Meanings of Kinemes Exhibited by High School and College Students
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
The difference between how something is said and what is said is called paralanguage. Albert Mehrabian as cited by Allan Chapman (2009) attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves. His research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meanings is derived from nonverbal behavior. It is interesting to note that a vast majority of people communicate several messages without using speech quite often. A person nods one’s head to show approval or shake one’s heads to indicate disapproval? In school, when a student is asked to stand in front to share and explain answer, but that student doesn’t have anything in mind, one will not only say: “I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer”, but also shake one’s head and give the teacher a pity look. When some attempts to touch a person for a penny, one will indicate denial through words as well as shaking one’s palm.
Ray Birdwhistell, as referred to by Ellen Harold and Susan Tobin (2011) argued that all movements of the body have meanings and they are not accidental. These non-verbal forms of language (or paralanguage) have a grammar that can be analyzed in similar terms to spoken communication. Paralinguistic cues are everywhere and a part of how we communicate.
There are many varieties of paralanguage. One of which is the term kinemes (Ray Birdwhistell, 2011). It is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously.
Filipinos for instance are a group of people that rely most on nonverbal aspect of communication, Gochenour as cited by Don Herrington (2011). According to him, Filipinos have a highly developed sensitivity to the nonverbal aspects of communication and considerably less dependent on spoken words compared to Europeans and Americans.
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
The difference between how something is said and what is said is called paralanguage. Albert Mehrabian as cited by Allan Chapman (2009) attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves. His research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meanings is derived from nonverbal behavior. It is interesting to note that a vast majority of people communicate several messages without using speech quite often. A person nods one’s head to show approval or shake one’s heads to indicate disapproval? In school, when a student is asked to stand in front to share and explain answer, but that student doesn’t have anything in mind, one will not only say: “I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer”, but also shake one’s head and give the teacher a pity look. When some attempts to touch a person for a penny, one will indicate denial through words as well as shaking one’s palm.
Ray Birdwhistell, as referred to by Ellen Harold and Susan Tobin (2011) argued that all movements of the body have meanings and they are not accidental. These non-verbal forms of language (or paralanguage) have a grammar that can be analyzed in similar terms to spoken communication. Paralinguistic cues are everywhere and a part of how we communicate.
There are many varieties of paralanguage. One of which is the term kinemes (Ray Birdwhistell, 2011). It is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously.
Filipinos for instance are a group of people that rely most on nonverbal aspect of communication, Gochenour as cited by Don Herrington (2011). According to him, Filipinos have a highly developed sensitivity to the nonverbal aspects of communication and considerably less dependent on spoken words compared to Europeans and Americans.