Филологические науки/ 7. Язык, речь, речевая коммуникация

Штепан Н.П., Кібкало С.В.

Східноєвропейський університет економіки і менеджменту,Черкаси, Україна

Communicating Nonverbally

Understanding nonverbal communication is crucial to success when communicating across cultures. Nonverbal communication is communication that conveys meaning without words. Researchers have estimated that near 85 percent of all communication is nonverbal, with the importance of this type of communication varying widely across cultures.

Nonverbal communication includes eye contact, facial expression, hand gestures, the use of physical space, and silence.

Eye-contact, like other aspects of nonverbal communication, affects both the sending and receiving of messages.

One of the earliest learned behaviors in many cultures is the proper use of eye contact. Eye placement not only differs across cultures, but eye behavior for listening differs from eye behavior for speaking. Adding to the confusion in cross-cultural communication, eye placement differs when people are communicating upward and downward in the social hierarchy.

Europeans and Euro-Americans do not usually maintain direct and constant eye contact when speaking, rather, they tend to look away as they speak and only glance back occasionally to check the listener’s eye contact. However, when they are listening, they usually maintain direct and constant eye contact. In other words, European and Euro-Americans have generally been taught that the listener should be looking at them very intently.

Asians and Afro-Americans prefer to use eye contact differently. They may look down or away, or even close their eyes while speaking. Afro-Americans tend to look intently at the other person when they are speaking. However, while listening, they may look down or away. Sana Reynolds writes about the case when a renowned Japanese economist spoke at a meeting with a distinguished group of American economists from several universities. He spoke perfect English and he squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke, occasionally opening his eyes slightly only to squeeze them shut again [2, p. 79]. Was he hiding something or was he nervous? It was neither. He was simply communicating in the way his culture has taught him.

Native American and Asian cultures teach their children to lower the eyes when listening to an elder such as a teacher. Eyes cast downward indicate both appropriate listening behavior and respect for the elder. Looking directly at an elder would constitute bad manners, challenge, or even hostility.

Social hierarchy can influence the choice of direct or indirect eye placement. Direct eye contact often indicates that communication is occurring between equals. Indirect eye behavior can indicate respect for someone upward in the hierarchy, especially in cultures where there is a clearly defined power structure. It usually pertains to Asian and African countries.

Knowing that eye placement behaviors vary widely across cultures will help communicants avoid incorrect or negative assumptions and will benefit the intercultural communication process.

Facial expressions convey many emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness, surprise and some others. The nod and the smile in various cultures will illustrate the variety of meanings across cultures. The nod may be the way of agreeing and disagreeing. In Ukraine, Russia, USA and many other European and non-European countries when people are asked to interpret the head nodding of others, most selectс the meaning “I agree with you”. But in Bulgaria, for example, nodding indicates a negative rather than a positive response.

Smiling is another example of nonverbal communication of multiple meanings. In some cultures it can indicate fear; a smile can be a method of disarming a possible aggressor. In other cultures, the smile can indicate friendliness. In still other cultures, smiles may indicate nervousness or embarrassment. In European and American cultures, smiles have many meanings including pleasure, friendliness and amusement, but a smile or laugh does not usually indicate fear or embarrassment as it might in many Asian cultures.

The gesture is a vital adjunct to language. The American scholar, Bill Bryson, points out that in some cultures it can almost constitute a vocabulary all of its own. Some medical people say, that the human anatomy is capable of producing about seven thousand distinct elementary gestures [1, p.28]. Thus, modern Greek has more than 70 common gestures, ranging from the chopping off the forearm gesture, which signifies extreme displeasure, to several highly elaborate ones, such as placing the left hand on the knee, closing one eye, looking with the other into the middle distance and wagging the free hand up and down, which means “I don’t want anything to do with it”.

Stock exchange brokers’ hand gestures, gestures of basketball, baseball, volleyball and other sport games players stand for particular words. They are international signs for certain words. But it is dangerous to assume that the use or lack of gestures has the same importance as it does in one’s own culture. It is best to observe the size and types of gestures within the context of a conversation or meeting, and use few gestures until you are certain they will be correctly understood by the other culture.

The use of large gestures in some cultures may indicate the person using them is someone of importance. In others, large gestures may indicate the person using them has little refinement. The use of broad gestures may be annoying, irritating, and distracting when communicating with someone from Asia where small gestures are preferred. On the other hand, someone from a Latino or Mediterranean culture might find a lack of broad gestures puzzling and therefore may doubt the confidence of the speaker. Neither of these assumptions is correct.

Similar gestures can have different meanings in different cultures. “Okay” sign (thumb and finger circle): though it has acquired international meaning of signaling that everything is going well, in some cultures (Paraguay, Singapore and some others) the sign is considered vulgar. In France the same gesture means “nothing”, or “zero”. The left hand is considered unclean in Muslim and Hindu cultures, and therefore any gesture with the left hand during communication may be considered rude. Pointing with one finger at another person is undesirable in many cultures. The following example illustrates the above said. During his presidency, Bill Clinton traveled to China and, at one stop during the trip, he spoke to university students in Beijing. When interviewed for the American press, one student remarked that he did not understand why during the question and answer period the president pointed his finger to select a person. It was a rude gesture for the Chinese culture. The president should have used a sweep of the open hand – palm upward [3, p. 3].

Posture and body language is another area where cultural differences can cause miscommunication. In some cultures such as Russian, Ukrainian, French and some others, executives and government officials are expected to sit with erect posture. In the United States, however, a slouching posture can simply mean that a person is relaxed regardless of his or her position in society.

A generally slumping posture and slow walk with head cast downward can indicated someone who is troubled or sad in many cultures. Likewise, a shrug of the shoulders can indicate, “I don’t know”. Turning away from people as they speak or crossing the arms can mean that the receiver is rejecting the idea.

To avoid problems, people who want to communicate affectively across cultures should observe carefully and keep their hand gestures to a minimum until they learn the other culture’s preferences.

Conversational distance is also an important factor in cross cultural communication. What one culture would consider the appropriate conversational distance another might interpret aggressive or possibly intimate. Speakers from the Mediterranean region, for instance, like to put their faces very close to those they are addressing. A common scene when people from Western Europe and Northern Europe are conversing is for the latter to spend the entire conversation stealthily retreating, trying to gain some space, and for the former to keep advancing to close the gap.

People from British culture are taught to prefer a large speaking distance. In the Arab culture, people are taught to stand very close. If we stand still and allow the other person to establish the communication distance, we will be more successful in intercultural exchange. Sitting down can be a welcome relief for those whose culture requires quite different conversational distance.

Silence also varies, depending on what the culture teaches. That is, the appropriate pause between a question and an answer or a statement and a response can differ widely. In some cultures, verbal communication overlaps. In other cultures, there may be one second or several seconds between question and answer or statement and response. When two people from Spain or Italy are speaking, there will probably be overlap between words, sentences, or change of speaker. One speaker begins before the other finishes. When two people from Asian countries are speaking, there is more space or silence between one sentence and the next. People of European and American cultures interpret silence in negative way, whereas those from the Asian cultures tend to interpret silence as respectful and positive.

The silence or lack of it is a powerful part of nonverbal communication.

All the above said is a tiny scratch on the surface of a great problem of nonverbal cross-cultural communication. English may be the language of business, but nonverbal cues can completely change the meaning of a word or phrase. One should be aware that facial expression, hand gestures and other signs of non verbal communication vary greatly across cultures. People who want to communicate affectively across cultures should observe carefully and learn the other culture’s preferences.

Literature

1. Bryson B. Mother Tongue / Bill Bryson. – London: Penguin Books, 2001. – 269 p.

2. Reynolds S. Guide to Meetings / Sana Reynolds. – New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. – 124 p.

3. The Daily Telegraph / Editor Tony Gallagher. – 1855. – London: Telegraph Media Group, 1995. – Type: daily newspaper. September 27, 1995.