2. Think of the pedagogical recommendations you could give in relation to the verbal and non-verbal behavior of the teacher.

UNIT 2

How does non-verbal communication differ from verbal communication?

THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES

Non-verbal Communication as

The Basic Form of Communication

Non-verbal communication differs from verbal communication in fundamental ways. For one thing, it is less structured, which makes it more difficult to study.A person cannot pick up a book on non-verbal language and master the vocabulary of gestures, expressions and inflections that are common in our culture. We don't really know how people learn non-verbal behaviour. No one teaches a baby to cry or smile, yet these forms of self-expression are almost universal.

Non-verbal communication also differs from verbal communication in terms of intent and spontaneity. We generally plan our words. The non-verbal component of communication is at least as important as the verbal content. For example, when verbal and non-verbal messages contradict, receivers typically believe the non-verbal message. Verbal communication is more persuasive when factual arguments are presented, but non-verbal communication is more relevant to impression formation and emotional expression. The communication styles, strategies, and behaviors employed by teachers play a strategic role in student learning outcomes. For example, non-verbal communication behaviors such as eye gaze, smiles, nods, relaxed body posture, movement, and gestures have the effect of reducing physical and psychological distance between a teacher and students, and ultimately increasing affective and cognitive learning.

When classroom teachers employ these non-verbal immediacy strategies, students indicate greater affect or liking for the teacher, greater enjoyment of the class, and increased perceptions of having learned from the course. Similarly, verbal communication strategies may be employed by teachers to reduce student perceptions of psychological distance. For example, inclusive references, self-disclosure, and present verb tense are often perceived by students as expressions of interpersonal approach or closeness, and the use of verbal immediacy as an instructional communication strategy may lead to positive learning outcomes. Teachers who feel close to their students will use immediate pronouns like 'our', 'we' and 'us'. In this way teachers verbally show that they feel a part of their students and imply that they are working together toward a common goal.

Initial findings indicate that teacher communication strategies can help achieve the goal of reducing the distance in distance education. For example, remote students do indeed perceive the non-verbally immediate behaviors of their teachers through video transmission, and verbal and non-verbal immediacy contribute to learning outcomes across a range of differing delivery systems. Furthermore, perception of immediacy in distance learning may be enhanced by new communication technologies that enable distance educators to engage in frequent interaction with remote students. This teacher-student interaction contributes to a sense of social presence which, in some cases, may approximate that of the traditional classroom.

Students' state motivation has been shown to be a factor in immediacy's effects on learning, and some researchers have hypothesized that student motivation mediates the effects of teacher immediacy on cognitive and affective learning. By contrast, some scholars believe student motivation is merely a confounding variable in the measurement of cognitive learning, and that immediacy's effects are more likely to be mediated by student affect for the teacher than by student motivation. Therefore, while teacher immediacy and student motivation appear to be related, the exact nature of the relationship and its effects on cognitive learning are not yet clear.

READING AND DISCUSSING