The process of sending and receiving wordless messages by means of facial expression, gaze, gestures, postures, and tones of voice come under non-verbal communication. Also included are grooming habits, body positioning in space, and consumer product design (e.g. clothing cues, food products, artificial colours and tastes, media images and computer-graphic displays.) Non-verbal cues include all expressive signs, signals, and cues (audio, visual, tactile, chemical, etc.—which are used to send and receive messages apart from manual sign language and speech. We all give and respond to thousands of non-verbal messages daily in our personal and professional lives.
From morning’s kiss to choosing a business suit or tense our mouths at a meeting, we react to wordless messages emotionally, often without knowing why. We notice non-verbal behaviour because their details reveal how we relate to one another, and whom we think we are e.g. our next-door neighbour’s daily head-nod to our lecturer’s hairstyle and clothes etc. Anthropologist Gregory Bateson has noted that our non-verbal communication is still evolving: “If…verbal language were in any sense an evolutionary replacement of communication by means of kinesics of and paralanguage, we would expect the old, predominantly iconic systems to have undergone conspicuous decay. Clearly they have not. Rather, the kinesics of men has become richer and more complex, and paralanguage has blossomed side by side with the evolution of verbal language”(Bateson 1968 cited in Wolfgang 1979)
What are the functions of Non-verbal communication?
According to Aaron Wolfgang in his book ‘Nonverbal behaviour’, there are five functions of Non-verbal communication.
1. Interpersonal Attitudes;
We are concerned with attitudes toward others that are present. The main attitudes fall along two dimensions; dislike/cold to like/warm and superior/dominant to inferior/submissive. There is also love, which is a variant of liking. Non-verbal signs convey these attitudes, as facial expressions, posture and tone of voice. Liking is conveyed by a friendly tone of voice, smiling and so on. The attitudes of others are perceived, mainly from their non-verbal behaviour. It is found that people can judge with some accuracy when others like them, but are much less accurate in perceiving dislike.
- Emotional States;
These can be distinguished from interpersonal attitudes in that emotions are not directed toward others present, but are simply states of that individual. The common emotions are anger, depression, anxiety, joy, surprise, fear and disgust/contempt.
3.Non-verbal accompaniments of speech;
These signals are faster moving and are closely linked to verbal communication. They take three main forms, completing and elaborating of verbal utterances, managing synchronising (taking turns speaking in a group of two or more people.) and sending feedback signals. We will look at this in more detail later when comparing and contrasting non-verbal communication with verbal communication.
4.Rituals;
Non-verbal communication plays an important role here. By rituals are meant standard sequences of social behaviour that bring about temporary changes of relationship, for example, greetings or farewells to more permanent changes (weddings), or changes of states of individuals.
5.Self-Presentation;
According to Wolfgang, if information about the self is put into words, it must be done so very indirectly, or it is likely to lead to derision and disbelief. Non-verbal signals are more acceptable, though these too may be misleading.
“…the mind of the hearer is just as active in transforming and creating as the mind of the speaker.” (Moore and Carling 1982 p145)
What is language?
Language is "the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols." (Hall 1964)
Language and speech is not the same thing. Speech is a broad term simply referring to patterned verbal behaviour. In contrast, a language is a set of rules for generating speech. A dialect is a variant of a language. If it is associated with a geographically isolated speech community, it is referred to as a regional dialect. However, if it is spoken by a speech community that is merely socially isolated, it is called a social dialect. An example is the Chinese spoken dialect and written form called nushu. It was apparently known and used only by women in the village of Jiang-yong in Hunan Province of South China, to write memoirs, create songs, and share their thoughts with each other. While women also knew and used the conventional Chinese dialect of their region, they used nushu to maintain female support networks in the face of male domination.
In researching for this essay, I found several different communication theories and found out that over the course of time the question of what the essential features of communication are has been discussed from many different angles. It has been recognised that all sorts of aspects of language are purely matters of convention, so that shared conventions are necessary for verbal communication to be possible. In the late 1800s, philosophers like had developed the idea that communication must be understood, purely in terms of its observable features and effects. Three levels semiotics were then discussed. The first was syntax: the grammatical or other structure of a sequence of verbal or other elements. The second was semantics: the standardised meaning or meanings of the sequence of elements. And the third was pragmatics: the observable effect on those involved in the communication.
In the early 1900s, put more emphasis on the general question of how languages really operate, and the point was made that the verbal elements or signs in a language should be viewed as somehow intermediate between tangible entities like sounds and abstract thoughts and concepts. The properties of any given sign were recognised as arbitrary, but what was then thought to be essential about a language is the structure of the network of relations between signs, with the ultimate meaning of any given sign inevitably depending on the meanings of signs related to it. Starting in the 1950s, especially with the work of , there were claims of universal features in human languages - independent of historical or cultural context. And it remains unclear, for example, to what extent non-verbal forms of communication such as music, gestures and visual ornament show the same grammatical features as ordinary languages.
Comparing and contrasting Language with non-verbal communication;
Differences and similarities;
In a lot of ways verbal and non-verbal communication go hand in hand complementing each other. If we look at an example given in Aaron Wolfgangs book, ‘Nonverbal behaviour’, we can see this.
He gives us an example of a teacher who speaks only one language and her students who speak only another.
Non-verbal communication comes in to play and replaces verbal communication in the form of touching, spacing, gesturing, eye contact, body language etc.
We can clearly see even if we look at our own lives, that the value of non-verbal communication appears everywhere. From businessmen and salesmen to actors and dancers, this form of communication is extremely important. Non-verbal sources of information represent an expressive network that reveals and informs. According to Wolfgang some of us remain out of touch with this source of information. We refuse to honour the wisdom of body signals and signs, and we blind ourselves to non-verbal effects. In a need to fool ourselves we believe that self-control is a verbal achievement; that only verbal consequences matter. If someone says, “You don’t like me, do you?” Our response verbalises, “Did I ever say that? What makes you feel that way?” The assumption is clear; only words count. I am in no way responsible for the countless expressions, gestures, faces, or action you see. I control my world with verbal logic, the silent languages of attitude, value, and preference must be ignored because I take no responsibility for their expression. Wolfgang feels that we need to take non-verbal communication seriously, that it has serious implications and that you cannot just rely on so called verbal logic.
If we look at self-presentation we can see that it utilises both non-verbal and verbal skills. It is done primarily by non-verbal signals, such as clothes and accent, and can also be done verbally, though in many cultures there are restraints on verbal self-presentation. Jones and Gergan (1971 cited in Wolfgang 1979) found that subjects who were motivated to convey a favourable impression of them did so with subtly, drawing attention to assets in unimportant areas, and being modest if they thought the recipient was modest.
The vocabulary and grammar that people use when speaking is certainly a product of Cultural Revolution. We seem to verbalise much of our instinctive behaviour. For example gift exchange is a universal pattern. We present gifts by verbal wishing and promising.
We can mourn to express concern, but we also do it verbally. Considering the importance ritualisations play in the course of evolution, e.g., replacing damaging fights by ritual, we have to consider the possibility that this acted as one important selection pressure in the evolution of language.
In a greeting encounter appeasement and bonding remains as a characteristic of the event, regardless of whether the display is performed by shouting “salut”, performing a display dance, or firmly pressing our opponent’s hand. Similarly we can appease in a great number of ways, for example, via a child smiling, bowing, laying the armour to the ground and taking off the gloves before reaching out for a handshake, are functional equivalents. Many of the diverse cultural rituals, for example, those of gift exchange, are cultural differentiations of such basic strategies. Of particular interest in this context is our ability to verbalise these strategies in totality. According to Wolfgang the rules according to which the event is structured remains nonetheless alike, regardless of whether the interaction is verbalised or performed through non-verbal acts. This discovery bridges the gap between non-verbal and verbal behaviour and opens the way for the exploration of a universal grammar of social behaviour covering both the verbal and non-verbal.
Cultural differences;
Non-verbal communication is definitely a form of communication used internationally. However it differs when it comes to mood, personality, age, status, gender, occupational group, class, ethnicity, social memberships, cultural backgrounds and so on. If we look at the way in which the French greet people they know with a kiss, on both cheeks. Most of us from different cultural backgrounds know of this, but do we know that it’s supposed to be the French males who actually do the kissing while the females simply offer their cheek. When I Au-Paired in France I made the continuous mistake of ‘doing the kissing’ which left French males thinking I was interested in more than a simple greeting! Similar to this if I was to laugh in certain parts of Africa it would more than likely be interpreted as surprise, wonder embarrassment and even discomfort. It is not necessarily or even often a sign of amusement. If we are willing to deal with this degree of complexity, we can systematically study participation in relation to individual and categorical differences.
Some elements of communication behaviour are morphologically similar in much of our species, but the organisation of behaviours in events differs from one tradition to another.
Bateson (Wolfgang 1979 p13) uses the term “metacommunication” to describe behaviour about what is happening. We know that people have feelings, beliefs and attitudes about the events they engage in. Many of these are thought about and experienced emotionally while a person participates in an event, some of them are stated, and many are reflected in facial displays and movement qualities. When they are visibly or audibly manifest they are communicative, or metacommunicative by Bateson’s definition. There are signals and cues as well as expressions and reactions and they can modify, govern, or even terminate a communicational event.
In conclusion language and non-verbal communication are two different forms of communication. However they have a lot of similarities and seem to complement each other in a lot of ways. It is naïve to be sceptical of non-verbal communication and to think that verbal logic is the proper way to communicate a message. Non-verbal communication plays a huge part in our daily lives and so it would be wise to embrace it properly and use it to enhance verbal communication.
“He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his finger tips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.”
Sigmund Freud (1959 cited in Wolfgang 1979 p127)
Verbal aspects of messages are elaborated and supported in a number of ways by non-verbal communication.
Bibliography;
Books;
- Wolfgang, A. NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR, Applications and Cultural Implications 1979 : ACADEMIC PRESS
- Moore, T and Carling, C. UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE: TOWARDS A POST-CHOMSKYAN LINGUISTICS. 1982. MACMILLAN.
- Hasan, Ruqaiya. Linguistics, language and verbal art. 1989. Oxford University Press.
Electronic Resources;
-
Hockett, C and Ashcher. 2001 What is language? {Online}. Available from: < > {Accessed 6 April 2004}
- Wolfram, S. 2002. A New Kind Of Science. {Online}. Available from:
<> {Accessed 12 April 2004}
Cover Sheet
Subject: Language and Linguistics
Lecturer: Martin Croghan
Date of Submission: 4/5/2004
Essay Title: ‘Compare and contrast Language and Non-verbal Communication’
Student: Bróna Maher
Student number: 53850943
Communication Studies-year 1
DCU School of Communications AssignmentSubmission Form