PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATLICA DEL ECUADOR

FACULTAD DE COMUNICACIN, LINGSTICA Y LITERATURA

ESCUELA DE LINGSTICA

COMMUNICATION I

FINAL PAPER

WHY IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION A CRUCIAL FACTOR AMONG

ADOLESCENTS?

JEFFERSON IMBAQUINGO - DANIELA PEREZ MORA

QUITO, 31st JULY, 2017

Abstract
Nonverbal language is an essential part of communication process as it can carry

meaningful messages and be decoded conventionally. Nonverbal language abides by

certain functions such as repeating, substituting, complementing, regulating, accenting

and deceiving. This study attempts to discover if non verbal language is clear enough to

be interpreted and convey the same message to everyone. Additionally, this study alse

aims to discover if there is gender is a factor that influences the message.

Resumen

El lenguaje no verbal es una parte fundamental en la comunicacin al transmitir

mensajes llenos de significados para luego ser decodificados convencionalmente. El

lenguaje no verbal obedece ciertas funciones como de repeticin, sustitucin,

complementacin, regulacin, nfasis y engao. Este estudio intenta descubrir si el

lenguaje no verbal es lo suficientemente claro para interpretar y transmitir el mismo

mensaje a todos. De igual manera el estudio tratar de descubrir si el gnero influye al

momento de decodificar el mensaje.

Key words:

1. Nonverbal communication: those aspects of communication, such as gestures

and facial expressions, that do not involve verbal communication but which may
include nonverbal aspects of speech itself (accent, tone of voice, speed of
speaking, etc). ( Collins Dictionary) [online]
2. Message: According to Cambridge Dictionary, message is a short piece of
written or spoken information that is given or sent to someone.
3. Kinesics: The study of the way in which certain body movements and gestures
serve as a form of nonverbal communication. (Oxford Dictionary)
4. Interlocutor: According to Oxford Dictionary, interlocutor is the person who
takes part in a dialogue or conversation.
5. Conventional: According to Macmillan Dictionary, someone who is
conventional follows the usual and accepted opinions and ways of behaving,
especially without questioning them.

I. Introduction:
Communication is a very important tool among that human beings use in order to

interact with other and so to build up relationships and the society we currently have. To

communicate we use various resources from signs to complex utterances. Speech is a

unique feature of our civilization and we have utilized it. Nevertheless, humans also

make use of other resources that convey a lot without uttering a word. The field of study

this is namely called non-verbal language. The purpose of this investigation is to

discover how crucial and important is non-verbal language to transmit ideas and to

discover if gender is a factor that can alter the message.

II. Literature Review

Non-verbal language has an obscure history as there are almost no records of it formally

written. Actually it is easier to track verbal language; these studies can date back to

3000 BC1, and currently languages have been sorted into formal multiple linguistic

families. Nevertheless this is not the case of non-verbal language which has not been

studied as exhaustively as its counterpart verbal language. One reason of this might be

the high degree of conventionality. Nonverbal language is a conventional system that

have been established according to the society and culture.

Non verbal language is fully composed of signs that we manage to interpret. Ferdinand

de Saussure was the pioneer in the formal study of signs, which he called Semiotics.

According to Saussure, semiotics is the study of the life of sign in society and how

they relate with the everyday usage. He establishes that signs are conventional as the

true meaning of it can be only assigned by its the users.

According to Larry Barker and Deborah Barker (1993), nonverbal language not only

account for body language, but the functions of it make the method to convey message

nonverbally border; and they classify them in functions.They purposed six functions:
1 Gascoigne. (2001). History of Language
 1. Repeating: When we transmit a message verbally, we repeat the message with
its nonverbal equivalent.
2. Substituting: When hearing or speaking is impossible, we make nonverbal
language take place for words.
3. Complementing: We utilize nonverbal language to complement, complete, or
accent a verbal language.
4. Regulating: This helps the interlocutors keep with the conversation flowing
through turn-taking system.
5. Accenting: When the interlocutors feel the necessity to emphasize their spoken
words, they resort to the use of accenting gestures.
6. Deceiving: When an speakes is declaring something that is not true, not only
his/her spoken words express such falsehood, but also his/her nonverbal
language supply hints.

Larry L. Barker and Deborah A. Barker proposed various types of nonverbal behaviour

such as facial expressions, eye behaviour, kinesics and body language, personal

appearance and clothing, touching, proxemics, paralanguage, smell and taste and

environmental factor:

Facial expressions

It is probably the most obvious vehicle for nonverbal language as it is constantly

emitting information to our environment. In fact, Charles Darwin along his theory

about universal behaviour deduced that many of human's facial expressions come from

lower animals. 2Supporting Darwin's hypothesis, Paul Ekman, in 1968, traveled to

Papua New Guinea to study the nonverbal behavior of the Fore people who were a

grupo isolated since Stone Age. He came to the conclusion that human nonverbal

behavior is universal as he could identify seven emotions that can discerned

universally: happiness, fear, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt and surprise.

2 Paul Ekman Group. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2017, from

https://www.paulekman.com/paul-ekman/
Eye Behavior

Larry L. Barker and Deborah A. Barker affirms eye behaviors are associated with

definite moods, reactions and attitudes. They classify their functions as the following:

1. provide information
2. regulate intentions
3. exercise social control
4. express intimacy
5. facilitate goal achievement

Kinesics

This term was coined by Ray Birdwhistell and it refers to the study of the body

movement. He argued that this type of language can be learnt just like any other oral

language. Later on Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen detailed five specific body

expressions:

Emblems: These signs, mainly gestures, are commonly known and easy to

perceive because they transmit messages that are not related to the ongoing

conversation. , illustrators, regulators, affect displays and body movement.

Regulators: This signs such as gazes, nods, raised eyebrows help regulate

verbal communication as they provide a way for a smooth transitions in conversations

(speaking roles).

Affect displays: They are nonverbal messages that convey our emotional states,

even though they have no relationship with the ongoing conversation.

Body movement: Gestures and movements can convey meaningful messages

regarding our feelings. These gestures and movements can express openness and

honesty or, on the contrary, defensiveness. Body movements have to do with our spatial

notion within society and how someone is expected to react in certain situation. 3

Proxemics
3 Larry L. Barker and Deborah A. Barker (1993)
It is the study of spatial factors such as our relationship with our environment depending

on our positions inside of it. If focuses on how we react to space around us, how we

use that space and how our use of space communicates certain information. In 1966

Edward T Hall specified four distance zones which are commonly observed:

Intimate distance: This contact goes from literal touching to 18. People like

family and close friends have access to this zone. However, when strangers trespass this

limit, other mechanisms activate to counter such closeness such as silence, averted

glances etc.

Personal distance: This zone goes from 18 to 4 ft. According to Hall, this is

the appropriate distance to interact with friends or even teachers.

Social distance: This is the adequate distance that two acquaintances, business

people or even two people meeting for the first time would maintain during interaction.

It goes from 4 ft to 12 ft.

Public distance: This type of interaction goes from 12 to 25 and is widely

used in formal address such as lectures, rallies, etc.

III. Referential

Professor Arthur Mehrabian is recognized for his arguments on Relative Importance of

Verbal and Nonverbal messages. He establishes the 7%-38%-55% Rule. This rules

establishes that words, tone of voice and body language as in impact on our

interlocutors while we are speaking. He found that 7% of any transmitted message is

through words, 38% through vocal elements (suprasegmental features) and 55% through

nonverbal elements such as facial expressions, gestures and posture. He concluded that

most of the communications process is carried out through nonverbal language.

Additionally in 1999 Peter A. Andersen argued that non verbal language evolved so

much earlier than verbal language, and that might be the reason why non verbal

language is processed by the earlier evolved parts of our brains during childhood.

Furthermore, he says, as it is biologically enrooted, nonverbal language is universally

accepted and interpreted while verbal language is conventional.

IV. Methodology

We applied questionnaires to 20 people: 10 women and 10 men. The questionnaire

consists of six questions which showed two different photographs that depicted two

different situations situations each one. The photographs were selected from an

American sitcom, iCarly. The photographs were chosen depending on what nonverbal

language aspect was wanted to be analyzed. As each picture was assigned in each

category, the aim of the study is to see if the participants could tell what message were

the people in each scene were conveying. Furthermore, the study was aimed to discover

if there was any distinction between men and women.

V. Conclusions and recommendations

The results that this study delivers were tabulated qualitatively and quantitatively.
As the graphic shows, 77% of the participants chose the right situation depicted in the

photograph, whereas 23% of the participants chose the incorrect situation. This proves

that non verbal language plays a crucial role to decipher messages that are not expressed

verbally because more than the half of the universe chose the right answer, but only

23% failed in their choice. It is also important to bear in mind that this 23% of

participant chose the wrong answer as they interpreted the picture differently, still

basing on nonverbal language.

Additionally to this study, as the questionnaire was applied to an equal number of men

and women, a distinction in gender was found.

As this graphics shows, a distinction in gender appears. 81% of women were more

accurate when they selected an answer. However, only 74% of men chose the right

answer. The results aforementioned show that women seem to be more intuitive when it

comes to understanding nonverbal language. Men, on the other hand, had less accuracy

when interpreting non verbal language.

For further studies concerning this topic, we suggest classifying the universe of

participants not only in gender, but also in social background, age and even origin.

These factors aforementioned may deliver different results from the ones of this study.

Also, as this study made use of an American sitcom and the participants were
Ecuadorian, the results are based on a universality of nonverbal language, regardless

where participant or the nonverbal language is from. However, for further studies the

same cultural context should be applied to the participants, i.g. that the source of

nonverbal language should be from the same culture as participants in order to avoid

any cross cultural interference.

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https://www.paulekman.com/paul-ekman/
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