The Form of the Message

1. The Form of the Message Chapter 2- Part 2 Non-Verbal Communication & Manual Language

2. Nonverbal Communication • The transmission of messages w/o spoken words • Body language… • Smell, Taste, Touch • Proxemics & Kinesics • gender, status, culture & space • types of gestures • Gesture systems... • Sign languages… • analyzing signs • Paralanguage… • Speech substitutes….

3. Body Language • Learned in cultural groups • Interpreted unconsciously • Often overrides verbal language • ~60% of communication? • Beware of guidebooks.

4. Smell, Taste, and Touch • Smell • And ethnicity, culture • Cigars, perfumes and status • Taste • And group membership • Spicy foods.. • Touch • And gender and power • Relation to proxemics….

5. Edward Hall, 1950s How people perceive and use space Cowboy proxemics Getting to theatre seats. Proxemics

6. Entering into someone’s ‘space’ Getting the ‘best’ office Or the biggest bedroom Having one’s own ‘space’ Dens vs sewing rooms. Gender, Status, & Space

7. Different arrangements US grids & French circles German doors: closed vs open Different uses Where to eat in the Comoros Depends on gender too. Culture and Space

8. Kinesics • Ray Birdwhistell, 1950s • Body movements • Shrugs, nods. Arm & leg-crossing • Facial expressions • Smiles, frowns, winks • Gestures • Palm up / palm down • Thumbs up! • Kinemes, allokines & kinemorphs.

9. Typology of Gestures • Eckman & Friesen, 1960s • Emblems • Translatable (waving) • Illustrators • Of what is said (steering) • Affect Displays • Convey emotion (smiling) • Regulators • Control or coordinate (pointing) • Adaptors • Facilitate release (wiggling).

10. What non-verbal messages can you interpret from this picture?

11. Gesture Systems • Where verbal communication is difficult • Topics and contexts are limited • Simple alternative systems • Little or no syntax • Sawmills, baseball games, sailboat racing • Complex alternative systems • Syntax based on spoken language: • Syntax independent of any spoken language • Native American Plains sign language • Signs used in varying order.

12. Manual Language • A system of communication that employs hand movements to convey meanings. • American Sign Language (ASL) is used by deaf people in the U.S. • Topics and contexts are unlimited • Syntax is complex, unique to specific language • American Sign Language (ASL; Ameslan) vs British • Mutually unintelligible; not based on English syntax • Signs = concepts, not words (‘right’ vs ‘right’) • Syntax = one sign can stand for several words

13. ASL Four articulatory parameters: • Hand configuration • Place of Articulation • Movement of Hands • Orientation Vocabulary & Grammar • Socially constructed symbols • May contain a single sign or a combination of signs.

14. Paralanguage • Sounds that “accompany” speech • But aren’t words themselves • George Trager (1950s) • voice qualities • Loudness, tone of voice • Pitch, speed, rhythm • Vocal modifications: • whispering, cooing, breathy voice, rising intonation • Vocal segregates (or vocal gestures) • Stand on their own • uh-huh, mhmm, shhhh, throat-clearing.

15. Speech Substitutes • Sound signals substitute for spoken words • Or parts of words • Useful for communicating over distances • Examples: • Drum languages • based on tones (Nigeria) • Whistle languages • based on tones • based on vowels • different whistled pitches = different vowels

16. Non-verbal Communication • Edward Hall study of time • Chronemics • Monochronic Time • Polychronic Time

17. Nonverbal communication • Almost 2/3s of communication. • Messages sent by clothing, jewelry, tattoos, piercings, and body modifications. • Read article: Body Art as Visual Language (handout)

18. Body Art

19. The Meaning of Silence • Meaning? • Culturally bound • Effects of status? • Cultural difference • Attitudes about silence in the U.S.