ABSTARCT
Nowadays, we use different forms of transition information, feelings and experience by verbal and nonverbal methods that are straightforwardly connected with teachers’ activities in classroom contexts. The teacher can raise the interests of the students with help of the different form of communication like an eye contact, positions of the body, pitch or tone of the voice, behavior or dress. Main objectives of the study are to reveal the effective behavior techniques of teachers in teaching process; to find out the dependence between nonverbal communication ways of teachers and Grade Point Average (GPA) from English subject in Ukrainian educational context. The teacher and 10 students will be randomly selected from 11th grade within 10 Ukrainian Government secondary schools which in turn will be chosen through cluster sampling technique. The research will be conducted during second semester via seven-point Differential rating scale (Galloway, 1977).
GPA grades of the first semester will be gathered and presented by comparative table and results of the second semester will be analyzed together by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The collected data will be presented to the population through statistical inferences. Findings will emphasize the importance of teachers’ gestural communication and influence on students’ outcomes; in addition, particular teachers’ behavior techniques in educational process will be useful not only in Ukraine, but also in other countries.
Keywords: nonverbal/verbal communication, nonverbal activities, behavior technique, Grade Point Average of English subject (GPA)
INTRODUCTION
Nonverbal communication is the language of our body and an unspoken way of communication between human beings. In other words, it consists of different behaviors that are the cues signals. According to Elfenbein and Eisenkaft (2010) nonverbal communication is a positive correlation between intentional nonverbal displays and receivers ability to perceive such communication.
The process of education also includes the variety of verbal and nonverbal communication types. A significant goal of the teacher is to transfer the knowledge to the students in an effective and purposeful way. The great impact of the useful specific skills common to ‘good’ teachers and teaching was conducted by Kennedy (2008), using three criteria of effective teachers’ behavior. He created a special list of teacher strategies, such as awareness of body language, flexibility in variety of learning styles, active listening techniques, the use of eye contact, teacher availability, and incorporating a variety of teaching methodologies.
Nonverbal communication is an unconscious process that explains the uncontrolled behavior of people. In order to transmit the code an interlocutor tries to use the nonverbal gestures, mimics in order to send a message. In addition, the gestural communication supports our verbal communication (Mehrabian, 2002) and enhances the colorfulness of our code.
An observation of classroom context shows the variety of nonverbal communication’s usage. For example, the eye contact of the teachers’ way of controlling classroom layout, body language, gestures or mimics. It plays a significant role as the tool for achieving effective outcome of students. Mason (2003) argued engaging eye contact such as the most expressive area of a person’s entire body.
A lot of researchers were interested in the issue of nonverbal communication’s impact due to learning process By analyzing effective teaching with help of the types of communication, we can highlight the main idea about the connection between learning process and its outcomes. Vermeulen and Schmidt (2008) pointed out that learning environment increases the motivation of students, which, in turn, increases their learning outcomes. They conducted their investigation at a Dutch University among 3324 graduates. It is argued that the learning environment is important for students’ learning as well as their involvement in extracurricular activities. Communication occupies a significant niche in learning process. The way how teacher is behaving directly connected with students’ support and their success in learning process.
The empirical research on teachers’ nonverbal behavior and its impact on students’ outcomes was conducted by Chaudhry and Manzoor (2012). The researchers analyzed the male and female in English medium Federal Government Cantt Garrisin schools, Army Public schools and Private schools and the connection between nonverbal behavior of teachers and achievement of students. There were randomly chosen 90 teachers through cluster sampling technique. The rating scale was developed with verbal dimensions of Flanders’ interaction categories trough nonverbal behavior. The collected data were analyzed with help of appropriate inferential statistics. Findings confirmed the nonverbal behavior of the teachers was founded to be consistent with verbal communication.
In addition, one more research was conducted on an activity for teaching the effects of nonverbal communication in University of Houston Downtown and George Mason University by Morgan B. W. and King E. B. (2012). “The study describes a novel teaching activity that allows students in diversity, leadership, and communication courses to observe the powerful effects of nonverbal communication.” (Morgan & King, 2012, p. 20). Two students were volunteers and they gave speech as “leaders”, while the rest of the students provided positive or negative nonverbal feedback to the second leader. After collecting the data, the first leader who has got the negative nonverbal feedback expressed reduced interest in further performing. This observation showed serious consequence of nonverbal reactions to leader behavior. Findings suggest that this activity can be contributed into curricula with positive learning achievements.
1.1 Statement of Significance
Carrying out of this study will be essential to discover the odds of nonverbal communication in learning process in Ukrainian government secondary schools, and the list of teachers’ techniques that directly influence on the students’ results (GPA) from English subject during teaching process. English is a very important subject in Ukrainian curriculum that is considered to be compulsory through the list of rated lessons due to main Law of Ukraine on Education. Besides, the President of Ukraine is trying to implement the first steps in development of educational system by confirming a new Law of Ukraine No. 2145-VIII “On Education” (Rada of Ukraine, 2017). Unfortunately, there are the restricted attempts of Ukrainian teachers to implement the new methods in learning process and use new methodology, as usual, because of the low starting salaries of teachers. At least, another reason is the limited budget of Ukraine would not include all expenditures required for the New Ukrainian School, which starts in the 2018-2019 school year (Stadnyi & Kogut, 2013). Finding out the results after conducting the research will allow to follow the dependence of nonverbal communication in English classes due to students’ learning outcomes in Ukrainian government schools that are inexorably searching for a new breath in foreign learning process. It will help other teachers with similar concerns to choose right way of teaching in foreign language process in future and aimed at improving the quality of teaching, while also improving efficiency (Kahkonen, 2018).
1.2 Statement of Purpose & Problem
The problem is to state the impact of nonverbal communication in learning process and find out interdependence between teachers’ behavior and students’ results. With help of this research the teachers will be aware with particular nonverbal communication and it will be useful for them to pick up the effective behavior techniques in order to influence on students’ results. In Ukraine, a lot of teachers don’t pay attention to that issue and even not carrying out about the effectiveness of the presented information neither their manner of behavior in foreign language teaching. They are focused as usual on covering all topics in their curriculum as quickly as they can, besides they stick to old teaching methods, such as: grammar-translation method, endless memorizing and repeating the same material. “The problems facing the country’s education system go deeper, namely outdated teaching methodologies and low morale among teachers. Both the approaches towards teaching and towards learning are out of date, with students practicing rote recitation without knowing how to use this knowledge in everyday life. Lessons are overburdened with theoretical knowledge and lacking in practical application” (Kahkonen, 2018).
A huge number of the teachers pass through the attempts not using the nonverbal communication in the classroom context during teaching process, where English is a compulsory subject. This research is going to be conducted in Ukrainian Government secondary schools that raise the significance of the investigated issue. The research will be held under seven-point Differential rating scale (Galloway, 1977) and it will be analyzed trough GPA cooperative statistical tables and presented to the population through statistical inferences.
1.3 Research Questions
The questions that would be addressed in this paper are as following:
- Does the use of nonverbal communication techniques have a significant effect on students’ outcomes in foreign language learning?
- Does the list of developed nonverbal techniques due to Differential rating scale (Galloway, 1977) can be used in order to increase the score of GPA in foreign language teaching?
2. RESEARCH METHOD
2.1 Participants
The study is going to be conducted over an academic year in 11th grades in 10th Ukrainian Government secondary schools in town Belaya Tserkov, Kiev Region, Ukraine. The study’s population will include the teachers of English and students of secondary schools. In general, there are 23 secondary schools in Belaya Tserkov. Out of those 13 schools are the private ones and 10 schools are the government ones. The sample of the study will consist of an English teacher and 20 students in 11th grade from each of 10 Government secondary schools. The total number is 10 teachers and 200 students.
2.2 Materials
To begin with, the schools will be selected by cluster sampling and the teacher and 10 students will be randomly selected from 11th grade within 10 Ukrainian Government secondary schools. The primary items of collection of information will be the first semester students’ results of GPA from English subject that will be collected and presented through the descriptive statistic. The next step will be conducting of all body activities to teachers of English that are mentioned in a seven point Differential rating scale (Galloway, 1977) through a particular list of techniques during the second semester of education. Main nonverbal communication elements will be organized and presented to the teachers in proper way in order to simplify the implementation on the lessons. After conducting the list of activities during all second semester, the teachers will be enabling to distribute questionnaires to students. The questionnaire was suggested by Galloway (1977), where main nonverbal behavior elements pattern was divide into two parts. Nonverbal behavior that simplify learning and that constrict it. The scale can be graded from 1 (Fully Consistent) to 7 (Fully Inconsistent). The questionnaires will be asked to fulfill personally by the students during one week. The collected data is going to be analyzed by SPSS Statistics. The next step will be collecting the second semester GPA from English, which are challenged with new teachers’ behavior activities. The results will be compered and presented to the population through statistical inference.
2.3 Procedure
In accordance with the rules of conducting research, we have to take letter permission from Istanbul Aydin University. After that, the allowance of administration institution should have been asked in order to start our research in corresponding secondary schools in Belaya Tserkov, Ukraine. As it was mentioned before, 10 Ukrainian government secondary schools out of 23, where 13 are private schools, will be selected by cluster sampling. 11th grade is taken as a sample whereby random sampling we will choose 20 students and one teacher of English lessons. At the beginning of the study, we will collect the GPA from English subject of the first semester and organize it in table with help of descriptive statistic due to further comparison after conducting the research. The list of nonverbal communication activities will be developed and given to teachers for use in lessons during all second semester. This list is based on Galloway questioner (1977) and proposes the seven items that will be asked to implement on the every lesson of English by the teachers. After all procedures at the end of the second semester, the teachers are going to distribute the questionnaires that are based on the seven point Differential rating scale (Galloway, 1977). The students will be asked to fulfill the forms during one week. The collected data will be presented trough the descriptive statistic. In addition, the second semester GPA of students’ achievements will be compared with the first semester students’ outcomes in order to determine the dependence between teachers’ nonverbal communication and students’ achievements and analyzed be SPSS statistic. The results will be presented to the population through statistical inference. After finalizing and generalizing the collected data in proper way, we are able to submit our study to The Istanbul Aydin University.
4. DEFINITION OF THE KEY WORDS
Nonverbal communication: “A body movements, postures, or material artefact which encodes or influences a concept, motivation, or mood (thus, a gesture is neither matter nor energy, but information). In its most generic sense is sign, signal, or cue used to communicate in tandem with, or part from words Gestures include facial expressions, clothing cues, and body movements” ( Given, 2002, p. 10).
Verbal communication: “Our verbal messaging is communicated via the words that we use. The verbal message is of course an important part of our communication, but the way we communicate nonverbally is equally, and sometimes more, important” (Mehrabian, 2007, p.5).
Nonverbal activities: “Communications activities are designed to help participants become more aware and prepared to deal effectively with the many types of communications challenges they face every day. Each activity is designed to help participants better understand some facet of communications and gain expertise in that communications skill or competency” (Garber, 2008, p. 26).
Behavior technique is the way of behaving in learning process that aims at the formation by teacher the new and effective forms of behaving (nonverbal gestures, mimics, eye contact and so on) in foreign language learning.
Grade Point Average of English subject (GPA): A grade-point average (GPA) is a number that represents a student’s average performance in school over a certain period of time. Our study is focus on the average score in foreign language during the first and second semester in Ukrainian Government schools.
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