Applications of Body language in English Teaching in Primary School

Applications of Body Language in English Teaching in Primary School

By Zhang Lan

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B. A. degree

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2017

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I hold the deepest gratitude to my supervisor —— Professor Xiong Mingli. In the writing of this paper, I got her careful guidance, whether from the beginning of the direction or in the process of preparing the references, she has been patiently giving me advice, so I can finish my paper in time. It also shows her high professionalism and sense of responsibility. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and wishes to Professor Xiong Mingli.

Second, I would like to thank my counselor and all the teachers for their meticulous care for me and strict requirements on study during these four years. They helped me to understand many professional knowledge and truth.

Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my roommates and classmates for their care and help for me. My college life is full and rich for studying and living with them, they has given me a lot of unforgettable memories.

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1The history of body language studies 2

2.2 Definition of body language 3

2.3 Features of body language 4

2.4 Types of body language in English teaching 5

3. Applications of Body Language in primary school English teaching 7

3.1 Applications of body language to phonetic alphabet teaching 7

3.2 Applications of body language to improving listening 7

3.3 Applications of body language to improving speaking 8

3.4 Applications of body language to improving reading 8

4. Functions of Body Language in Primary School English Teaching 9

4.1 To control the primary students’ behavior 9

4.2 To better understand teachers 9

4.3 To make students better participate 9

5. Conclusion 10

References 11

Applications of Body Language in English Teaching in Primary School

Zhang Lan

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: The difficulty of language teaching is how to solve the implicitness of language through vivid expression. In recent years, primary school English teachers keep trying a variety of teaching methods, hoping to be able to solve this problem. Practice has proved that strengthening the application of body language can help effectively reduce the difficulty of English learning for the students of primary school. Body language, also known as nonverbal communication, is a means of language communication through body movements such as facial expressions, gestures, eyes, etc. The proper use of body language in English teaching can also help to control the class orders and regulate the behavior of students in class, which can further improve the teaching effects. What’s more, body language is a useful tool to promote communication between teachers and students, which also can improve the feelings of teachers and students and establishing harmonious classroom learning atmosphere. The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of body language of primary school teachers and encourage them to apply more body language in daily English teaching through introducing the types, features and function of body language in primary English teaching.

Key words: Body Language; Nonverbal communication; English Teaching; Primary Students

摘要：语言教学的难题在于如何更形象地表达从而解决某些语言的含蓄性，近年来，小学英语教师为了解决这个难题，不断尝试各种教学方法。实践证明，加强肢体语言在英语教学中的应用有利于有效降低小学生的学习难度。肢体语言也被称为非语言沟通，是用身体动作如面部表情，手势，眼神等来传达出某种语言信息的一种沟通手段。英语教学中适当运用肢体语言沟通还能帮助老师控制课堂秩序，约束学生行为，从而能够提高教学效果，而肢体语言也是促进师生沟通的一种有用的工具，有利于增进师生情感，构建和谐的课堂学习氛围。本文旨在通过对体态语的类型,特点及其在小学英语教学中的作用作基本介绍，加深小学教师对体态语的了解，从而鼓励小学英语教师在日常教学中多多利用肢体语言。

关键词：体态语；非言语交际；英语教学；小学生

1. Introduction

Today’s elementary school classroom requires English teachers to teach in English as much as possible, which makes teachers in a dilemma. On the one hand, teachers want to use English to organize teaching as possible as they can, so as to create a strong language atmosphere. On the other hand, teachers are afraid to teach in English too much, because primary students haven’t learned English for much time and don’t have enough vocabulary. “If the teacher interprets a word in a series of English, some students will not understand and will even be afraid of English, which will play the opposite role”.(Zou, 2011: 04) The only way to coordinate this contradiction is to use the rich and vivid body language to teach English. The body language, also called nonverbal behavior, refers to the exchange of both sides through facial expressions, eyes, gestures and other non-verbal behaviors to convey language information, so that related contents could be understood and memorized. “This kind of nonverbal behavior will become nonverbal communication when another person interprets that behavior as a message and it contributes meaning to that message”. (Richmond, 1991:6-7) Ray Birdwhistell, an expert on nonverbal communication, suggested that in most conversations between two persons, words convey only about 35 percent of the meaning of conversation, while other nonverbal elements contributes to nearly 65 percent of the meaning. Another opinion is that the nonverbal message is 4.3 times as important as the verbal message. It is really true that if you consider the ways we convey information non-verbally: either through eye contact, physical contact, or through gestures, postures and so on. Thus, nonverbal communication plays a rather important role in human communication as well as verbal communication, and sometimes nonverbal communication even can surpass the verbal ones in transiting meanings. When it comes to classroom teaching, it is also a form of communication. For communicators, both teachers and students make use of not only vocal means which is known as language, but also nonverbal behaviors known as nonverbal communication, such as eye contact, physical contact, gestures and so on.

Primary school is the basic stage of students’ English learning and has a far-reaching impact on their future English learning. So in order to improve the efficiency of English teaching, it is a good method for primary English teachers to use body language in class, which not only enrich the contents of English teaching, but also help students develop students’ interest in English. “Therefore, primary school English teachers can improve the quality of English teaching through using more body language in the process of English teaching”.(Xiao, 2016: 07)

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