The overall structure of this thesis will be like this: Chapter 1 serves as the introduction of the whole paper。 Chapter 2 focuses on the definition, the classification, and the historical study of body language。 Chapter 3 introduces the application of body language in English teaching in primary school 。And chapter 4 gives some suggestions for the primary school English teachers。 Finally, by analyzing the current state of body language in English teaching, the author gives the conclusion。
2。 Literature Review
This chapter concerns first with the definition of body language, then comes to the classifications of body language, including eye contact, facial expressions, gesture and posture。 And historical study of body language in English Teaching will be discussed in the third part。文献综述
2。1 Definition of body language
What is body language? The early researchers Ruesch & Kees (1956) and Galloway(1970)provided a simple version and pointed out that body language is a way of communication without any words。 There are different versions given by different dictionaries。 According to Oxford Advanced Learned Dictionary, body language is defined as: “the process of communicating what you are feeling or thinking by the way you place and move your body rather than by words。”(p。128) Longman Exams Dictionary gives the definition of changes in your body position and movements that show what you are feeling or thinking (p。227) and Cambridge learner’s dictionary defines body language as :the way you move your body ,that shows people what you are feeling。(p。75)。 To put it more specifically, body language refers to the actions or behaviors, reflective or non-reflective, from part of the body or the whole body to communicate with feelings with others (Fast, 1970) From above all, though different scholars give different definitions, we can easily conclude that body language is an essential media in the process of communication。
2。2 Classification of body language
2。2。1 Eye contact
As the old saying goes that “the eyes are the window of the soul”, that is to say people can express their emotion through their eyes or deduce what other people are thinking by looking at their eyes。 There are various types of eye contact, such as gaze, glance and blink。 Different types represent different feeling of people。 According to the American social psychologist Michael Argyle, people like to have more eye contact with each other; people do not like each other on the little eye contact we can conclude that eye contact plays a key role in human communication。 What’s more, eye contact also plays an important role in English class。 In class, eye contact between the teacher and the students is inevitable。 By gazing, the teacher can know the overall situation of the class, like who is absent or who is not in a good state, which can show the stateliness of the teacher as a teaching leader。 When the students are asked to answer a question, the eye contact of the teacher can give the student energy and encouragement so that he or she might not be nervous。 Furthermore, eye contact will help the teacher regulate and manage the class。 For example, it is unavoidable that some of the students may be absent-minded, whispering with their partners or having something to eat in secret during class, so the teacher’s eye contact can function as an alarm for the students without defaming their self-esteem and the students can avoid the discomfort and embarrassment 。 In all, the eye contact is a good way to arouse students’ concern and improve the effect of class。来*自~优|尔^论:文+网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766*
2。2。2 Facial expression
Facial expression is closely linked to people’s emotion。 As we all know, facial expression is a “universal language” in human communication, people can express their feelings through facial expression, such as happiness, sadness or fear。 Research says, there are about 250,000 kinds of different expressions and people can get some information from these kinds of facial expressions 。Thus, we can see the importance of facial expressions in human communication 。In this way, facial expressions play a crucial role in English teaching。