CROSS-CULTURAL PECULIARITIES OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ НЕВЕРБАЛЬНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ

Кудабаева Перизат Асанбаевна

канд. пед. наук, Таразский региональный университет имени М.Х. Дулати,

Казахстан, г. Тараз

Сабырова Дана Полатбеккызы

магистрант 2 курса факультета, «Подготовка преподавателей иностранных языков» Таразский региональный университет имени М.Х. Дулати,

Казахстан, г. Тараз

ABSTRACT

Nonverbal behavior is much the same language as any other. As the verbal languages are different in different cultures, it is the same to non-verbal languages. This article reviews the importance of nonverbal communication and use according to cultural identity. It also establishes that cultural differences in nonverbal behavior are understood as keys to successful intercultural communication.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Невербальное поведение - это самый настоящий второй язык. Подобно тому как в разных культурах развиваются свои вербальные языки, вырабатываются в них и свои невербальные. В этой статье рассматривается важность невербального общения и использования в соответствии с культурной идентичностью. Он также устанавливает, что культурные различия в невербальном поведении понимаются как ключи к успешному межкультурному общению.

Keywords: intercultural communication, nonverbal elements of human interaction, gestural language, culture, influence, singularity.

Ключевые слова: межкультурная коммуникация, невербальные элементы человеческого взаимодействия, жестовой язык, культура, влияние, особенность.

As we know there is not any culture which is in isolation. Communication and interaction are not considered as synonyms, they are an essential part of human’s life and part of culture. An American expert on cross-cultural communication, Edward Hall confirms as culture is communication, and communication is a culture. In general, communication is an interaction, the share with thoughts and information in the form of speech or written signals, the process of transmitting information from person to person. The main and only one subject of communication is a person. [1]

If you would like to have one the most successful communication, it is necessary to understand not only the words of the interviewer, but also non – verbal communication what is used by interviewer, all his or her facial expressions, gestures, postures, body movements, use of space and other signs, the role of which should not be underestimated. According to researchers, only 40% of information is transmitted using words, the rest is transmitted by non-verbal communication; when a person is perceived at the first meeting, the significance of his words is only 7 %, voice – 38 %, appearance – 55 %. [2] Thus, the most important role is visual perception of the interviewer.

Signs of nonverbal communication convey a lot of information about the interviewer: his feelings, moods, attitudes, etc., but the signs of nonverbal communication are culturally specific as it may cause difficulties in cross-cultural communication and can become a source of misunderstanding and even conflicts among interviewers. A culture has a significant impact on the verbal language what we speak. In this area, culture may impact the vocabulary of the language and the rules, what words form meaningful phrases and sentences. Through language, culture also influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

A spoken language changes from culture to culture, and nonverbal communication as well. In other words, culture has a big influence on our nonverbal communication as our verbal language. People from all cultures learn to use nonverbal communication - facial expressions, gestures, distance, gaze, and posture – a part of their behavioral repertoire when they communicate with each other, but within each culture they learn to use it in a specific culture way. All people can pronounce any sounds that are available to humans from their birth, but culture dictates what sounds we choose and how we form a particular language from them.

Similarly, each culture forms a specific nonverbal code from our nonverbal behavior. People from different cultures use their own rules to construct their own nonverbal behavior, and similarly apply these rules to interpret the nonverbal behavior of others. Obviously, they must learn to associate certain behaviors with specific meanings based on their own culture and its rules. And problems of cross-cultural communication related to non-verbal behavior.

When we communicate with people from different culture, we pay a lot of attention to our verbal language. But nonverbal language continues to work, even if we don't consciously pay attention to it.

The unconscious filters and the process of work which we interpret with other human’s nonverbal behavior, remain actively, whether we are aware of it or not.

The problem of cross-cultural communication is that nonverbal "words" are spoken in silence, and interpretation processes are unconscious and automatic. Whether we pay attention to it or not, but messages are transmitted. As we know the most cases of the nonverbal language of people from other cultures differs from the one we are familiar with. It won’t be surprise when after meeting someone from another culture, you wonder for a long time whether you really "understood" what this person meant. Often in such situations, we have the feeling that we have missed something. This feeling arises from the fact that our unconscious system of nonverbal communication makes it difficult to interpret the nonverbal behavior of a person from another culture. You just "feel" that something is wrong. [3]

And of course as the result of misunderstanding we face with misinterpretation of nonverbal signals. For example, our most famous gesture, "come here", which is described as "calling your index finger to yourself", can be perceived as an insult in Korea. Only animals may be called by this gesture, people should not use it in this country. This misunderstanding eventually leads to negative emotions which arisen from misinterpretation of nonverbal behavior.

When we interact with people who use a non-verbal language, we often have a negative impression of them. If you communicate with a person who belongs to your own culture then this person acts according to the same rules, you will be right in your interpretation.

But will be if this person from a different culture who acts by different rules? Then your negative emotions and interpretations may be completely unfounded. However, you will be left with a bad impression of communicating with this person, and you may not want to meet with this person again. He might feel the same way. Nonverbal behavior is a real second language. As different cultures develop their own verbal languages, they also develop their own non-verbal ones. Culture, along with biological characteristics, gender, and personality traits, is one of the most important factors influencing the interpretation of nonverbal behavior; in combination with the social environment and other cognitive and affective factors, it plays a significant role in the overall perception of a person.

If we want to take into consideration the similarities and differences of cultures during the communicating we should obviously pay more attention to the cultural differences in this silent language. Over the years, there has been a growing body of evidence showing how cultural differences in nonverbal behavior can affect a variety of practical situations in our daily lives. There are many practical cross-cultural studies that confirm the important role of nonverbal behavior in humans lives and the possibility of practical application of knowledge about cultural differences in this area.

For example, O`Sullivan studied audience responses to three candidates for the French Legislative Assembly and found that nonverbal displays of anger/threat elicited a more positive response from French viewers than from American viewers, indicating significant cultural differences in the leadership style adopted in these countries.

R.Schneller demonstrated cultural differences in the nonverbal behavior of new immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia and considered their impact on the lives of immigrants and the difficulties of adapting to the new culture.

K.Galloway collected evidence for the importance of understanding cultural differences in nonverbal behavior when interacting between students and teachers, arguing as nonverbal behavior clearly has practical implications for educators, it should be viewed from a multicultural perspective.

T.Hanna explores the differences in nonverbal behavior of white and black racial groups and discusses the impact of these differences on cross-cultural communication including these two groups.

The research demonstrates the importance of taking into consideration cultural differences in nonverbal behavior leads us to the question: can the formal training in the interpretation of nonverbal behavior facilitate the process of cross-cultural communication and help avoid undesirable results? The answer will be positive. Although very few studies on this topic have been published to date, existing ones provide us with strong evidence of the positive impact of training in nonverbal skills.

Collet, for example, trained English participants to show more visual attention while they communicate with people from Arab cultures. According to later estimates, the Arabs preferred to communicate with British who had received such training, although other Englishmen could not determine which of English participants had training and which of them had not.

Garratt and his colleagues trained police officers to demonstrate the structure of visual attention previously identified as characteristic of African-Americans. After police used this scheme during the interview of African-American male students. All the students who participated in the experiment clearly underlined the trained officers better than the untrained ones there. [4]

We know as nonverbal behavior contributes own messages to recognize during the communication process, and tit is common to all cultures. We often take it, despite the exceptional importance of nonverbal behavior. Although no one teaches us formally how to send and receive nonverbal signals and messages, by the time we become adults, we have acquired such a skill that we do it unconsciously and automatically.

Nonverbal behavior is much the same language as any other. As the verbal languages are different in different cultures, it is the same to non-verbal languages. We haven’t any doubt as we know the differences between verbal languages, where we should use dictionaries and other resources what can help us to understand someone's verbal language. But when it comes to nonverbal languages, we often have mistaken that nonverbal communication systems are the same.

Constantly to understand cultural differences in nonverbal behavior is the first step truly understanding cultural differences in communication. And from the point of view to study cross-cultural communication of verbal language is exclude from consideration a very important communication process. Some authors even claim that the study of nonverbal behavior as a micro-behavioral system of symbols and signals is a tool that allows us to come to a fundamental understanding of culture.

The research what is described in this work not only underlined the main cultural differences in the meaning and use of nonverbal behavior, but also shows their importance in practical situations and convinces us what is possible to develop educational programs that help people to understand better the nonverbal behavior of others in order to bridge the gap of cultural differences. However, it remains an urgent task for those who study culture and differences between cultures to recognize the Central role that nonverbal behavior plays in the communication process and further to explore how culture affects our nonverbal behavior and our interpretation of other human’s nonverbal behavior. Although these processes are usually unconscious and automatic, we can consciously make them more flexible and receptive to different cultural systems.

References:

1. Hall. E. How to understand a foreigner without words? - M.:"Science", 1995. 197 p.
2. Sampson 1994 – Sampson E. The image fact. L., 1994, page 27.
3. Zaitsev, V.A. Topical issues of cross-cultural communication = Basics of cross-cultural communication / comp. V.A. Zaitsev. - Minsk: BSU, 2012.- 48 p.
4. Matsumoto D. Man, culture, psychology // Prime-Eurozone: St. Petersburg, 2008. 668 p.