Teaching and Researching Nonverbal Communication Skills: Theory- and Research-Based Practices

Abstract

It is highly unlikely that a chapter on the nonverbal dimension in language research and teaching will be found in conventional texts on the learning and teaching of additional languages. In fact, readers might be asking themselves, “Why should what a speaker does with his or her hands even interest me?” The answer, simply put, is because nonverbal behavior has a substantial impact on teachers’ and learners’ ability to communicate in, express emotion through, and cognitively process languages. Like the other skills and dispositions addressed in this anthology, theory and research provide evidence and means by which communication in an additional language can be improved, and in the case of this chapter, through increasing awareness of non/paraverbal (nonverbal + paraverbal) cues through focused attention, recognition, and understanding. However, unlike the other linguistic competences covered in this volume, very little research has been done in the non/paraverbal domain, so this chapter is meant to convince researchers and practitioners of its importance in language learning and teaching – particularly in intercultural interactions – and to prompt investigators to include the entirety of communication channels in their research agendas and to encourage teachers to award it a place of prominence in their classrooms.