Interpersonal Communication: Non-verbal Communication

NVC: Communication and Speech

Clearly, whether we have had any formal training in grammar or not, we have internalized the grammatical rules of our language. If we hadn't, then we would speak nonsense most of the time. Most of us might speak rubbish most of the time, but not nonsense. A very simple experiment illustrates this knowledge by playing spoken sentences in one of the subject's ears and randomly generated beeps in the other. The subject reads the text of the spoken sentences at the same time as hearing them and is required to mark on the text where the beeps occurred. More often than not the subject will mark the beeps as having occurred at the syntactic breaks in the sentences (for example the break between a main and subordinate clause). Similarly, detailed analysis of film shows a close correlation between speech and non-verbal communication. The larger verbal units correspond to larger and slower bodily movements and the shorter ones, such as brief eyebrow movements, correspond to small grammatical elements such as syllables. Scheflen (1972) has shown that bodily movement and eye movement show considerable consistency from one speaker to another (see the section on regulators), generally being used in a way very similar to punctuation in written language.

Kinesic signals

The study of bodily movements is referred to as kinesics. Birdwhistell has suggested that the smallest communicative element of kinesic signals should be known as a kineme, by analogy with morpheme, lexeme and so on. The problem is to know just what constitutes a kineme, just what movements do indeed communicate, though, as noted above, it seems that even very small and short movements, such as eyebrow movements do communicate. From analysis it would seem that the bodily movements co-ordinated with speech are:

• hand movements (also movement of the body and legs)
• head nods and other head movements
• gaze shifts
• facial expression

Non-grammatical signals

Besides the use of kinesic signals in synchrony with the grammatical structure of our utterances, it is clear that we also use such signals for

	emphasis	Mehrabian found that speakers who are trying to be persuasive will gaze more, use more gestures and head-nods an more facial activity. The speed of their delivery was also higher, the volume louder and they would hesitate less.
	framing	We use tone of voice, speed, pitch, as well as bodily movements to 'frame' the utterances we use. For example, we wiggle two fingers on each hand to show 'this phrase is in quotes' at the same time that we make an unnaturally long break either side of the phrase. Using other combinations, we can indicate whether we intend our utterance to communicate sarcasm, amusement, excitement etc. We can detach ourselves from our utterances, for example by rolling our eyes to the ceiling, meaning 'what I'm saying is stupid'. We can even use non-verbal communication to negate or diminish the import of our words, for example when sternly admonishing someone whilst simultaneously using a soft tone of voice, or smiling at them or giving them a hug.
	illustrating	We use a variety of movements, but most especially hand movements to clarify the verbal message, e.g. 'spiral staircase' or 'over there'. There are also gestures with culturally agreed meanings, often rude. We can also use hand movements to illustrate a train of thought.
	feedback	Feedback may be of a generally encouraging nature (head-nods, smiles, 'uh-huh' sounds etc.) or more negative (frowns, grimaces, stares). Such feedback is known as (positive or negative) reinforcement (see the sections on learning for further details; you'll also find an interesting little experiment there). It is evident from a variety of observations and experiments that quite specific sections of speech or quite specific verbal behaviours can be encouraged or discouraged by non-verbal feedback, the speaker gradually adapting to produce more or less of the desired or unwanted verbal behaviours or content. In addition, listeners who are particularly engaged by what is being said may make mouth movements accompanying the speaker's words.
	synchronization	Two people who meet are unlikely to find that their styles of speech are evenly matched. There will follow a period of adjustment in which non-verbal signals are used to enable adjustment of their styles to take place. Non-verbal cues are also used to synchronize the interaction and permit turn-taking. For further details, see the section on regulators.

Paralanguage

Paralanguage is the term used to refer to the non-verbal accompaniments of speech itself. Sapir (1927), considering speech as an aspect of personality, used the following categories of paralanguage:

	Voice		Sapir compared voice quality such as 'vibrant', 'thick' or 'flat' with such non-verbal expressions as a furrowed brow or expansively stretching out one's arms
	Voice dynamics	Intonation	As Sapir pointed out, no two individuals are alike in their intonation, but cautioned against drawing any firm conclusions as to the meaning of a particular intonation without knowing the speech habits of a person's linguistic community
		Rhythm	As individuals we will tend to be 'more or less terse in our rhythms, to accent certain syllables more definitely, to lengthen more vowels, to shorten unaccented vowels more freely', but rhythm is also determined by the cultural background in which we grew up and the habits of that speech community, as well as of the one to which we currently belong
		Relative continuity of speech	'A great many people speak brokenly, in uneasy splashes of word groups, others speak continuously...'
		Speed of speech	'We can be said to be slow or rapid in our utterances only in the sense that we speak above or below certain socialized speeds.'
	Pronunciation		There are very limited variants on pronunciation, though we do nevertheless find highly individual variants.
	Vocabulary		'Personality is largely reflected in the choice of words, but here too we must distinguish carefully the social vocabulary norm from the more significantly personal choice of words.'
	Style		Sapir recognizes that it would be immensely difficult to disentangle the social determinants of style from individual variants, but sees it as theoretically possible.

Although these features are still grouped by some commentators under the general heading of 'paralanguage', it is perhaps more common now to distinguish between 'prosodic features' and 'paralinguistic features':

Prosodic features

These include pitch, loudness, speed and rhythm and the combination of sequences of different pitches, referred to as intonation, for example the interrogative intonation (the rising pitch) used when asking a question. It is not difficult to think of examples of the ways in which such prosodic features may be used. For example, increased volume is generally associated with anger and decreased volume with confidentiality; high speed (a clipped delivery) may be associated with impatience and low speed may be associated with pensiveness or uncertainty. Crystal (1987) lists the following effects of intonation:

	emotional	expressing a wide range of emotions
	grammatical	identifying major units such as clause and sentence as well as distinguishing between 'asking' and 'telling'
	information structure	conveying information about what is new and what is already known in an utterance. Crystal uses the example of the difference in information structure between 'I saw a blue car' and 'I saw a blue car'
	textual	structuring larger stretches of discourse than the sentence. Crystal gives the example of the news reader whose pitch rises at the beginning of a new item and then gradually falls.
	psychological	organizing information into 'chunks' that are more easily perceived and memorized
	indexical	an indexical function as markers of personal identity, especially identifying people as belonging to different social groups or occupations

Paralinguistic features

If we go along with this subdivision into prosody and paralanguage, then paralinguistic features are less central than prosodic features to the communication of meaning, partly because such features are less universal than prosodic features, the various voice 'timbres' of voice which we can use having vastly different connotations from one linguistic community to another.

Intriguingly, these features are used in the software Truster Pro, used by the Israelis in the fight against 'terrorism', as well as by private companies as an aid to detecting crime at work. Clearly, a polygraph (lie detector) could not be used surreptitiously, whereas a system which could analyze the prosodic and paralinguistic features of a recorded interview or telephone call could, or indeed it could even be used in real time.  According to its makers, Truster Pro analyzes those elements of speech which are beyond our control, including the emotional level,  the cognitive level, said to be indicative of the amount of conflict between what is said and what is known to be the case, and the physiological level, which is suggestive of the amount of stress felt. Further information is available at the manufacturers' website.