Non-Verbal Communication Essay

Paper Type:  Essay
Pages:  2
Wordcount:  495 Words
Date:  2022-06-27

Hawaii is made up of approximately 2000 active speakers. Most of these speakers communicate via non-verbal means because the region has a coherent structure of non-verbal behavior that is entirely different from western behavior. Hawaiian teachers should be aware of the non-verbal communication used in this state to avoid misunderstandings in the classroom (Albeta, 1979). Examples of Hawaiian non-verbal communication include body contact, proximity, orientation, appearance, posture, head nods, facial expressions, gestures, looking, and non-verbal speech aspects.

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Hawaiians use bodily contact by touching each other. According to them, touching is a way of showing friendship and love to the immediate family, extended family and their loved ones. Their culture does not limit them who to touch. Instead, the culture allows them to touch everyone regardless of the gender or status (Albeta, 1979). Hawaiians' also show love through handshake and kissing. Besides, peers engage in physical touching though slapping, playful punching, and slapping to communicate a specific point or attract the attention.

Another verbal communication is orientation. It shows the sitting and the standing angle of individuals. The way a person sits or stands may communicate various aspects such as fear, arrogance, and confidence. Close to orientation is body posture. Postures like sitting with outstretched legs and feet pointing at each other shows rudeness and make Hawaiians feel uncomfortable (Albeta, 1979). The use of gestures also fits in the Hawaiian non-verbal communication. Some gestures such nail-biting shows absent-mindedness. However, Hawaiians do not accept some gestures because they seem provocative and insulting. Pointing the finger at someone, for instance, contradicts the Western behavior, and it is unacceptable since it indicates lack of respect.

Looking is also a significant element of non-verbal communication. The Hawaiians and the Westerners view this aspect differently. It is worth noting that people from the west cherish looking than Hawaiians. To them, how a person look conveys interest, attention, and understanding while listening to a speech. Additionally, they consider that maintaining an eye contact indicates attentiveness and honesty (Martin & Nakayama, 2013). In contrast, Hawaiians believe that when the listener lowers his or her head with downcast eyes, he or she shows acceptance of the speaker's speech. It is common in children who hold the notion that silence is the best sign of listening.

Appearance is another non-verbal communication in Hawaii. It refers to the dressing code and grooming of a person. Appropriate grooming and dressing often communicate respect. Another non-verbal communication is head nods. It indicates that a person agrees or disagrees with a situation. Also, facial expressions such as the lifting of eyebrows signify agreement, recognition or doubt (Albeta, 1979). The last aspect is non-verbal speech such as prosodic and paralinguistic signals. Prosodic signals portray meaning such as stress, intonation, and pitch. On the contrary, paralinguistic signals convey meaning such as tonal variation and voice quality.

References

Albeta, P. (1979). Hawaiian Non-verbal Communication. Two classroom Applications, 1-8.

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Tonouchi, L. (n.d.). Civil Beat.

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Non-Verbal Communication Essay. (2022, Jun 27). Retrieved from https://proessays.net/essays/non-verbal-communication-essay

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