obvious when I was confident with my answer and when I wasn't. I was told I had great posture, eye contact, and poise when I was confident and felt strongly about my answer. On the flip side I was critiqued for looking down, looking to the left, speaking at an increased rate, and squirming a bit in my chair.

Good thing this was a 'mock' interview because they pointed out many things that I was doing to effect the emotion of my answer through my nonverbal actions. Has anyone been through something like this where one person watches you and 'nit-picks' at your nonverbal actions?

Dating and our Nonverbal Communication

I fond this interesting tidbit of information that points out the nonverbal communication tactics that men and women unconsciously use when they are dating and what shows if they are interested or not in their potential dating partner. Can you relate to any of these in any way?

Nonverbal communication is the way a person expresses him/herself through movement, posture, and facial expression. It is possible to send one type of verbal message and at the same time, a different type with body language. Nonverbal communication is powerful. Seventy percent of the time, a woman’s nonverbal communication initiates dating and guides the pace of the relationship.

A woman’s "Interested" body language:

• Pouting lips
• Hair flipping
• Glances
• Pushing hair behind the ears
• The use of aroma (perfume)

A woman's "Not Interested" body language:

• Yawns
• Frowns
• Sneers
• Hands staying in pockets
• Arms staying crossed across the chest

A man’s "Interested" body language:

• Holding eye contact longer than necessary
• Accidental contact with a girl
• Arranging the tie or sleeves
• Keeping hands in front of the pants with the thumbs locked inside the belt
• Fiddling with something
• Moving in closer

http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=4359

Expressing Emotions in Speeches

http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCategories/FreeResources/NeedHelpGivingaSpeech/TipsTechniques/GesturesGetMoving.aspx

Here is a link from the website of a public speaking club. It's interesting to think about how speakers use non verbal communication to express emotions in their speeches. They'll criss-cross the floor quickly and shake their hands when they're excited, they might slam a fist down on the podium or point to the audience when they're being serious, and they're likely to smile and gesture largely if they're saying something comical. This kind of non-verbal communication reinforces what they actually say and helps to engage the audience.

Facial expressions and emoticon development

http://www.people-communicating.com/emotion-faces.html

Facial expressions are the most noticeably used way to express emotions. In face to face conversations, it’s pretty easy to see what the other person is feeling by looking at his/her face. We manage to avoid misinterpretation to an extent by using emoticons over emails and text messages. The site listed above prompted me to think about how facial expressions influenced the development of the emoticon, leading to clearer, better expressed emotions.

Cultural differences in nonverbal communication

As I was watching a foreign film at home, a question popped into my mind. We use nonverbal communication to express emotions, but how might our body language be interpreted differently across other cultures? I’ll use this photo as an example. In the US, this man will likely be interpreted as happy due to the use of the thumbs up gesture accompanied with the expression on his face. While in a country like Iran, people would be offended by the thumbs up gesture. This man would be giving a very mixed message when his facial expression is taken into account. Facial expressions seem to be the only true universal means of nonverbal communication. The six universal facial expressions don’t vary much across cultures.

Beyond the scope of hand gestures, misinterpretation is open to body postures. I’ve noted whenever I’m feeling sad about something, I tend to slouch more. I found that slouching is considered rude in most northern European countries. How would you modify your nonverbal communication to avoid offense if you were to travel to a foreign country?