Non-Verbal Communication: Observing Gestures and Understanding Their Meanings

Subgroup Size

Entire group

Duration

20 minutes

External Cost

No

Source

Paige, R. M., Cohen, A. D., Kappler, B., Chi, J. C., & Lassegard, J. P. (2014). Observing gestures and understanding their meanings. In R.M. Paige, A.D. Cohen, B. Kappler Mikk, J.C. Chi, & J.P. Lassegard (Eds.), Maximizing study abroad: A students' guide to strategies for language and culture learning and use (2nd ed., pp. 135-136). University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. http://carla.umn.edu/maxsa/guides.html

Tags:

  1. communication
  2. nonverbal communication
  3. other awareness
  4. self-awareness

Recognizing and being able to appropriately and successfully negotiate differing meanings attached to a gesture is a 'Milestone 3' proficiency in Communication as codified by the AAC&U Intercultural Rubric.

The internet is full of examples of gestures and their meanings. Not all of these take into account differences between genders or sub-cultures in a given nation, but they form a rich source of discussion material to help students master higher levels of curiosity as defined by the AAC&U Intercultural Rubric (e.g. formulating a hypothesis, seeking out an answer, seeking out multiple perspectives on the answer).