Lesson Plan Topic: The importance of nonverbal communication in language learning

Context: This activity is a good exercise to introduce the topic of nonverbal communication and its role in language learning (Hua, 2014) and communication (Hall, 1973). I developed it to help students pay attention to nonverbal features of communication to improve both listening and speaking skills. I have successfully used it in my college-level effective presentation skills course for English learners and other contexts. It is also an activity that creates empathy for students and pre-service teachers to relate to cultural adaptation and culture shock. In my ESL teacher education courses, we discuss the impact of nonverbal communication in a classroom setting (e.g., Quinlisk, 2008). Most importantly, it is well-received by teacher candidates and in-service teachers when I implement the activity as a segue to introducing and discussing pedagogical approaches and methods, such as Total Physical Response (Asher, 1981) or comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985). It provides an opportunity to demonstrate these concepts by engaging students in completing the activity, debriefing the process, and discussing its implications.

Consider this activity a way to start your class and spark interesting discussions on non-verbal communication and the role it plays in effective listening and speaking. Hall's (1973) research highlighted the relevance of non-verbal communication during interaction and brought much-needed attention to non-verbal aspects such as time and space, gesture and touch, body language and paralanguage. It is now widely accepted that non-verbal cues communicate as powerfully as verbal communication.

Lesson general aim: For students to understand the role nonverbal communication plays in both listening and speaking effectiveness, and for students to practice active listening and impromptu speaking

Learning objective: By the end of the lesson, students should be able to verbally analyze the significance of non-verbal communication in building communicative competence during a listening and speaking activity.

Target audience: Language learners or language teacher candidates

The lesson is appropriate for: Beginning to Advanced levels of language proficiency, in secondary or higher education settings

Recommended Setting: face-to-face

Materials needed: Clock face, timer, copies of The Numbers activity sheet, and pen or pencil for each student

Pre-task:

Allow for 15-20 minutes of class time.

Have a copy of The Numbers activity sheet ready for each student.

Be prepared to give directions in a language that none of the students speak.

Task:

Greet your students in a language, other than English, that is unfamiliar. You should communicate only in this language until the activity is completed (Steps 1 - 7).

Introduce the activity and distribute a copy of The Numbers activity sheet (see appendix) to each student. Ask if they have a pen or pencil.

Next, explain the rules of the activity, while showing The Numbers activity page. RULES: Please circle the numbers on the page in numerical order from 1 to 35. You will have 45 seconds to complete this activity.

Check for understanding. You may receive a lot of blank stares and confused expressions.

Next, review the process by illustrating the main points on the board. Write the numbers 1, 2, and 3, and then write 45 seconds (in the unfamiliar language). Model how students have to circle the numbers and then show the students a clock or watch. Tell them they have 45 seconds to complete the activity.

Show the students a clock or watch and tell them to begin the activity. At the 45 seconds mark, tell them to stop.

Take a moment, walk around and examine what the students have completed. You will notice a variety of responses based on their understanding of the assignment.

Post-task:

Switch to English and greet your students. Before debriefing on the activity itself, ask students to share how they felt during the activity. You might hear words like confused, lost, annoyed, incompetent, embarrassed, etc. Write their responses on the board.

Ask students to share what they thought the activity rules were. Ask them to explain what helped them to understand how to complete the activity.

Meeting the learning objective: To evaluate your students’ understanding of the importance of non-verbal communication, ask questions during the debriefing such as: Why did we do this activity? What does it relate to? What have you learned by completing this activity? Why was this activity timed? How important is nonverbal communication (nonverbal cues, images, modeling, etc.) in our speaking and listening? What can we do about it?

Final comments: The experience and what your students take from this activity is in the actual "doing" of the activity and the discussion that follows. Once you try it, you may find ways to adapt it to your specific audience and your needs.

Since this activity requires the teacher to speak a language other than English, those who are not multilingual, should not worry because the main purpose is to speak a language that is not understood by anyone in the audience. You can create a language, just for the lesson. Make sure to use a few words that sound like English words (true cognates). When I do this activity, I often speak Ukrainian. When I debrief the activity with my students, they bring to my attention that they hear a couple words that sound like English words (e.g., seconds). This allows for yet another aspect to discuss when debriefing the activity.

References

Asher, J. J. (1981). The total physical response: Theory and practice. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Hall, E.T. (1973). The silent language. Doubleday.

Hua, Z. (2014). Exploring intercultural communication: Language in action. Routledge.

Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Longman.

Quinlisk, C. C. (2008). Nonverbal communication, gesture, and second language classrooms: A review. In S. G. McCafferty & G. Stam (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research. (pp. 25-44). Routledge.

Appendix:

The Numbers activity sheet