12 International and National Conference on Discourse Analysis Tongji University ,China 11-14 November 2010

How do teachers mean in body language in face-to-face classrooms and how do these meanings relate to language?

Dr Susan Hood
University of Technology, Sydney sue.hood@uts.edu.au
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Studies of gesture / body language

Emerge from different disciplinary homes: anthropology (e.g. Haviland) psychology (e.g. McNeill) sociology (e.g. Schegloff) linguistics /social semiotics (e.g. Martinec, Cleirigh, Thibault) Vary in the focus of attention Eg movements of particular parts of the body or more inclusive of body movements (kinological systems; kinetics) The common ground on gesture is a broad acceptance of the integral role that gesturing plays in meaning making in faceto-face interaction.

SFL as the informing theory

A social semiotic theory of language Meaning as a complementarity of metafunctions ideational meaning interpersonal meaning textual meaning Language as a hierarchy of realisation
discourse semantics lexico-grammar phonology / graphology

Language as a hierarchy of instantiation

system as meaning potential text as instance of the system

general guiding questions

How do we mean in body language in social interaction?

How do speech and body language cooperate in meaning making?

specific interests
Face-to-face teaching

Significant in a context in which e-learning is promoted at the expense of traditional face-to-face teaching. What are we losing in relation to what we might gain?

considerations
How to approach an analysis of face-to-face interaction in classrooms that takes account of language and body language?

What meanings in language? What meanings in body language? What meanings in their co-articulation and interaction?

16 seconds of interaction in the context of

an EAP class - preparation for English medium study at post-grad level a series of lessons on reading, summarising and synthesising academic arguments around impacts of globalisation one micro-phase in one lesson students have previously read and discussed several papers and are about to consolidate with a phase in which they review notes and understandings in group discussion, in preparation for a jointly constructed map of an explanation on the whiteboard the teacher sets up this task
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Heres what the teacher says Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok. So beginning with thhow can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?

Heres what she means as phases in the curriculum genre

() presenting the issue () Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with th how can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?
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task specifications

Heres what she means as phases in the curriculum genre

() presenting the issue (instructional discourse) () Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with th how can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?
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task specifications (regulative discourse )

Heres how she engages voices other than her own (engagement)
monogloss Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with th how can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?
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heterogloss: expand - irrealis

monogloss

Heres how she invokes attitude

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with th how can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?
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[afford] [flag] [flag]

[flag]

Heres what she represents as salient (as new information)

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with thhow can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?

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Heres what she talks about (aspects of ideation)

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with thhow can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?

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Heres what she talks about (aspects of ideation)

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok So beginning with thhow can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain?

text-time (instructional) and field time (regulative): beginning grammatical metaphor: globalisation, human trafficking 16 lexical metaphor: map, steps, cycle, chain

Heres how she says it as clauses and clause complexes

/// Were beginning with globalisation // and were ending with human trafficking // which seem very distanced from each other. /// Ok // So beginning with th how can we map out then the the different steps in this sort of cycle or chain? //

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How does she say it as sound ? tones

1 falling 2 rising 3 level 4 fall rise 5 rise fall certain uncertain not finished but surprise

Heres how it sounds as intonation contours

1 1 1 2 Were / beginning with / globali / sation and were / ending with / human / trafficking which seem / very distanced / ^ from each other. Ok

1So be / ginning with / th 1 how can we / map out / ^ then 1the the different / steps / in this sort of ^ / cycle / or chain?

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Heres what she does

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Questions to do with

Co-articulation Collaboration Coupling Commitment

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How do body and speech co-articulate and cooperate in meaning-making?

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How do we begin to analyse body movements?

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We have quickly surveyed some of the resources of language we can consider in the verbiage What resources of the body and what bodily movements do we attend to or ignore?

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Cleirigh: Gestural and postural semiosis (in Martin in press)

Differentiates kinds of body language Three distinct phenomena resulting from the ontogenetic transition from protolanguage to language Differentiated in terms of their relation to language

Protolinguistic body language Linguistic body language Epilinguistic body language

See also Thibault 2004, interpreting this evolution from perspective of scales of relationship more to less specific - iconic, indexical, symbolic (Peirce)
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Cleirigh: Protolinguistic body language

a development from infant protolanguage consists of expression and meaning, exemplified in a raised fist expressing a threat or mutual eye gaze expressing togetherness. Protolinguistic body language occurs with both speech and silence.

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Cleirigh: Protolinguistic body language

a development from infant protolanguage consists of expression and meaning, exemplified in a raised fist expressing a threat or mutual eye gaze expressing togetherness. Protolinguistic body language occurs with both speech and silence.

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Cleirigh:
Linguistic

body language

only occurs during speech. These movements synchronise with the rhythm and intonation of prosodic phonology in language and so express salience and tone, co-instantiating textual and interpersonal meanings.

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Cleirigh:
Epilinguistic

body language

made possible by transition [from protolanguage] into language, but [is] not systematically related to the lexicogrammar of language () realis[ing] meanings rather than wordings. Epilinguistic body language can instantiate all three metafunctions: ideational, interpersonal and textual.

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Linguistic body language

movements synchronise with the rhythm and intonation of prosodic phonology in language - expressing textual and interpersonal meaning Rhythms on different wavelengths Whole body movements in space torso / arm movements hands, head movements

Linguistic body language Rhythms in tonicity and tonality

Shifts in position correspond to tone groups (tonality) Down beat of hands corresponds to new information (tonic stress)

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Rhythms in tonicity and tonality

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Rhythm in body orientation

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking

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Rhythm in body orientation

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Movements of whole body with rhythms of speech

T1

So beginning with th how can we map out then

T2

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok

T3 T6 T4 T5

the the different steps

in this sort of cycle or chain?

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Movements of whole body with rhythms of speech

T1

So beginning with th how can we map out then

T2

Were beginning with globalisation and were ending with human trafficking which seem very distanced from each other. Ok

text time

T3 T6 T4 T5

the the different steps

in this sort of cycle or chain?

field time
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Body and speech aligning Body movements align with meanings in speech Speech pace and pausing accommodate bodily expression

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Epilinguistic body language Ideational meaning

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map out

different steps

How can we map out then the different steps

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cycle

chain

.. in this sort of cycle or chain?

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committing more or less meaning in speech and gesture in speech

How can we map out then the different steps in this sort of
cycle or chain?

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committing more or less meaning in speech and gesture in speech

How can we map out then the different steps in this sort of
cycle or chain?
lexical metaphors

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committing more or less meaning in speech and gesture in speech

How can we map out then the different steps in this sort of
cycle or chain?
lexical metaphors

map out - position in relation to each other steps - sequence of temporal/causal relations cycle - connecting back to a beginning chain - strong relations between one part and the next

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The literal meaning is made visual in the gesture.

How can we map out then the different steps in this sort of cycle or
chain? map out
verbal: visual: position in relation to each other in a text spreading metaphoric thing in space

steps
verbal: visual: sequence of causal relations in a text smaller metaphoric things in rapid sequence of moves through space

cycle
verbal: visual: connecting back to an initial point in a text rotating back to an initial point in space

chain
verbal: visual: strong relations between one part of a text and another strong tightening of muscles in clenched fists

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Epilinguistic body language and textual meaning

self
direction to self

direction other(s)

actual potential

directed away from self, to actual referent(s) directed away from self, but not directed to actual referent(s)

Identification
particularisation +

specification delimitation

surface size of point

two parts of body marking boundaries

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Epilinguistic body language and textual meaning

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Epilinguistic body language and interpersonal meaning

intensification force quantification
GRADUATION

focus

heteroglossic contraction Appraisal

ENGAGEMENT

heteroglossic expansion

entertain invite

ATTITUDE

Martin & White 2005

Epilinguistic body language and interpersonal meaning

intensification force quantification
GRADUATION

muscle tension

size

focus ?

heteroglossic contraction Appraisal

ENGAGEMENT

prone body positions

heteroglossic expansion

entertain invite
oscillating body movements supine body positions

ATTITUDE

Hood forthcoming

Epilinguistic body language and interpersonal meaning

intensification force quantification
GRADUATION

muscle tension

size

focus ?

heteroglossic contraction Appraisal

ENGAGEMENT

prone body positions

heteroglossic expansion

entertain invite
oscillating body movements supine body positions

ATTITUDE

Hood forthcoming

Epilinguistic body language Ideational and interpersonal meaning

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materialising process types - verbal / mental

(...) discuss .... go over (...) key ideas (...) come up with

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incompletion (on-goingness) of processes rotational movements

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Interpersonal meaning of elicitation in the upward and inward rotation

just discuss go over the main key ideas that weve come up with 53 from those texts

committing more or less ideational meaning in speech and gesture

just discuss go over the main key ideas that weve come up with from those texts SPOKEN committing more ideationally
discuss go over.ideas = specific mental and verbal processes

GESTURED committing less ideationally

rotating hands at head level = generalised mental or verbal process

committing differently interpersonally

congruent heteroglossic contraction

committing differently interpersonally

metaphoric heteroglossic expansion 54

How do teachers mean in body language in face-to-face classrooms and how do these meanings relate to language? co-articulating, co-operating, coupling and commitment Making meanings salient Amplification of salience in conflation of rhythmic waves of movement Amplification in coupling of salience in rhythms of language and body language Enacting interaction in the alignment of body movements of teachers and students

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How do teachers mean in body language in face-to-face classrooms and how do these meanings relate to language? Maximising meaning making potential Instantiating ideational, interpersonal and textual meanings across different parts of the body Instantiating metafunctional meanings across semiotic systems Degrees of commitment of meaning in one or other system

Complex of multimodal redundancy of meaning 56 in face-to-face teaching

references
Cleirigh, C. Unpublished paper. Gestural And Postural Semiosis: A SystemicFunctional Linguistic Approach To Body Language. Hood, S. in press. Body language in face-to-face teaching: A focus on textual and interpersonal meaning. In S. Dreyfus, S. Hood & M.Stenglin (eds) Semiotic Margins: meaning in multimodality. London: Continuum Martin, J.R. In press. Multimodal semiotics: theoretical challenges. In S. Dreyfus, S. Hood & M.Stenglin (eds) Semiotic Margins: meaning in multimodality. London: Continuum Thibault, P. 2004. Brain, mind and the signifying body. London: Continuum Zappavigna, M., C. Cleirigh,P. Dwyer & R.R. Martin 2009. The coupling of gesture and phonology. In M. Bednarek & J.R. Martin (eds) (2010). New Discourse on Language: Functional Perspectives on Multimodality, Identity, and Affiliation. London/New York: Continuum.
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More references
Bezemer, J. 2008. Displaying orientation in the classroom: Syudents multimodal responses to teacher instructions. Linguistics and Education, 19 (166-178) Bauldry, A. (2000) Multimodality and multimediality in the distance learning age. Campobasso, Italy: Paladino Editore Bourne, J. 2003. Vertical discourse: the role of the teacher in the transmission and acquisition of decontextualised knowledge. European Educational Research Journal 2 (4), 496-521. Eisenstein, J. 2008. Gesture in automatic discourse processing. PhD thesis. Massachusetts Intitute of Technology. Flewitt, R. (2006) Using video to investigate pre-school classroom interaction: Education research assumptions and methodological practices. Visual Communication 5 (1): 25-50. Haviland, J. 2000. Pointing, gestural spaces and mental maps. In D. McNeill (ed). Hood, S. 2006. The persuasive power of prosodies: Radiating values in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes l5: 37-49. Hood, S. and J.. Martin. 2007. Invoking attitude: the play of graduation in appraising discourse, in Ruqaiya Hasan, C.M.I.M. Matthiessen, and J. Webster (Eds) Continuing discourse on language. London: Equinox Kendon, A. 2004. Visible action as utterance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kress, G., C. Jewitt, J. Ogborn, C. Tsatsarelis. Multimodal teaching and learning: the rhetorics of the science classroom. London: Continuum. Martin, J.R. 1992. English text. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Martin, J.R. & D. Rose 2003. Working with Discourse: meaning beyond the clause. London: Continuum. Martinec, R. 2000. Rhythm in multimodal texts. Leonardo, 33 (4), 289-297. Martinec, R. 2002. Rhythmic hierarchy in monologue and dialogue. Functions of language 9 (1), 39-59. Martinec, R.2004.Gestures that co-occur with speech as a systematic resource: the realisation of experiential meaning in indexes. Social semiotics 14 (2), 193-213. McGregor, D. 2004. Real space blends in spoken language. Gesture 4(1), 75-89. McNeill, D. 1998. Speech and gesture integration. In J.M. Iveron and S. Goldin-Meadow (eds), The nature and functions of gesture in children s communication, No 79. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass publishers. Pp 11-27. McNeill, D. (ed) 2000. Language and gesture: window into thought and action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Norris, S. 2004. Analysing multimodal interaction: A methodological framework. London: Routledge. Roth, W.-M & D. Lawless. 2002. Scientific investigations, metaphorical gestures, and the emergence of abstract scientific concepts. Learning and instruction (12) 285-304. Stenglin, M. 2004 Packaging curiosities: towards a grammar of three- dimensional space . Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney. van Leeuwen, T. 2005. Introducing social semiotics. London: Routledge. van Leeuwen, T. 1999. Speech, music, sound. London: Macmillan

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Student:.so it flexible s just with maybedepend unclear point some ofslittle right? can Teacher: important I thinkthe grammar Great useful that a these rules an prepositions

identifying other - actual

identifying other - potential

directed away from material referent 60

Specifying with little finger index finger whole hand

side of hand

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Packaging the message in waves of interaction

Frames are bracketed through beginnings and endings marked in a range of different modes of interaction (Bezermer 2008:168)

Gestures enacting inter-segmental boundary cues and intra-segmental cohesion (Eisenstein 2008: 29)

The periodic patterning of lessons in multi-modal waves signals shifts in activity and kinds of interaction and guides and coordinates student engagement.

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Texturing discourse with rhythmic movements on different wavelengths

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Texturing discourse with rhythmic movements on different wavelengths

... not only are gesture and speech tightly synchronized, but this synchronization occurs on multiple levels, such that the small linguistic units (e.g., phrases) are synchronized with fast moving body parts (e.g., hands and fingers) and large discourse units (e.g., topic segments) are synchronised with slower moving body parts (e.g., the torso). () posture shifts occur much more frequently at segment boundaries

(Eisentein 2008:29)

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If different semiotic modes, or parts of the same semiotic mode, like the instruments in music, are not synchronized often they have not been properly mastered or the piece has not yet been properly worked out. () Synchronization is discussed in chaos theory in the phenomenon of phase locking [19]: when two systems with their own rhythms get close to one another, after a certain time their rhythms synchronize. At a rather general level, synchrony thus seems to create order out of what may otherwise appear chaotic. Asynchrony, or disorder more generally, is however surely needed, too. Coupled with the right amount of order, it allows any system not to become too rigid and stifled. It allows a degree of freedom and is necessary for evolution. It also makes things more interesting. (Martinec 2000: 293)

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Concluding
There is a systematicity in gesturing in spoken English - ideationally, interpersonally and textually We can identify emerging system networks for the meaning potential of gestures In gesture we can - synthesise meanings across metafunctions - distribute meanings across the body In gestures plus speech we can - co-express meanings - share the metafunctional load -shift the major responsibility for meaning In gestures plus speech we can - commit more meaning potential than is committed in either mode independently - commit differently in each mode - commit more or less meaning potential in one mode or another 67

Concluding
The practice of face-to-face teaching is intensively multimodally and intermodally interactive. Analyses of classroom interaction, as instances and as generalised potentials, require us to attend to the multimodality and intermodality of the discourse. What can a multimodal analysis of classroom practice add to our understanding of generalised practices in different pedagogic paradigms? How can a multimodal analysis of classroom practice inform our understanding and design of online teaching practices? What contribution can an understanding of the multimodal complexity of classrooms make to teacher education?

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