Kinesics: Paralinguistic Features

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Kinesics deals with the “field of non-verbal visual communication”. It can be divided into several components: • Facial expressions • Eye-contact • Gestures • Body Posture These corporal movements can give clues to a person’s personality and emotional state. Though there are some universal gestures, on occasion the message communicated may vary from culture to culture. For example, each culture has conventional greeting routines which are quite arbitrary but perfectly natural for the group. Outside the group they may cause amusement or be completely unrecognized for what they are. For example, when we meet people, we greet them by nodding, shaking hands, kissing or embracing. However, certain Polynesian people greet each other by embracing and mutual back-rubbing, and Copper Eskimo peoples buffet each other’s head with a fist. Kinesics is also called Pasimology, that is to say, “the study of all signs”, in reference to communication. If someone is standing upright and is smiling widely, they are transmitting happiness. Whereas, if someone is seen dragging their feet along the sidewalk, shoulders slouched and head low, they are communicating a feeling of sadness or depression. These are determined visual effects. Visual effects interact specifically with speech. Gestures or head movements are used to make points of emphasis. Hand movements can be used to draw “pictures” in the air in order to backup what is being said. Gaze patterns give clues to the speaker and listener as of when to start and stop speaking, as well as carrying out the function of structuralizing a conversation. For example, speakers usually tend to look up when they are about to end an utterance, giving the listener their cue to respond if they wish to. Visual effects are considered to be universal; however, what means one thing in one culture can mean something different, or even
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