scholarly journals Non-verbal Communication between Two Non-native English Speakers: Iraqi and Chinese

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Khalid Wahaab Jabber ◽  
Aymen Adil Mahmood

This study investigates non-verbal communications used by an Iraqi speaker to transfer meaning to a Chinese speaker and vice versa. Different situations, from Chinese environment, have been chosen and analyzed according to the body language movements. The study found out that although the two languages, Iraqi Arabic and Chinese, are differentiated in verbal languages; the two speakers can communicate and understand each other nonverbally. It is also evidence that non-verbal communication between the Iraqi and Chinese speakers is somewhat similar in spite of their two differentiated cultures, they could understand each other’s facial expression, gestures, proxemics, haptics, and Tactile.

Pragmatics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binmei Liu

Abstract Previous studies have found that but and so occur frequently in native and non-native English speakers’ speech and that they are easy to acquire by non-native English speakers. The current study compared ideational and pragmatic functions of but and so by native and non-native speakers of English. Data for the study were gathered using individual sociolinguistic interviews with five native English speakers and ten L1 Chinese speakers. The results suggest that even though the Chinese speakers of English acquired the ideational functions of but and so as well as the native English speakers, they underused the pragmatic functions of them. The findings indicate that there is still a gap between native and non-native English speakers in communicative competence in the use of but and so. The present study also suggests that speakers’ L1 (Mandarin Chinese) and overall oral proficiency in oral discourse affect their use of but and so.


Author(s):  
Duncan Harding

This chapter considers our communication skills in the interview and describes techniques to help communicate effectively with the interviewer. It starts by looking at the psychological context of communication, and then moves onto verbal communication, considering the way content is delivered in its conciseness, tone, and volume. It discusses depth and breadth of content and how to hint at a broader level of understanding in the interview without straying from the question. Our non-verbal communication and expression reflects our core underlying state and this theme is explored by considering body language and facial expression, appropriate language, signposting, and summarizing. The chapter discusses the illusion of structure and includes an exercise to improve our dissemination, accuracy, and fluency of speech. The chapter finishes by learning how to listen and thinking about what makes an expert communicator.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yilan Liu ◽  
Sue Ann S. Lee

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results and Conclusions:</i></b> Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable “nin,” and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.


1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Green ◽  
Paul Meara

Native English speakers search short strings of letters differently from the way they search strings of nonalphanumeric symbols. Experiment 1 demonstrates the same contrast for native Spanish speakers. Letter search, therefore, is not a result of the peculiarities of English orthography. Since visual search is sensitive to the nature of the symbols being processed, different scripts should produce different effects. Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed such differences for Arabic and Chinese scripts. Furthermore, these experiments showed no evidence that native Arabic and native Chinese speakers adapt their search strategy when dealing with letters. Implications of these findings are considered.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHUCHU LI ◽  
MIN WANG ◽  
JOSHUA A. DAVIS

This study investigated the phonological preparation unit when planning spoken words with native Chinese speakers who speak English as a Second Language (ESLs). In Experiment 1, native Chinese speakers named pictures in Chinese, and the names shared the same onset, same rhyme, or had nothing systematically in common. No onset effect was shown, suggesting that native Chinese speakers did not use onset as their preparation unit. There was a rhyme interference effect, probably due to lexical competition. In Experiment 2, the same task was conducted in English among Chinese ESLs and native English speakers. Native speakers showed onset facilitation whereas ESLs did not show such an effect until Block 3. ESLs’ phonological preparation unit is likely to be influenced by their native language but with repetition they are able to attend to sub-syllabic units. Both groups showed rhyme interference, possibly as a result of joint lexical and phonological competition.


English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Wang

Given the unprecedented spread of English, native English speakers (NESs) have been estimated to number 508 million by 2050 (Graddol, 1997: 27), while a bold estimation of speakers of English is 2 billion by 2050 (Crystal, 2008: 4–5). The international demographic profile of English presents a scenario whereby the development of English depends on how this language is used by non-native English speakers (NNESs), who are obviously in the majority for English use (e.g. Brumfit, 2001: 116; Crystal, 2008: 6; Graddol, 1997: 10; Mauranen, 2012; Seidlhofer, 2011: 7–8). While the importance of the number of English speakers globally is acknowledged, English in China remains a particularly interesting area for linguists. Not only English is widely learned in China, but also Chinese speakers of English are increasingly involved in intercultural encounters. In Graddol's (1997, 2006) discussion of the future of English, a comprehensive account is put forward about China, a country that has statistical significance for the development of English, given its large population of people who know English and its economic development. As Crystal (2008: 5) notes: [I]f India is the significant factor in relation to second-language speakers (in the sense of countries where English has some sort of special status), then China is surely the corresponding factor in relation to foreign-language speakers (in the sense of countries where the language has no official status). In this sense, it would seem that China will play an important role in shaping the profile of English use in the future. If this is an acceptable hypothesis, the development of English in China has implications for the future world of English use.


2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 2665-2676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth EF Bradford ◽  
Ines Jentzsch ◽  
Juan-Carlos Gomez ◽  
Yulu Chen ◽  
Da Zhang ◽  
...  

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to compute and attribute mental states to ourselves and other people. It is currently unclear whether ToM abilities are universal or whether they can be culturally influenced. To address this question, this research explored potential differences in engagement of ToM processes between two different cultures, Western (individualist) and Chinese (collectivist), using a sample of healthy adults. Participants completed a computerised false-belief task, in which they attributed beliefs to either themselves or another person, in a matched design, allowing direct comparison between “Self”- and “Other”-oriented conditions. Results revealed that both native-English speakers and native-Chinese individuals responded significantly faster to self-oriented than other-oriented questions. Results also showed that when a trial required a “perspective-shift,” participants from both cultures were slower to shift from Self-to-Other than from Other-to-Self. Results indicate that despite differences in collectivism scores, culture does not influence task performance, with similar results found for both Western and non-Western participants, suggesting core and potentially universal similarities in the ToM mechanism across these two cultures.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-126
Author(s):  
Binmei Liu

Discourse markers (DMs) are difficult even for advanced L2 speakers compared with L1 speakers because of their special linguistic features. The influence of contextual factors on the use of DMs has not been examined in detail in the literature. The present article investigates the impact of speech contexts (interview vs conversation) on the use of DMs by native and advanced Chinese speakers of English. Data for the study were gathered using individual sociolinguistic interviews and group conversations. A quantitative analysis revealed that native English speakers used and and just more frequently in the interviews than in the conversations at a significant level; the Chinese speakers of English used oh, ok, and uh huh significantly more often in the conversations than in the interviews. A qualitative analysis showed that the functions of well varied across the contexts by both groups. The article further analyses the reasons for these differences: they can be due to different functions of individual markers across contexts or influence of L2 speakers’ native language (Mandarin Chinese), etc. The results indicate that the advanced L2 English speakers may not have acquired some DMs used by the native English speakers in terms of frequency and functions across the speech contexts. The article suggests that explicit instruction of functions of DMs which are difficult for L2 speakers of English can be strengthened in EFL/ESL (English as a foreign/second language) classrooms.


1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-234
Author(s):  
Arif Hidayat

Body language as a system of marking and communications to create action, require more interpretation forthe purpose can be achieved. From the standpoint of semiotic and communicative action, every communicationreceived by others, then there will be certain impacts that occur, depending on the power of interpretation. Making of thesemiotics of body language and focus on how the message being abstracted by the receiver. Body language as amessage with a set of symbols that can be verbal communication, can not be understood properly without any expressionthat is formed based on mythology. The existence of this mythology helps to understand the body language in the realm ofa specific code that has been universally believed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-279
Author(s):  
Joanna Orzechowska

The article presents the issue of non-verbal communication from the perspective of translation and teaching a foreign language. The research is based on an experiment conducted among Russian students at the University of Warmia and Mazury, whose task it was to analyze data from Krystyna Jarząbek’s Dictionary of the Body Language of Polish People, from which about 30 unknown or unintelligible units of non-verbal communication were selected. The data show that body language, including gestures, is culture-rooted, and confirm that non-verbal means play a significant role in communication. This is why the author of the article believes it to be justified to introduce elements of non-verbal communication into teaching foreign languages and to compile bilingual dictionaries of body language.


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