Unit Body Language Warming Up Look at the list of feelings or ideas on the left side of the chart, Add three of your own. Make notes on the right side of the chart to show how you would make someone understand these feelings and ideas without speaking. B prepared to act out the meanings and have your partner guess what you mean. The first one has been done for you Meaning Action I You are welcome A smile and a handshake 2 I am worried 3 I ate too much! 4 I am sorry that I did something wrong 5 Im so happy! 2345678 8 Pre-reading I What is the purpose of language? What do you think "Body Language"means? 2 How can you tell if someone is sad even if they do not speak? 3 Give an example of how you can communicate a feeling to someone who does not speak your languag guinea RO CoMMUNICATION: NO PROBLEM? Your director has sent you to meet business people at Pudong Airport. They are visitors coming from several countries, who are interested in the development of business in China. They are from Europe. North America, South America and Asia. They will be meeting at a major hotel with local business people and people who represent the Chinese government. Four people enter looking around in a curious way. You do not want to disappoint your boss, and this is an exciting experience for you. so you stand watching and listening 25
Unit 4 Body language The first person who arrives is Mr Garcia from Columbia closely followed by Julia Smith from Britain. You introduce them to each other, and are surprised by what you see. Mr Garcia approaches Ms Smith, touches her shoulder and kisses her on the cheek. You see her step back appearing surprised. and take a few steps away from Mr Garcia. You think that there may have been a mistake. The visitor from Japan comes in smiling at the same time as George Cook from Canada. As they are introduced. Mr Cook reaches his hand out to the Japanese who bows. His nose touches Mr Cook's moving hand and they both apologize. There has been another mistake. These are examples of learned or cultural"body language". Not all cultures greet each other the same way, nor are they comfortable touching strangers or being too close or too far away. In the same way that people communicate with spoken language. they also express their feelings using unspoken"language"through keeping physical distance, actions or posture English people usually do not stand very close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet People from places like Spain, Italy or South American countries approach others closely and are more likely to touch them. Most people around the world now greet each other by shaking hands but some cultures use other greetings as well. Japanese people will bow. Ahmed Aziz is a businessman from Jordan. He moves very close to you as you introduce yourself to him. You move back a bit. He comes closer to ask you a question, and then shakes your hand Madame Coulon is from France. She arrives hurrying, recognizes Mr Garcias smiling face, then they shake hands and kiss each other twice on each cheek, That is what French people usually do when they meet people they know. But Ahmed Aziz simply nods at the two women. Men from the Middle East or some Muslim countries often stand quite close to other men to talk. Many of them will not shake hands with women None of these actions is either good or bad. They are simply the ways in which cultures ha developed. Body language is very general, and not all members of all cultures behave the same way It is an interesting study and can help you avoid difficulty in communication. Comprehending 1 Think about what you have read and answer these questions. Why are the people visiting China? 2 What parts of the world are not represented by the visitors? 3 Why is Julia Smith surprised? 4 Why do you move back from Ahmed Aziz? 26
Unit 4 Body language 5 What do French people often do when they meet people they know? 6 Can we expect people everywhere to act the same? Why? 7 Why do you think we need to study body language 8 Is the main character male or female? How do you know? 2 How do they behave when they meet people they know? Person and country Suitable greeting to a man a man from Columbia a a woman from Britain to a man to a woman to a man a man from Japan to a woman a man from Canada o a man to a woman a woman from France to a man to a woman a man from the Middle East to a man or some Muslim countries to a woman: Learning about Language Discovering useful words and expressions 1 Look at the reading passage again to find words and expressions that mean the same Alternative expressions Words and expressions from the text a particular area in which you live speak or act for another person or group move nearer to someone very large or important tell what you think wanting to know about something not limited to one part probably do something prevent something bad from happening
Unit 4 body larguage 2 Complete the following sentences with some of the words and expressions from the reading I It is a problem parking your car in Beijing. 2 Is that Wang Li,s friend from Wuxi? Id like him to her to me 3 As my English vocabulary is very limited, very often I express my meaning with the help of it is better not to kiss somebody you don' t know as you may surprise them 5 My leader wants me to her at the meeting 6 There is a saying that speak louder than words 7 Blind people have to understand people's feelings through language. 8 Although blind people are not understand your body language, they can still use body language to their own ideas 9 When you blind people. they cannot tell if they know you until you begin to spe 10 I am always about how he umping into others or falling down while walking on the street. opinion is that the government should take action to help the blind people 3 Find the words in the reading passage that are in the same family as the words on the left, and write down what part of speech each is. choose from the following parts of speech: noun, verb or adjective. The first one is done for you New words Part of speech Words in reading passage Part of speech majority adjective curioSity introduction representative locality avoidance 4Play a game in groups of four. One of the four thinks of a situation and asks the others to show the actions using body language. When he she chooses the action that is most likely, it becomes that persons turn. Make sure everyone has a turn EXAMPLE: St: What are you likely to do if it rains? (Actions)S: reads a book: Ss: puts on a raincoat; Su. cleans the house. S,: OK. I think S, seems the most likely, so it's his turn Ss: What are you likely to do if the river floods? Make the situations as interesting and enjoyable as you can and be prepared to show them to the class 28
Init 4 Bady language Discovering useful structures 1The-ing form of the verb can be used as an adverbial describing a verb and as an attribute describing a noun. Find three examples in the passage that use the - ing form in these ways. there is an example of each to help you. Attribute Adverbial His nose touches George Cook's moving hand The visitor from Japan comes in smiling 2 Use these verbs in the-ing form to fill in the blanks. You will have to use some of them more than once touch Proach shake I We were all nervous about the examinations 2 Business leaders look very serious. They do not often have aices 3 The buildings showed us that an earthquake was com 4 It is exciting to watch athletes reach the other end of the swimming pool B I My mother is a happy woman. She always gets up 2 After the dog fell in the lake. it climbed out itself 3 After we saw the comedy show, we left the theatre 4 The blind man walked the walls of the buildings Using Language Reading and talking SHOWING OUR FEELINGS Body language shows all kinds of feelings, wishes and attitudes and is sometimes more important than spoken language. We might understand others, sometimes even if they do not want us to, or do not speak to us. This means that we can also misunderstand each other Some body language is similar everywhere. You might frown and turn your back to someone to show anger. If you close your hand and shake it at someone, you are threatening that person A smile is the universal facial expression-it is intended to put people at ease. It does not always mean that you are happy, however. A smile can hide other feelings, like anger, fear or worry If someone "loses face"they may smile to hide it. That is not a happy smile