Submitted by: Devon V, Gansu
Materials needed: Download materials (addendums & handouts)
Class size: 30-40

• 10 messages for warm-up Group Dictation Activity
• “Walk as if you were” sentences
• magazine cut-outs of different people
• Body Language hand-out and discussion questions
• Guide to body language in the West

Note: Using the hand-outs is optional. You may not want to make that many copies. You could share the information as a listening activity or just write important excerpts on the board.

Objective:
Students will understand that communication is more than just speaking, which is particularly useful to realize when studying a foreign language. They will understand that non-verbal communication and body language differ across cultures.

Warm-up: Group Dictation Activity

• Purpose of activity: to show students that it takes much more than just speaking to effectively communicate.
• Divide class into 8-10 groups of about 4 students each.
• Have one student from each group stand on one side of the room while the other members of the group stand across from him/her on the other side of the room.
• Give the students standing alone one small piece of paper with a message on it. (see Addendum 1)
• The students with messages must dictate their message to the other members of their group. However, all of the students will dictate different messages to their groups at the same time.
• The students on the other side of the room have one minute to write down the message word for word.
• Have group members take turns dictating different messages to their group.
• Wrap-up: students return to their desks, discuss purpose of activity – why did we do this activity? what did we learn? Explain to students that during this activity, their words were not enough to get their meaning across because of the noise and chaos of everyone trying to say different things at once.

Presentation: What is body language?

• Begin by demonstrating that we do not need words at all to communicate. Give some examples (gestures: be quiet, what time is it, nodding yes or no, etc.)
• Let students demonstrate for themselves. Give them actions to perform without speaking. Partner must guess meaning. (see Addendum II)
• Teacher lectures briefly about body language. What is body language? Give some examples of body language (ie. shrugging shoulders, thumbs up sign). Have students think of some more examples of body language.
• Discuss how body language differs among different cultures and groups. Make chart on the board with three columns (or Venn diagram):
  • United States/China/Both
  • Help students think of gestures that are used only in the US, only in China, and that are common in both countries.

Practice: Identifying body language and inferring meaning

• Have students work in partners. Give each group a different magazine cut-out of a person or group of people. Students must answer the following questions with their partner:
  • What body language do you see in the photo?
  • Is the person/people in the photo happy/sad/angry/confident/ confused/etc? Describe how they are feeling.
  • If there is more than one person in the photo, how would you describe their relationship? positive? negative? friends? enemies? colleagues?
  • What do you think is happening in the photo? Use the people’s body language to guess the situation. Create your own caption for the photo.
• After several moments, switch pictures to different groups and repeat activity.

Production: Communicating without speaking (Charades)

• In partners or small groups, give students different situations/messages to communicate. (see Addendum III)
• Students take turn communicating different messages only by using their bodies. They are not allowed to speak. Partner/group must guess meaning.

Extension Activity: Active Listening Skills and Discussion

• Teacher explains concept of “active listening,” which means using our bodies to show that we are listening (nodding, eye contact, phrases such as “mm hmm, oh, really?, okay, etc.). Teacher demonstrates active listening. Be sure to emphasize difference between active listening and interrupting. (see Addendum IV)
• In small groups, give students hand-out about body language to read. (see Addendum V)
• Students must discuss questions about body language at bottom of hand-out. During the discussion, they must practice active listening skills by showing that they are listening.
• Have students discuss differences between body language in China and in the West. Give them hand-out as guide. (see Addendum VI)