The Use of Body Language in Speaking by the English Majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education, Vietnam
hai Nguyen University of Education, Vietnam
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, communication plays an important part in every area of our lives. Like all language skills, speaking is also a crucial factor to second/foreign language acquisition. This research was carried out to investigate the use of body language in speaking by the English majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education, Vietnam (TUE). Particularly, the researchers purposed to a) to investigate the use of body language in speaking by the English majors at TUE, b) to find out whether or not there are difficulties in the use of body language by the students of English, c) to offer implications in strategies for using body language. The participants of this study were 107 students of English at TUE. Questionnaire and observation were used to gather data. Findings indicated that although most of the participants’ speaking ability was acceptable, they could not make a persuasive and effective speech or presentations. There were two reasons for this. First, they focused too much on the content that they were going to present while they neglected the importance of nonverbal communication (body language). Second, they seemed to lack nonverbal communication techniques because they have not been taught the use of body language systematically and adequately. From these facts, the researchers suggested implications for using body language effectively. These included raising the awareness of use body language, and strategies for effective nonverbal communication techniques. The researchers hope that their process of learning speaking will evolve and improve after the students of English are provided with strategies for using body language.
KEYWORDS
Body language, nonverbal communication, techniques