Topic: Body language Students’ level

Posture/Gesture
Message
Smile	“I am keen to communicate”
Arms/legs crossed	tend to indicate a defensive frame of mind.
Open posture	effective in placing distance between person
Leaning forward	“I hear what you are saying”
Leaning back	tends to inhibit the speaker from continuing
Warm handshake	Effective in social situations
Nod of the head / eye contact	“I want to know about you”

Task 4. In the text find as many noun phrases (adjective = noun) as possible which describe different types of body language, e. g. pleasant/ nice smile, phony face.

pleasant/ nice smile, phony face, crossed arms and legs, warm handshake, firm handshake, friendly attitude, eye contact indicates, fixed stare, aggressive behaviour.

Task 5. Collocate an adjective from list A with a noun from list B to produce as many phrases as possible. You can use the same noun with more than one adjective.

List A	List B
strong friendly open positive non-verbal conversational receptive defensive personal brief social outside first	indication space attitude situations problems periods signals step frame of mind contact

Strong indication

Friendly attitude

Open attitude/posture

Positive signal

Non-verbal signal/gesture

Conversational problems

Receptive signal

Defensive frame of mind

Personal space

Brief periods

Social situations

Outside contact

First step

1. 
   How many different adjectives can you find in the text which can collocate with the words “way” and “manner”?
   
2. 
   To what extent do you agree with the advice given in the text?
   
3. 
   How far would you personally wish to adopt the advice given?
   

Ways of learning: awareness of body language

The body language of individuals may vary in two important ways:

-cultural background

- personality

Task 6.Variation according to cultural background

1. 
   Make a list of any gestures or postures which you know can have different meanings in different cultures, e. g. nodding your head. Compare and discuss your lists.
   
2. 
   Look at the following short extract from a business handbook which was written to give practical advice to English speaking visitors to Turkey.
   

Greeting – It is usual to greet people with a loose handshake. It is not considered polite tograsp hands firmly. It is normal to shake hands on meeting everyone in a group and againupon leaving. Kissing by touching both cheeks is a common form of greeting and leavetakingamong close friends.

Write a paragraph which would offer a similar advice to visitors to your own country. Compare your advice with a partner’s and then discuss any issues which arise.

Variation according to personality

1. Think about your body language. How comfortable do you feel when doing the following: very comfortable – very uncomfortable.

smiling at people you don’t know?

shaking hands firmly? looking someone straight in the eye?

sitting with your leg touching someone else’s leg? making expressive gestures with your hands?

Discuss your views with a partner.

Activity 1. Choose the best alternative to complete these sentences.

1. 
   She is a very cheerful person – always smiling and in a good mood.
   

cheerful delighted glad pleased

2. 
   He is a very wild person – I do wish he was more easy-going.
   

bad-tempered furious mad wild

3. Don’t tell her off – she is a very sensible and may start to cry.

responsive sensible sensitive resposible

4. People enjoy his company very much because he is very adorable.

adorable likeable lovable sympathetic

5. 
   If you’ve got a problem, go and talk to her – I’m sure she’ll be sympathetic.
   

patient sympathetic tolerant warm-hearted

5. 
   When his wife started seeing more of the tennis coach, he became very jealous .
   

arrogant	envious	jealous	selfish
7. The twins keep pretending to be each other – they’re such naughty children
evil	wicked
miserable	naughty

8. Thank you for my beautiful present. It was very generouse of you to buy it for me.

charitable	generous	loyal	reliable
9. You have to be quite Self-confident to stand up in front of the audience.
selfish	self-confident	selfconscious	self-satisfied
10.He is a very discriminating little boy – his parents give him everything he asks
for.
consented	discriminating	generous	spoilt

The senses

Our basic five senses are sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

Sight

Study the verbs of seeing in the text below.

Yesterday I glanced out of the window and noticed a man observing a house opposite through a telescope. I thought I glimpsed a woman inside the house. Then I saw someone else peering into the window of the same house. I gazed at them wondering what they were doing. Suddenly the first man stopped staring through his telescope. He wentan d hit the other one on the head with the telescope an I realised that I had witnessed a crime

Task 1. Which of the verbs in the text suggests looking:

1. 
   on as a crime or accident occurs? witnessed
   
2. 
   closely, finding it hard to make things out? peering
   
3. 
   in a scientific kind of way? observ
   
4. 
   quickly? glimpsed
   
5. 
   fixedly? gazed
   

Hearing

The following scale relates to the sense of hearing and how loud things are. noiseless – silent – quiet – noisy – loud – deafening

Taste

Some different tastes with an example of a typical food.

sweet(honey) – salty (crisps) – bitter (strong coffee) – sour (vinegar) - spicy (Indian food).

Task 2. Are the following best described as sweet, salty, bitter, sour, spicy or hot?

1. undersweetened coffee 3. chilli 5. Chinese cooking

2. pineapple Smell

4. lime

6. sea water

These adjectives describe how something smells: stinking, evil-smelling, smelly, aromatic, scented, fragrant, sweet-smelling, perfumed.

Task3. Which of the adjectives describes best for you the smell of the following?

1. 
   herbs in a kitchen 3. Rotten eggs
   

5. a baby’s bottom old socks 4. roses 6. a hairdresser’s

Touch

Some good verbs for describing different ways of touching.

She nervously fingered her collar.

She tapped him on the shoulder.

She grabbed her bag and ran.

Please handle the goods with great care.

The secretaries complained that their boss was always pawing them.

He stroked the cat and patted the dog.

He grasped my hand and we ran.

It’s rude to natch. Press the button

Task 4. Match the verbs with these definitions.

1. 
   to take something very quickly to grab
   
2. 
   to move between the fingers to trap
   
3. 
   to touch with the hands to grasp
   
4. 
   to touch in an offensive way to paw
   

Task 5. Replace the underlined words with a more interesting and precise verb.

1. 
   I witnessed a crime.
   
2. 
   He gazed fixedly at me.
   
3. 
   She grasped my hand firmly.
   
4. 
   Pess the button to start.
   
5. 
   He stroked the cat affectionately.
   
6. 
   The zoologist observed at the lion’s behaviour.
   
7. 
   The robber grabbed the money and ran.
   
8. 
   I glipsed at my watch.