your-actions-speak-louder

1、1YourActionsSpeakLouderAPeaceCorpsstaffmemberishurriedlycalledtoatowninEthiopiatodealwithreportsthatoneofthevolunteersistreatingEthiopianslikedogs.Whatcouldthevolunteerbedoingtocommunicatethat?AvolunteerinNigeriahasgreattroublegettinganydisciplineinhisclass,anditisknownthatthestudentshavenorespectforhimbecausehehasshownnoself-respect.Howhasheshownthat?Neithervolunteeroffendedhishostswithwords.Butbothofthemwereunawareofwhattheyhadcommunicatedthroughtheirnonverbalbehavior.Inthefirstcase,thevolunt。

2、eerworkingatahealthcenterwouldgointothewaitingroomandcallforthenextpatient.ShedidthisasshewouldinAmerica－bypointingwithherfingertothenextpatientandbeckoninghimtocome.AcceptableintheStates,butinEthiopiaherpointinggestureisforchildrenandherbeckoningsignalisfordogs.InEthiopiaonepointstoapersonbyextendingthearmandhandandbeckonsbyholdingthehandout,palmdown,andclosingitrepeatedly.Inthesecondcase,thevolunteerinsistedthatstudentslookhimintheeyetoshowattentiveness,inacountrywhereprolongedeyecontactiscons。

3、idereddisrespectful.WhilethemostinnocentAmerican-Englishgesturemayhaveinsulting,embarrassing,oratleastconfusingconnotationsinanotherculture,theconverseisalsotrue.IfforeignvisitorsweretobangonthetableandhissatthewaiterforserviceinaNewYorkrestaurant,theywouldbefortunateiftheywereonlythrownout.Americansmightfindforeignstudentsoverlypoliteiftheybow.Itseemseasiertoacceptthearbitrarinessoflanguage－thatdogischieninFrenchorajainYoruba－thanthedifferencesintheemotionallyladenbehaviorofnonverbalcommunicati。

4、on,whichinmanywaysisjustasarbitraryaslanguage.Weassumethatourwayoftalkingandgesturingisnaturalandthatthosewhodothingsdifferentlyaresomehowplayingwithnature.Thisassumptionleadstoablindnessaboutinterculturalbehavior.Andindividualsarelikelytoremainblindandunawareofwhattheyarecommunicatingnonverbally,becausethehostswillseldomtellthemthattheyhavecommittedasocialblunder.Itistruetotellpeopletheyarerude;thusthehostsgrantvisitorsaforeigner'slicense,allowingthemtomakemistakesofsocialetiquette,andtheynever。

5、knowuntiltoolatewhichonesprovedisastrous.Anadditionalhandicapisthatthevisitorshavenotenteredthenewsettingasfreeagents,abletodetectandadoptnewwaysofcommunicatingwithoutwords.Theyareprisonersoftheirowncultureandinteractwithintheirownframework.Yetthefactremainsthatformaximumunderstandingthevisitorusingthewordsofanotherlanguagealsomustlearntousethetoolsofnonverbalcommunicationofthatculture.Nonverbalcommunication－teachingitandmeasuringeffect－ismoredifficultthanformallanguageinstruction.Butnowthatlang。

6、uagehasachieveditsproperrecognitionasbeingessentialforsuccess,theareaofnonverbalbehaviorshouldbetaughttopeoplewhowillliveinanothercountryinasystematicway,givingthemactualexperiences,awareness,sensitivity.Indeed,itistheriseinlinguisticfluencywhichnowmakesnonverbalfluencyevenmorecritical.Alinguisticallyfluentvisitormaytendtooffendevenmorethanthosewhodon'tspeakaswellifthatvisitorshowsignoranceaboutinterfaceetiquette;thenationalmayperceivethisdisparity2betweenlinguisticandnonlinguisticperformanceasa。

7、disregardforthemoresubtleaspectsofinterculturalcommunication.Becausenonverbalcuesreflectemotionalstates,bothvisitorandhostnationalmightnotbeabletoarticulatewhat'sgoingon.WhileitwouldbedifficulttomapoutallthenonverbaldetailsforeverylanguagethatPeaceCorpsteaches,onecanhopetomakevisitorsawareoftheexistenceandemotionalimportanceofnonverbalchannels.Ihaveidentifiedfivesuchchannels:kinesic,proxemic,chronemic,oculesic,andhaptic.Kinesics－movementofthebody(head,arms,legs,etc.).Theinitialexamplefromtheheal。

8、thcenterinEthiopiawasaproblemcausedbyakinesicsignbeingusedwhichhaddifferentmeaningscross-culturally.Anotherexample,theAmericangestureofslittingone'sthroatimplyingI'vehaditorI'mintrouble,conveysquiteadifferentmessageinSwitzerland.ItmeansIloveyou.Americansmakenodistinctionbetweengesturingforsilencetoanadultortoachild.AnAmericanwillputonefingertothelipsforboth,whileanEthiopianwilluseonefingertoachildandfourfingersforanadult.Touseonlyonefingerforanadultisdisrespectful.Ontheotherhand,Ethiopiansmakeno。

9、distinctioningesturingtoindicateemphaticnegation.Theyshaketheirindexfingerfromsidetosidetoanadultaswellastoachild,whereasthisgestureisusedonlyforchildrenbyAmericans.Thus,ifvisitorsarenotconsciousofthemeaningofsuchbehavior,theynotonlywilloffendtheirhostsbuttheywillbeoffendedbythem.DrawinginthecheeksandholdingthearmsrigidlybythesideofthebodymeansthininAmharic.Diet-consciousAmericansfeelcomplimentediftheyaretoldthattheyareslimandsomaynaturallyassumethattotellanEthiopianfriendthisisalsocomplimentary。

10、.YetinEthiopiaandanumberofothercountries,thisistakenpejoratively,asitisthoughtbettertobeheavy-set,indicatinghealthandstatusandenoughwealthtoensurethetwo.Proxemics－theuseofinterpersonalspace.SouthAmericans,Greeks,andothersfindcomfortinstanding,sitting,ortalkingtopeopleatadistancewhichAmericansfindintolerablyclose.Wegivetheirunusualclosenessthesocialinterpretationofaggressivenessandintimacy,causingustohavefeelingsofhostility,discomfort,orintimidation.Ifwebackawaytoourgreaterdistanceofcomfort,wearep。