ALEXANDRA BEIROS & SHAUNA O’NEIL

Communicating Across Cultures

Universiteit Leiden
Non-verbal cues: How do Italians
and Estonians communicate
without using their words?
IN T RO DU CT I O N M ET H O DO L OGY
ANALYSIS
When analysing at communication, language and words are crucial to The research has been conducted in a way that allows us to see the
By means of a survey, an analysis has been made regarding the
determine cultural differences or similarities within and between main differences/ similarities within non-verbal cues of Estonian and
differences of nonverbal cues for Estonian speakers and Italian
language groups. However it is not the main thing: non-verbal cues Italian speakers. Through a survey filled out by Estonian and Italian
speakers focussing on facial expressions, voice intonation and
are also varying between groups and might determine crucial speakers, there has been information gather regarding how they
body language.
elements of the language group’s cultural attributes. The following perceive body language, tone of voice and facial expressions when
analysis will compare the use of nonverbal communication of Italian Facial Expressions speaking their language.
and Estonian speakers. The main focus will be determining the impact The survey illustrates that Italian speakers, more than With a total of 8 questions, 6 were open questions and 2 were
Estonians rely heavily on facial expressions to convey
and consequence of facial expressions, body language and tone of questions on a scale of 1-5. The former have been dissected alone
emotions. In Fig 1 you can clearly see this. Apart from
voice in both Estonian and Italian. For this, we will be focusing while the latter have been put into graphs. There have been 12
that, Estonians use facial expression to convey primarily
specifically on oculesics and paralanguage. responses for the Italian speakers and 8 for the Estonian speakers.
negative emotions while Italians are facially expressive
for both positive and negative emotions.
7
Voice Intonation
RE S E A RCH QU E S TI O N As shown in Fig 2, Italians believe that tone of voice is 6

crucial to communication, while Estonians are more 5

polarised on the issue but also believe in the importance
How do nonverbal cues, such as facial 4
of these intonations for communication. Italian speakers
ESTONIAN SPEAKERS
expressions, body language, and tone rely on intonations to understand what exclamations and 3
interjections mean as the same word or sentence can
of voice, impact communication within 2
have significantly different meanings. For Estonians
ITALIAN SPEAKERS
Estonian and Italian cultures? there are minimal voice fluctuations when speaking. 1

Usually to showcase an emotion such as discomfort,

0
Estonians rely more on silence than tone of voice 1 2 3 4 5

Body Language F IG 2: T O W HA T E XT E NT DO E S T O N E O F VO I C E E N HA N C E C OM MU NI C AT I ON
7
For Estonians, closed or neutral body language is the F O R YO U? (1 = DO ES N O T EN H AN C E ; 5 = SI G NI FI C A NT LY EN H AN C E S)
6
norm whereas for Italians, more open, aggressive body
5 ESTONIAN SPEAKERS
language is seen more often. Hence body language CO N CL U SI O N
4
does not have a big importance for Estonians while for
3 Overall, there are clear cultural differences between Estonian speakers and Italian
Italians it allows them to even understand each other
2 ITALIAN SPEAKERS speakers when it comes to nonverbal cues. One can see that Italians are more lively
without speaking. Estonians focus mostly on handshakes people with their expressive faces, their differing voice intonations and their extravagant
1
or head nods and Italians use mainly hand and arm body language, while Estonians are more reserved and tend to be more quiet with their
0
1 2 3 4 5 gestures. preferred silence and less drastic intonations, their softer and less frequent use of body
FI G 1: I N Y O UR C ULT U R E, H OW M UC H D O P E OP LE R E LY ON F A C IA L language and their more neutral faces.
EX P R E S S IO N S T O C ONV E Y EM OT ION ? ( 1 = N OT A T A LL ; 5 = A LW A YS )

BIBLIOGRAPHY
C ON N O R, JA N ET . “ C OM M U N IC A T IN G A C RO SS C U L T UR E - W E EK 5 . ” C OM M U N IC A T I NG A C RO SS C UL T U RE, T H E H AG U E, OC T O BE R 2 4, 2 0 23.