Unit 4 Body Language Reading

Ways of communicating Warming Up speaking Spoken language ringing writing Written language typing facial expression Body language gesture action

What is body language? Body language is one form of nonverbal communication (非言辞交际) without using words. Eye contact or gaze, facial expression, gesture, and posture (姿势), or the way you stand, are different kinds of body language.

Some psychologists believe that we communicate 65% of our ideas and feelings without words! The shape of our bodies and faces, the movements and gestures we make, the clothes we wear, how near we stand to each other and whether we touch each other … all these communicate.

Facial expressions

Look at the following facial expressions, and try to tell us what his feeling is. happy sad confused angry

Gestures Do you know what these gestures mean? Look at the pictures and discuss with your partner what the man is trying to say.

Bad! Good!

Come here! Me?

I don’t know!

ok stop silent well done

What else gestures do you know? applause victory

Work in groups. Look at the following pictures. What are these people communicating? Discuss your ideas with your group partner. Do you both have the same idea about each picture?

What are they communicating? The mother is trying to quiet her crying child. Someone is thinking deeply. Someone is feeling ill/having a stomachache. The policeman is directing traffic/ telling cars to go.

“Hello” “Goodbye” “Come here” “Go away!” “Expensive!” Read the following statements. Choose a phrase and act it out without speaking. Can your partner guess what you are trying to communicate? “Hello” “Goodbye” “Come here” “Go away!” “Expensive!” “I’m surprised!” “I’m tired.” “I’m confused.” “OK!”

“Good luck!” “I’m delighted!” “I’m upset!” “I’m sad!” “I forgot!” “You’re great!”

Communication: No problem?

Pre-reading 1. What is the purpose of language? The purpose of language is to communicate with other people.

2. How can you communicate with someone if you cannot speak? Give an example. I can use body language to communicate with someone if I can’t speak.

For example, if I’m angry, I might turn away and not talk to others For example, if I’m angry, I might turn away and not talk to others. If I’m happy to see someone, I might smile and hold out my hand or open my arms.

3. There are many different ways to greet someone using words. How many ways can you think of to greet someone if you cannot speak?

Ways to greet someone without words: smile, wave, shake hands, hug, kiss, etc. handshake

kiss bow hug

Predicting Look at the picture and the title of the passage on page 26. What do you think the topic will be?

Skimming Read the text quickly and fill in the blanks.        The text introduces some examples of _____________ in greeting people to tell readers that in order to avoid difficulties we should study ____________________ in today’s world of cultural crossroads.  body language  international customs

Scanning Read the passage and divide the whole passage into several parts and find out the main idea. Part 1. (Para. 1) Meet the visitors at the airport.

Part 2 (Para. 2 and 3) People from different countries express greetings in different ways. Part 3. (Para. 4) Different peoples have different body languages. Part 4. (Para. 5) Summary of body language.

Careful reading How do different international students behave when they greet people? Complete the chart with information from the passage.

kiss on the cheek man from Colombia Julia Smith everyone Akira Nagata Name Description Body Language To Whom Tony Garcia everyone no touching man from Japan kiss on the cheek man from Colombia Julia Smith woman from Britain everyone Akira Nagata bowing everyone

shake hands and kiss twice on each cheek Name Description Body Language To Whom George Cook to men to women shake hands and kiss twice on each cheek man from Canada shaking hands everyone shaking hands nodding Ahmed Aziz man from Jordan woman from France Darlene Coulon people she knows

Ways to greet each other Country/Area Ways to greet each other Britain Canada Japan shake hands, do not stand very close to others or touch strangers when they meet shake hands bow

Spain, Italy, South American countries France approach others closely and are more likely to touch them shake hands and kiss each other twice on each cheek

(men from) Middle East and other Muslim cultures shake hands and stand quite close to other men, nod to women and do not shake hands with them

Post-reading Answer the following questions. 1. Is the author of this passage male or female? How do you know? The author is male. Ahmed Aziz will not shake hands with women, but he shakes hands with the author.

2. What were the two mistakes that the author noticed? He noticed that the Colombian man kissed the British woman, but in her culture, a kiss from a stranger is not acceptable. He also noticed that the Japanese man bowed just as the Canadian man started to shake hands, so one man’s nose touched the other man’s hand.

3. Who seemed to prefer to keep more physical distance from others 3. Who seemed to prefer to keep more physical distance from others? Who seemed to prefer closer physical distance? The British woman, Julia, and probably the Canadian man, George, seemed to prefer to keep more physical distance from others. The Colombian man, Tony, and the Jordanian man, Ahmed, seemed to prefer closer physical distance.

4. Did any students have similar greeting customs? If so, which ones? Yes. Tony from Colombia and Darlene from France had a similar greeting custom—a kiss. George from Canada and Ahmed from Jordan also had a similar greeting custom—a handshake, but Ahmed shakes hands only with men.

5. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do 5. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” What do you think this famous saying means? This saying means that when we are in a certain place, we should follow the customs of the people who live in that place, not our own customs.

Decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F). 1. Englishmen often stand close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. 2. Most people around the world now greet each other by kissing. F F

3. Japanese will bow to others as greeting. 4. People from Jordan will move very close to you as you introduce yourself to them. 5. Some body languages in some countries are good while some countries’ body language are bad. T T F

6. People from different countries may have a major misunderstanding while greeting each other. 7. The physical distance from each other that people are comfortable with generally depends on the culture. 8. All members of a culture behave in the same way. T T F

Close the book and choose the best answers. 1. In which of the following countries do people greet each other in the same way? A. Jordan and Italy. B. China and Japan. C. Canada and Colombia.

Discussion 1. If you meet a foreigner who comes up close to you to talk, what countries might he be from? How can you show him that you are uncomfortable with that?

2. What are some situations where body. language is the only form of 2. What are some situations where body language is the only form of communication? Why? 3. Discuss ‘Do you agree with the author’s statement that body language is not good or bad? Why or why not?’

Body language varies from culture to culture. Gesture Country Meaning eye contact some countries other countries show interest rude or disrespectful

a circle with one’s thumb and index finger Gesture Country Meaning a circle with one’s thumb and index finger most countries Japan France Germany Brazil OK money zero rude

Gesture Country Meaning thumbs up the US Nigeria Germany Japan great / good job rude No.1

Gestures countries Meaning Shaking one’s hand Bulgaria, parts of Greece, Iran Other countries Yes No

Gestures countries Meanings Kiss on the cheek A firm handshake A loving hug A bow / a nod of head France Russia Other countries Greet friends

Talk about body languages you usually use. Homework Talk about body languages you usually use.