NonVerbal Communication

NonVerbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is probably the oldest area of investigation into human communication. It dates from at least the 1800's, when teachers of acting and pantomime analysed how facial and body movements convey emotion. The modern study of nonverbal communication, sometimes called body language, includes two sciences called kinesics and proxemics.

Proxemics

The American anthropologist Edward T. Hall who studied how gestures, posture, and other nonverbal signals were used by people to communicate their feelings and social status speaking distance developed proxemics, and other nonverbal signals were used by people to communicate their feelings and social status. People would feel uncomfortable putting most such information into words. But proxemics allows people to send and receive messages without the use of words.

Kinesics

Kinesics is the scientific study of the body movements involved in communication, especially as they accompany speech. These movements include gestures, facial expressions, eye behaviour, and posture. The movements studied by kinesics scientists are commonly called body language or nonverbal behaviour. The American anthropologist Ray L. Birdwhistell developed kinesics. He used slow-motion films of conversations to analyze the speakers' behavior. Birdwhistell recognized that kinesics was only one of several overlapping systems that together made up human communication. He worked hard on the structure of body movement while other scientists studied the patterns of sound constituting language. He also believed that the meaning of any kinesics behaviour could be determined only by analyzing the context in which the behaviour occurred.

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