Paralanguage

Paralanguage

To understand paralanguge is important to establish the difference between “verbal” and non-verbal communication, by verbal we mean “oral and written communication” whereas non-verbal is related with “body language, vocalizations (sounds that are not phonemes) and proxemics (social space permited between speakers).

Paralanguage are those aspects of communication that do not involve linguistics elements (words, phonemes, phrases, etc) but that contains all the extralinguistic ones (non- verbal communication: vocalic sounds, kinesics, proxemics).

Vocalics: sighs, gasps, paralinguistic respiration

Kinesics: body language (body movements, facial expressions, gestures)

Proxemics: social space between speakers.

Paralanguage is related with those aspects of non-verbal communication that are necessary to complement every act of communication. To develop a proper use of our communicative competence it is necessary not only be aware of the language itself but also of those paralinguistic elements.

As we know in daily communication wee use a group of elements that belongs to language like words, ponemens, grammatical structures, all these elements that belong to our linguistic knowlange about the language. In Chomsky’s words the competence in the language is necessary for the everyday performance.

When we talk about performance we refer to the observable part of communication, not to what the speaker has in his/her mind but what the speaker performs. So, we take into account the words the speaker says and also the way in which the speaker utter those words. In performance we should pay attention to the utterances and also to the tone of voice, the body language that accompany those utterances.

We can see that language is not a solitary item, language is used by humans to express their ideas, feelings and emotions about the world that surrounds them, and also to act on others or getting things done. So, language is a complex system that allow humans to achieve different needs in daily life. Thus, if we analyze communication we can see that ideas are mostly expressed through verbal communication whereas emotions and feelings are reflected through non-verbal communication.

Verbal and non-verbal communication are two elements that allow us to emits our messages. However, if these two elements do not agree together the message we emit will not be completely clear.

Other Aspects of Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is a system consisting of a range of features often used together to aid expression. The combination of these features is often a subconscious choice made by native speakers or even sub-groups/sub-cultures within a language group. The main components of the system are:

• Kinesics (body language)Body motions such as shrugs, foot tapping, drumming fingers, eye movements such as winking, facial expressions, and gestures
• Proxemics (proximity)Use of space to signal privacy or attraction
• Haptics Touch
• Oculesics Eye contact
• Chronemics Use of time, waiting, pausing
• Olfactics Smell
• Vocalics Tone of voice, timbre, volume, speed
• Sound symbolsGrunting, mmm, er, ah, uh-huh, mumbling
• Silence Pausing, waiting, secrecy
• Posture Position of the body, stance
• Adornment Clothing, jewellery, hairstyle
• Locomotion Walking, running, staggering, limping

Paralanguage in other Areas of Knowledge

It is possible to observe paralanguage in every act of communication, and also without saying a word people express their paralinguistic language. However, there are some fields in which paralanguage plays a huge role. For example, it is not so common to evaluate the paralanguage of a doctor during a surgery, the main objective in that situation, is that the doctor applies his/her knowledge properly to save the patient, nobody will be evaluating the doctor’s paralanguage. However, if we are watching a movie we can observe that the actors should have a complete control of their bodies to interpret different characters, and that through those characters they will have to perform roles and to exteriorize feelings and emotions, so in this case the paralanguage of the actors play an important role. Here the director of the movie will evaluate their performance. The same happen if we observe a politician,a dancer,a journalist, a teacher, etc, all of them will need to pay more attention to their paralanguage than other occupations like a shoemaker, a baker, a hairdresser, etc. even though every speaker around the world should be aware of their paralanguage in order to avoid misunderstanding and offense people, taking into  consideration that paralanguage may vary from one culture to another.

Paralanguage in teaching English as a Foreign Language

The paralinguistic properties of speech play an important role in human speech communication and their knowledge has an immense significance for teaching English as a second language in L2 contexts. The constituents of paralanguage are supportive to extend communicative competence. These components (tone, pitch, volume, intonation) play a vital role in the academic progress of second language learners and are helpful in gradual increase in learners’ skills.

Para verbal signals can emphasize, modify or even fully negate verbal statements. Similarly, Forgas (1985) indicates that para verbal signals have an important role in the structuring and control of human interactive processes.

Para verbal features complement the communicative competence of students and, is essential for L2 learners to participate in target language learning. According to Thompson (1973) teachers are like role model for their students. Students are passive receiver of knowledge and get from their teachers what they see and feel in their attitude. A teacher can leave both positive and negative impacts on students’ character building. Paralinguistic features are central in L2 classroom. Learners can analyze the voice, mood and tone of teacher through para verbal communication.

So, according to this a teacher must be aware of the importance of the paralinguistic features involve in the acquisition of a second language. The teacher should use this knowledge to provide a confident environment between the student and the teacher.

In conclusion, paralanguage plays an extremely important role in communication and for developing our communicative competence is necessary to be aware of the relation between the linguistic and extra linguistic elements involved in communication.

The Other Face of the Night

That night there was a guy who was walking down the fifth avenue, the most active avenue in the city. He was walking slowly looking down with his hands in his pocket. He walked around for almost 15 minutes. Even there were many people walking and spending time with friends in the avenue, the solitary guy never looked at them.

That was the most energetic avenue during the night in that city. There were restaurants, ice cream parlors, discotheques, and the soul of the avenue, an amazing beach that accompany the entire avenue. The street lights illuminate the night with the help of the moon and the stars.

Even though the environment of the avenue was cool, the guy ignored everything around him. He just wanted to feel the breeze over his face. He walked till the shore and sat down admiring the sea. In that moment he appreciated the calmly ocean in front of him. He just wanted to escape from the uproar of the avenue.

Ten minutes later he saw a girl who was passing by the way with a fast walking and an accelerate breathing. He could hear her sighs. The girl walked around him for almost five minutes. She stretches out her hands almost three times per minutes. She looked up and down. She looked at him but never said a word. He perceived her anguish just by seeing her. He could not stand the presence of the girl any longer. He finally stood up and try to stop the girl to ask her what was happening. She could barely speak.

• Hey, what’s your name? what are you doing here walking along the shore in such a way? Are you ok?

The girl did not answer. He looked at her somber eyes.

• Hey, say something. Are you ok? Look at you, oh my god you are sweating!

The girl did not say anything. He held her in his arms and kept asking questions.

• Hey, Listen to me! What are you doing here? Is someone with you?

The girl did not answer.

• Come on girl, you are scaring me! What are you doing here? Are you looking for someone?

The girl looked at him while her breathing goes faster. She finally uttered a few words to him. He could barely have heard what she said.

• Are you the drugs dealer? …

That night, there were a lot of people in the avenue, some of them were eating with friends, they were listening to music. There were a lot of people laughing, they were having such a great time with their friends. They were having fun. However, that night there were also a few people looking for something else. Some of them wanted to stay calm, some other wanted something to calm themselves.