Nonverbal communication refers to the

process whereby a message is sent and

received through one or more human
sense channels without the use of
language. Such messages can be
intentional and conscious or even
unintentional and unconscious.
A preacher's hand gestures during a
sermon are usually intentional. Totally
unconscious communication can be
effected by a someone who, seated with
their legs crossed, punctuated the end of
each sentence with a jerk of the leg as
they read orally. Whatever the intention
in the mind of the communicator, or
whatever the level of awareness of the
messages being sent, nonverbal
communication is very powerful and
significant in people's lives life and in
their interaction in the community.
The patterns of nonverbal behavior
are culturally defined. "Yes" or "no"
messages are conveyed by the nodding or
shaking of one's head. These patterns are
part of the arbitrary selection of symbols
of the culture (in some cultures the
nodding up and down of the head means
"yes" while in others it means "no").
These behaviors must be learned, along
with language and other aspects of the
structure of society, by new members
entering the culture.
Learning these nonverbal clues can
present problems. The same symbol may
transmit opposite messages in two
different cultures, or two seemingly
opposite signals may mean the same
thing in the two cultures. The hand
motion with fingers extended down from
the palm and moved in rhythm toward
the speaker signifies "goodbye" to
someone from the United States, but it
means "come here" to most Latin
Americans. Yet, the Latin American
symbol for "goodbye" is almost identical
to the American symbol meaning "come
here." Obviously, this can be confusing
and frustrating. When members of one
culture visits or lives within another
culture, they must master these signals
until they perceives them according to
the intent of the other person.
Nonverbal communication is
expressed and perceived through all of
the senses -- hearing, touch, smell, sight,
and taste. Nonverbal communication may
also include body temperature, body
movement, and time and space.
For example, people who perspire
intensely when they are nervous is
communicating that message with their
"wet" clothes as though they had
verbalized their nervousness.
That the two messages, verbal and
nonverbal, may not coincide is a
fascinating study in the field of social
psychology. People who perspire heavily
but claims they are not nervous may be
either consciously trying to deceive or
unaware of their motives in denying their
nervousness.
Kinesic communication involves
muscle or body movement. Specific
messages are transmitted by hand waves,
eye contact, facial expressions, head
nods, and other movements. In an
interpretive dance the movements of the
entire body are high in message content.
In fact, in certain Southeast Asian
nations the interpretive dance is the
primary nonverbal means of
communicating to a group. The Thai
easily read the symbolic message of the
formal dance without it needing to be
verbalized.
Sometimes kinesic symbols cause
frustration in crosscultural encounters.
North American eye contact is far too
intense for Filipinos who tend to break
eye contact early. The Filipino breaks eye
contact (1) to show subordination to
authority, (2) to differentiate roles such
as man and woman or adult and child,
and (3) to indicate that staring is not
proper behavior. The North American,
even though placing low value on staring,
encourages eye contact to show respect
and trustworthiness.
Cultural factors govern body
movement, determining what moves,
when it moves, where it moves, and
restrictions on movement. Hips may
move in sports or dancing but not in the
services of some churches. A child can
move the body freely in gym but not in
the classroom. A North American girl who
grows up in Latin America may return
home with more body movement as part
of her flirtation pattern and find she is
classified as "loose" among her peers. A
Latin woman tends to move more of her
body when men are present than does an
American woman, although neither
communicates loose morals within her
own culture. When the North American
girl moves into the Latin American
culture, she may be seen as "cold."
Conversely, when the Latin American girl
moves to North America, she may be
considered "loose."
Proxemic communication implies
relationships of space, duration,
distance, territory, and the perception of
these on the part of the participant.
Standing patterns have been schemed
by Edward T. Hall as intimate, personal,
and public. North American intimate
space extends two feet from the person;
Latin American intimate space extends
only a foot or so. This intimate-personal
space border defines the space within
which one feels uncomfortable in a
personal, but not intimate, conversation.
Thus, the Latin feels quite comfortable
conversing just a foot away from the face
of the other. When Latins move that close
to a North American, however, they are
invading that person's intimate space.
Such an invasion causes the American to
react defensively with visible muscle
tension, skin discoloration, and even
body movements of "retreat."
Living rooms are often arranged in
keeping with the personal space
relationships of a culture. People may
comfortably sit closer side by side than
face to face. The Mayan equivalent of a
living room is designed for standing or
sitting only in the extremities on a log by
the walls. A North American living room
is arranged so that no one is farther than
ten feet from another. If the room is
larger than this, a conversation area will
be arranged with the seats closer than
the perimeter of the room would indicate.
Public distance includes that space in
which a person feels comfortable in a
public area or gathering. The amount of
this space will vary according to the
situation. For example, when people are
on an elevator, they will invade what
would normally be considered each
another's intimate space. However,
reduced body movement compensates for
this intrusion. The outer limit of public
space is the maximum distance people
feel they can maintain and still feel a part
of the gathering. This usually means
being within the sound of the activity,
closer with a public address or farther
away at a musical performance.
Seating patterns are arranged with a
purpose. Frequently, the pattern includes
a focal point, the performer or speaker,
with the audience arranged in rows or in
a semicircle facing the focal point. In
theater in the round, the audience
surrounds the stage; but the focus is still
on the actors. Involvement theater in the
sixties attempted to bring everyone into
the performance itself. This was resisted,
however, by many in North American
society because of public space
preferences.
Competition versus cooperation is
also signaled by seating patterns. When
desks are separated, competition is
signaled. No one can copy the work of
another. The seminar room, with people
seated side by side around a table,
signals cooperation because people can
see and share in each other's work.
Walking patterns are also part of
public space involving schedule,
direction, and distance. Certain Hebrew
laws were built on the distance one could
walk from his property in a day. A limit
was placed on Sabbath journeys with
that distance being called, logically, "a
Sabbath day's journey." Hebrew people
soon learned to carry some of their
property with them and lay it at the end
of one "Sabbath day's journey"; so they
could then walk an additional distance
from that property.
The schedule of walking patterns
concerns the time of day one may be seen
in public in a given society. Among the
Pocomchi in Guatemala, men can be seen
sweeping the house and walking before
6:00 A.M. but never after that hour.
Likewise, no one would be on legitimate
business after 9:00 P.M. In the
Philippines, Saturday night is a very late
night. People stroll in the parks until
2:00 A.M. on Sunday. When visible
numbers of blacks were permitted in
private white colleges, pressure was put
on these schools to make curfews later by
a couple of hours and to serve breakfast
later in the morning, since the day
started "later" for blacks.
Verbal and nonverbal behavior are
what social interaction is all about. These
skills are learned within the context of
one's society. They are expressed as
normal behavior within the settings
defined by that society. Only through
adequate grasp of the language and non-
verbal aspects of the culture can
communication be carried out.