"Невербальные средства общения. Язык жестов"
план-конспект урока английского языка (9 класс) по теме

"Non-verbal means of communication" — "Body Language". Урок английского языка в 9-м классе.УMK — "Matrix Intermediate"

Чупина Людмила Александровна, учитель английского языка 

Статья отнесена к разделу: Преподавание иностранных языков 

Цели урока:

• развитие навыков культуры поведения и контроля своими эмоциями в общении с окружающими вас людьми;
• умение использовать невербальные средства при общении с носителями языка.

Задачи урока: 

• активизация изученного лексического и грамматического материала по теме “Body language” в речи учащихся;
• закрепление навыков поискового и просмотрового чтения;
• уделять внимание использованию “речевых клише” при выражении своего мнения;
• развитие навыков поисковой и исследовательской работы при подготовке и написании проектов.

Формы работы: 

1. общегрупповая;
2. групповая;
3. парная.

Обеспечение урока:

• видеофильм “Follow me”;
• текст “Body language” из журнала “Speak out” №2/2004, стр. 16-17;
• газета, выполненная учащимися с вырезками известных людей из различных газет;
• плакаты на доске:

1. “There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness”
2. “Beauty is power, a smile is its sword!”

Дополнительная литература: “Язык телодвижений: как читать мысли других по их жестам” автор – Аллан Пиз.

Предварительная работа: 

1. Показ фильма “Лицо” 1 и 2 части. Их обсуждение.
2. Показ различных жестов из книги Аллана Пиза и их толкование.
3. Сбор необходимой информации, ее анализ и написание проектов учащимися в группах.

План урока

The teacher:

Good morning, dear students and our guests! You are welcome to this wonderful, amazing and exciting world called “Body language”. You can feel some mystery about it because we don’t know much about it. Today we will try to open a small slot into it and understand some non-verbal means of communication. Firstly, we will speak about our faces and facial expressions, then we shall read the text about meanings of some gestures and postures. After that we shall try to analise some pictures and photos.

1) The teacher:

Look at the blackboard! You can see two statements on it:’There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness’ and ‘Beauty is power, a smile is its sword’. Read them and try to explain their meaning.

Pupils give their explanation. Ask 3-4 pupils.

2) The teacher:

And now we shall try to make a spidergram on the blackboard and analise what our body language consists of.

Pupil 1: It consists of “Facial expressions and gestures”

Pipul 2: It also contains “Sounds and touches”

Pupil 3: It is also important what we wear, our clothes.

3) The teacher:

What is the most important part of it? Why? Could you explain your ideas?

Pupil 1: In fact facial expressions and gestures have always been a powerful way of communicating and many expressions have the same meaning all over the world. For example, people smile when they are happy or frown when they are sad. However, some gestures may have different meanings in different places. A friendly sign in one culture might be impolite in another – so take care!

Pupil 2: Another way of showing your feelings is through touch or sounds that aren’t words. Sighs and groans can show that you are bored, depressed or frustrated. But hugs and kisses can be signs of affection and love.

Pupil 3: However, what we wear can say a lot about us. Business people and politicians usually wear expensive suits in order to appear serious; people in the entertainment industry wear glamorous outfits; and teenagers might wear designer jeans and pierce their noses.

4) The teacher:

Then we see that all three parts are important and can tell us a lot about a person when you meet him or her for the first time.

Revisions of words connected with the topic. The group is divided into three small groups. Each small group consists of 3 pupils. The first group should say only positive nouns. The second group – only negative nouns. The third group – neutral nouns. The teacher throws a ball to each member of the group. If a pupil repeat the word for the second time or say the word from another group , the teacher stops asking the group. The other two groups should count the number of words said by the asked group. The score is hung or written on the blackboard.

Possible answers:

Positive nouns

1. love
2. kindness
3. happiness
4. joy
5. devotion
6. faith

Neutral nouns

1. excitement
2. surprise
3. embarrassment
4. independence
5. uniterest

Negative nouns

1. hate
2. anger
3. sadness
4. impoliteness
5. cruelty
6. ill manners

6) The teacher shows three fragments from the film “Follow me”. They are shown without any sound. Pupils should guess the people’s profession according to their gestures and postures.

The first woman is a hairdresser.
The second man is a dentist.
The third man is a footballer.
Pupils give their answers supporting them with their explanation.

7) The teacher:

Now we shall skim the text from the magazine “Speak out”. The text is called “Body language”

Have you ever wished you could read someone’s mind? Well, you can, just by picking up the unconscious messages their body gives you.

1. Did you know that 93 per cent of our communication with others is non-verbal? What we actually say makes up only seven per cent of the picture! That’s what US scientist Ray Birdwhistell found out when he began to study body language back in the 1950s. he filmed conversations and then played them back in slow motion to examine gestures, expressions and posture. When he noticed the same movements happening again and again, he realised that the body can talk too!
2. We use our bodies to send messages all the time. We nod instead of saying “Yes”, shrug our shoulders to mean “I don’t know”, or raise our eyebrows to show surprise.
3. But even when we don’t want other people to know how we’re feeling, our body language can give us away. It’s not difficult to find out what someone is really thinking – and they won’t ever know it! The way we sit or stand, the expression on our face can reveal far more than words. But many of us miss these important signals, because we don’t know what to look out for. Here are some useful tips!
4. How can you tell if a friend is fibbing to you? They’ll often start blushing. They’re embarrassed because they know they’re not telling the truth. They’ll probably look away while they’re talking as well. That’s because our eyes can reveal what we’re thinking, even if we’re saying the opposite out loud.
5. Boys tend to look at the ground when they’re lying, while girls look at the ceiling. If they put a hand over their mouth, it’s another signal they’re lying. It’s as if they’re trying to cover up the lie.
6. We use folded arms as a defensive barrier to protect ourselves when we feel nervous or think someone is criticising us. So, if you’re making a point in a discussion, and the others fold their arms, you’d better give up! They’re shutting your ideas out and you won’t convince them – even if they say they agree with you.

Follow these tips, and you could become the most popular student in the school! You’ve met someone who you’d like to get to know better. Look them in the eye – it shows you’re sincere. When they’re talking, lean slightly forward towards them and tilt your head on one side. This gives the message “I’m interested and I’m playing attention”. Imitate their gestures. If they cross their legs, do the same. But be careful! Don’t be too obvious or they’ll think you’re making fun of them.

Try to guess the main idea of the text. Don’t worry about the meaning of some words. The teacher asks pupils about the main idea.

Possible answers:

1) We use our bodies to send messages all the time.

2) When we don’t want other people to know how we are feeling, our body language can give us away.

8) Teacher gives the task to three groups: match the heading with the paragraphs. Each member of the group does this task individually, then they compare their answers . Each group is given a list with the correct answers.The monitor of each group checks the anwers. The score is also written on the blackboard.

The headings are:

a. Signals of lying for boys and girls;

b. If it is possible to hide our feelings;

c. Some history of non-verbal means of communication:

d. What reveals us;

e. How body language works?

The correct answers are: 1-c; 2-f; 3-b; 4-d; 5-a; 6-e.

The teacher:

Tell me, please, what interesting or new facts you have known from the text.

Pupils’ own answers.

The teacher:

And now we have the most important part of our lesson – your projects. We will see what you have found about body language and how it ‘works’ at different lessons.

Notes: One group consists of 4 pupils and the other consists of 5 pupils. They have prepared two projects. The first project is “Our teachers’ faces – what is hidden behind them”. The second project is ‘Teachers – their gestures and postures – signals to activate”.

Each group has a manager who introduces the group: 1st pupil is an editor, the 2nd pupil is a photographer; 3-d pupil is a designer. Each project shows photos of different teachers working in the lyceum. The photos were taken unexpectedly ; they can be taken at the lesson or during a break. Members of the group describe the meanings of gestures of different teachers. Also they give their explanation if it is easier to understand the teacher of physics, maths, history, literature or English when he or she uses different gestures explaining some new material.

Pupils also speak about the importance of using “Body language” in a foreign country when you don’t know its language perfectly well.

Some examples of pupils’ speech:

Pupil 1: For example, when a teacher moves her hands forward, she show us a development of something or enumerates things. Such lessons as Physics couldn’t be taught without hands, because some rules (like the rule of the right hand,the rule of the left hand) a teacher should show us- how to dispose our hands in a right way.

Pupil 2: But sometimes the same gesture or phrase has different meanings in different countries and cultures. For example, showing a thumb: in Russia it means that everything is all right, in England, Australia and New Zealand people try to stop cars with this sign; in Greece this gesture is offence and means “shut up”, in Italy people start to count things with a thumb and in the USA they finish counting with it.

The history of appearance of the famous letters ‘OK’ is also interesting. Some people think that one man wrote expression “all correct” with mistakes and since that time people have been telling a short form of this phrase’OK’. There is also version that ‘Ok’ is the opposite to ‘KO’ that means ‘knockout’. Also there is a legend that firstly expression’OK’ was said by the Spanish king. In France ‘OK’ means “Oh! Nothing” and in Japan it means money. So if you go to a foreign country you should be attentive with gestures and expressionsto be polite and well-mannered.

1) Pupils exchange their opinions about each other’s projects. They assess them.

The teacher comments on each project and the pupils’ activity at the lesson. Everybody gets marks. The best pupils are awarded with ‘medals’. The groups get the 1st , 2nd or the 3d place according to the score on the blackboard. The teacher thanks the pupils for their work at the lesson..