Unit 8

Body Language In Communication

Main Points . Leading InⅠ . Text AⅡ . Text BⅢ ● Vocabulary Practice V. Practical Writing

Leading in : Introduction about the topic

I. Group Discussion 1) what is body language? 2) Is body language, in your

opinion, as important as written and spoken language or in some way more important? Why?

3) Do all the body language mean the same thing in the world? Please give more examples

2. Some gestures used in sports, look at the following pictures, find the meaning of each gesture

Body language Even body language has a cultural accent. Chi

nese stamp their feet ( 跺脚 ) to show anger; Americans interpret this as impatience. Chinese clap （鼓掌） for themselves after a speech. Americans may see this as immodest. When giving or receiving a gift, Chinese use two hands to show respect. Americans never even notice.Americans may pat other adults on the head to show sympathy, affection （喜爱） or encouragement. This behavior could insult （侮辱） Chinese.

Americans point to their chest to signify “me”, but think it is funny when Chinese point to their nose. Even laughter has the potential either to communicate or miscommunicate. An American who fell off his bike was very angry when on-looking Chinese laughed at him. I myself was angered when my son fell down and bystanders （旁观者） laughed. but I learned later that their laughter conveyed sympathy or understanding, not ridicule （嘲笑） . when east meets west, how often is offense taken when none is given?

Everyone uses body languagePeople can not live without each other, we are social beings. As soon as we are in contact with others we are communicating. For this we can make use of spoken and written language. In these ways we make the content of a message clear to each other. However we can also communicate without words. This kind of communication tells us something about the relationship between people.

Often this is more important than getting the content of the message across. The communication about this non spoken communication, which tells us something about the relationship between people, is called Meta-Communication. Communicating about communication!

Words are inadequate

When we connect with a person, we also have to make it clear to each other how the content of a spoken message needs to be interpreted

How we do this says something about the relationship we have with the other person, or think we have anyway. Often words are inadequate for this purpose. For instance we do not tell each other that easily how we feel about each other, or how the words of a message need to be interpreted. To make the meaning of our words clear we use body language.

Usually body language occurs unconsciously. Yet the body language we use decides to a large extent the quality of our communication. It follows that therefore it would be good to become conscious of our own and others' body language. We can learn to use our body language for a purpose. As well as learn to understand and interpret body language of others. It is important to note that body language has different meanings in different cultures.

How we can interpret body language depends on the situation, the culture, the relationship we have with the person as well as the gender of the other. This means that there is not one signal that has the same meaning all over the world. If you do not take this into account you may get yourself in some serious trouble! Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person.

Body language is used especially to express feelings. For instance if we do not like someone, it is often difficult to say that directly to the person. However we can make it clear either intentionally or unintentionally through body language. The opposite is also true. We may say that we ARE angry through words yet our body language may be saying loud and clear that we are NOT. This can be very confusing for the receiver. This is usually described as giving out double messages - one message in words and an opposite message in body language.

It is also difficult to lie or cover up our feelings through body language. People may give their true feelings away by not being aware of their body language. Research has shown that most people pay more attention to, and believe more readily, their impression of how a person acts through body language than what is said through words. As a consequence we tend to doubt, or put a question mark behind, the spoken words if they do not correspond with the language of the body .

Text A

Body language in Daily UseI. Pre-reading activities:1. When we talk to each other, do we send

messages only by words? What other ways do we use?

2. Can you give examples of body language you use every day?

( Ask some students to come to the front to give performances, others try to guess the meaning)

II. While-reading activities: 1) Read the text through and try to answer the

questions on page 132, then find the main idea.

2) Read the text paragraph by paragraph and try to find the topic sentence in each paragraph.

3) Language Points: 1.daily: adj. happening every day daily work | lives| morning paper adv. every day The patient was told to take the medicine daily

so as to keep his blood pressure at a normal level.

2. verbal: adj. We need not only the pictures, but also the verbal instructions from you.

nonverbal: nonverbal means of expression prefix “ non”: nonstop nonstandard

nonsmoker 3.gesture: v. The traffic police gestured the

driver over with a movement of his head. n. He made a gesture to the left with his hand to show me the direction of the bookstore.

4. random: adj. a random choice Random rain showers will pass through this

area tomorrow. 5 ． along with: together with She went downstairs to get the newspaper

along with a letter in the mailbox.

6. end with: bring something to an end with something or doing something.

He ended his letter with good wishes to the family.

7. lower: v. She felt a little shy and lowered her eyelids when the man talked to her.

Lower oneself adj. Although he comes from a lower-class

family, he is well educated. 8. finish up: be in the end Having no children or relatives, the old couple

thought they would finish up in loneliness. 9.widen: v. A student should read more to widen

his knowledge. adj.+ en ---v. strengthen broaden worsen

10.what’s more: also, and more importantly The price they charged was reasonable, and what’s mo

re, the service was good. 11.pick out: She picked out the suspect in the crowd. 12.dub: give new or different sound effects to, or change

the original spoken language of The voices in this Chinese action movie were dubbed int

o English. 13. flat: adj. Everything seems so flat after the Christmas

and New Year celebrations are over. 14. put across: communicate, cause( one’s ideas, feeling

s, etc.) to be understood The teacher knows how to put his thoughts across. 15. efficient: adj. he is very efficient in doing his homewo

rk. efficiently: adv. He tells us that the secret to his succes

s is to study efficiently.

16. total: adj. The total number of the textbooks is $50. Vt. The cashier totaled the bill at the counter. n. How much should I pay in total. 17. spell out: explain in the most detailed way I don’t understand the process, would you please spill

it out for me? 18. in conversation with: talking with I saw her in conversation with a young man in the meeti

ng room. 19. challenge: n. One of the challenges facing her is that

whether she should accept this new job. vt. He challenged me to play another computer game. 20. authority: n. Mr. Li is an authority on bridge designing.

Text B Using Gestures to Communicate

Look at these pictures, try to guess the meaning

of the gestures in different cultures

Answers for these pictures: The ring gesture (Figure 1), where you form an ‘O’ by

holding the tip of your fore finger to the tip of your thumb, means in Britain and America that you think something is good; something is OK. Take a trip through the Channel Tunnel from England to France, however, and you may find that you fail to impress your French host when you use it to tell him your opinion of his new car. For in France it means zero or worthless. Travel further south and you are in even greater trouble, for in Tunisia it means "I'll kill you" ！ When a British or an American businessperson shows the ring gesture to a Japanese, the Japanese might say to himself “Oh ！He's giving me the sign for ‘money’ … Is he asking for a bribe?” In Japan, the thumb and forefinger making a circle is used as a symbol for money.

The single finger beckon (Figure 2), where using the index finger to beckon some- one to come to you may be acceptable in America, but would be impolite in Malaysia or Yugoslavia where it is only used for calling animals. In Indonesia and Australia it is also used for beckoning ‘ladies of the night.’

Holding up the palm of your hand towards someone's face (Figure 3)is a signal for ‘Stop!’ or ‘That's enough.’ in Britain and the US. In Greece the same gesture is known as the moutza, which dates back to ancient times when facial matter and dirt was pushed into the faces of defeated enemies, now meaning the greatest insult. In West Africa this gesture means ‘You could have any one of five fathers!’ which is another way of calling a person a bastard

pulling down the lower lid of your eye with one finger (Figure 4)is usually used to indicate alertness. In France and Greece it means much the same as when British people say "My eye!" in England, meaning ‘Don't you think I can see it? You can't fool me.’ In Spain and Italy it is also related to being alert, but here it is used as a warning, ‘Keep your eyes open.’ In South America it means you think that a woman is an ‘eyeful’, very attractive.

The ear-tug gesture (Figure 5) means as many as four different things in different Mediterranean countries. In Spain it accuses someone of being a sponger , in Greece it is a warning, in Malta it says someone is a sneak, and in Italy it insults someone for being a homosexual

Patting a child's head (Figure 6) shows affection in China, yet a Chinese seldom pats the head of a teenage or adult. This is because it may displease the teenager or the adult, as they may resent being treated like a child. Patting the head, in Britain or America, also means giving comfort, consolation or encouragement, and is occasionally used between close friends. However, in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, patting a child on the head would be shocking and offensive because the head is believed to be the seat of the soul.

While Reading of Text B:I. Read the text through and answer the questions on page

141 II. Group discussion on the details of the text and the tea

cher give the answer to their questions. III. Language points: offend: vt. I hope what I said did not offend you; and I be

g for your forgiveness if I really did. Be offended at sth. I really felt offended with him for his behavior. 2. upset: vt. It upset him to know that his classmates wou

ld not support him. 3. conclude v. we concluded after careful search that ther

e was no one in this house To conclude, I wish you all good health and a long life.

4. observe: v. Did you observe anything unusual? It’s our responsibility to observe traffic rules. 5. worthless adj. Nobody likes to be with a worthless

member of society. This is a worthless necklace, because it is just a

n imitation 6. confusion: n. There was confusion as to which cla

ssroom we should go to have the music class. The sudden death of the president caused conf

usion in that country. 7. incidentally: adv. I must get in touch with Tom. Inc

identally, do you have his e-mail address? 8. hitchhike: vi. As his car couldn’t start, he had to g

o hitchhiking to the nearest garage to get a mechanic.

9. fortunate: adj. He was fortunate enough to escape the accident without injury.

Unfortunate: adj. Many unfortunate people were left without food and houses after the natural disaster.

10.mean: adj. It was mean of you not to let the children play in the snow.

He’s very mean with his money. 11.direct: vt. I don’t think what he said is directed at you. Adj. He is a direct, open and honest young man. 12.horrify: vt. Everyone was horrified to hear that his father wa

s murdered. 13.hell: n. Go to hell! I want to be with myself here! The troops at the front went through hell. 14. thanks to: thanks to your help, we were able to complete o

ur work ahead of the deadline. 15. hold back from: The firefighters held the man back from rus

hing into the burning house. 16. instant: Can you give us an instant reply to our mail?

Vocabulary Practice

I. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word given.

1.They had a (verb) ________ agreement for her to receive $2,000 a month.

2.Researchers have discovered in their study that boys and girls may behave (different)__________.

3.Much as she (like) _________ going to the party, she knew had to be there.

4. I think USA Today is a national newspaper, not a (region)________ one,

5.Do you know his (race) ________ origin?6.It would be very (interest)_________ to compare the two cultures.7. Loose clothing gives you greater freedom of (move) __________.8. She (cheer)__________ admitted that she had no experience at all.9. Most of the people in the town were (horrify) ________ at the bad

news.10.There are no (significance) __________differences between the

two groups of students.

II. Choose the best item to complete each of the following sentences.

1. People now have different views about who first________ America. A. invented B. discovered C. found D. learnt2. I couldn’t __________what the word meant as it wasn’t in my dictio

nary, but John told me, so now I know it. A. find out B. put across C. communicate with D. pick out3. Don’t get __________ about it --- Let’s just forget it. A. Influence B. emphasize C. dislike D. upset4. He ______from their remarks that they were not in favor of the plan. A. concluded B. said C. answered D. replied5. In our company only the manager has the ______ to sign checks. A. control B. rule C. authority D. knowledge

6. His facial___________ told us that he was angry. A. gesture B. expression C. sign D. symbol7. She does not like anyone_____________ her authority. A. Influencing B. directing C. finishing D. challenging8. He was eager to _________ his ideas to the group. A. direct B. remind C. communicate D. observe9. Television can be a useful way of putting__________ health

messages. A. away B. across C. in D. on10. The man was killed in the traffic accident along __________

three other men. A. On B. down C. with D. at.

ⅣⅣ.. Practical Practical WritingWriting

ⅣⅣ.. Practical Practical WritingWriting

The most important items in taking

a telephone message: a. the date, the exact time b. the caller’s name c. the content of the phone call d. the caller’s telephone number e. the name of the message taker

I. Match the following expressions with their Chinese equivalents, then do tasks that follow.

A B 1. Called You a. 　分机 2. Returned Your Call b. 来这儿找你 3. Will Call Again c. 　紧急 4. Please Call d. 　区号 5. Wants to See You e. 　给你回了电话 6. Was Here to See You f. 　电话号码 7. Urgent g. 　给你打了电话 8. Area Code h. 　想见你 9. Phone Number i. 　请回电 10. Extension j. 会再来电

II. Suppose you are a secretary and you’ve just received a phone call from Mr. George Smith of the English Department of ABC University, who wanted to speak to Mr. John Brown. Mr. Brown Was not in at the moment. So Mr. Smith left a message. Now put the following message into the message form.

Tell Mr. Brown I called. I would like to talk to him about the possible exchange of our students. I am the head of the English Department and I’d like to talk with Mr. Brown about the details of the exchange. I’m afraid he can’t contact me by telephone, as I’ll be traveling around. I’d like to arrange a meeting with him urgently. The most convenient time is 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. Could you ask Mr. Brown if he is free around 9:30 tomorrow morning? I’d like to phone him then and confirm the meeting time and the place. Have you got all that?

Message FormFor:From:Of:Tel. No.Fax No.( ) came to see you ( ) urgent( ) telephoned ( ) please ring him/ her( ) will phone later ( ) appointment to see you( ) will come again ( ) wants to see you( ) will writeMessage:

Date: time:Received by:

You work for Blue Circle. Mr. Horner, your manager, is not in this afternoon. You received a phone call for him. The caller’s name is Mrs. Hill. She works at Cambridge University. She asked Mr. Horner to call her back tomorrow morning. Her number is 071-4871. Use today’s date.

To:________________________________ ( ) called YouDate Time ( ) Returned Your Call________________________________ ( ) Will Call AgainFrom ( ) Please Call________________________________ ( ) Wants to See YouOf ( ) Was Here To See You________________________________ Area Code Phone Number Extension Best Time to Call Back ______________________________________________________________ Area Code Fax NumberMessage: _______________________________

A message For You Initials