The Impact of Non-verbal Communication in Conveying Meaning in English for EFL Classrooms

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the impact of non-verbal communication in conveying meaning in EFL classrooms. A descriptive method was used to achieve the purpose of the study. A textual/ theoretical was applied in reviewing the literature of the study. On the bases of five hypotheses, two questionnaires (teachers' and students') were designed as tools for data collection to test the hypotheses. The teachers’ questionnaire was distributed to a number of 127 male and female teachers across thirteen Saudi Arabian universities who work in the preparatory year program. Additionally, the students’ questionnaire was designed and sent to 99 students (males and females) in Jouf region. After analyzing the data statistically, the results reveal that; teachers’ non-verbal communication is essential in teaching EFL classes. In addition, the findings show that; non-verbal communication is credible in conveying emotional meaning and helps students understand the emotional related message clearly. Moreover, it has been found that; teachers’ non-verbal communication helps convey the meaning of new vocabulary and some grammatical meaning. The study comes out with the followings: teachers should utilize non-verbal communication in their EFL classes to make the students attentive and motivated. Also, teachers should be oriented to non-verbal communication and encouraged to implement it in their classes. Besides, non-verbal communication should be used as a credible technique to convey emotional meaning. Various ways of body language should be adapted to make EFL classes enjoyable and responsive. In the end, some recommendations are pointed in addition to some suggestions for further studies.