Abstract and Key Words

Abstract:  This paper does a systematic survey of Kinesics communication from the aspects of characteristics, application, functions, etc. It aims to improve effects on English classroom teaching in primary school. In particular, it gives a detailed account of the application of Kinesics. Meanwhile, this paper provides a wide variety of examples related to the real life for the purpose of demonstration. At the end of the paper, some suggestions are provided to improve teachers’ Kinesics competence to achieve greater effect in teaching. The conclusion of the paper is that if teachers use Kinesics scientifically and appropriately in primary school English lessons, it can strengthen the communication between the teacher and students, improve students’ communicative competence, and thus exert great influences on teaching effects.

Key words: kinesics; primary school English teaching; application

摘要:   本文从体态语的功能、特点、运用方法等方面进行一个系统研究，试图提高小学英语课堂教学效果。尤其在运用方法方面列举了大量例子加以佐证，同时对提高教师体态语交际能力方面提出一些建议。文章的结论是：在小学英语课堂教学中，教师科学、合理地运用体态语能增进师生交流，提高学生外语交际能力，使之提高教学效果。

关键词：体态语；小学英语教学；应用

1. Introduction
Kinesics is an important medium for people to communicate in their daily life by means of facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, postures, space and distance. Though verbal communication is the main and most important means of transmitting information, this does not suggest that kinesics is not important and can be ignored. In fact, in face-to-face communication, we express ourselves or show our attitudes towards the person with whom we are interacting nonverbally; we observe others’ body language to make judgments about their personalities and mental states; and even when they do not speak, they may still be communicating. Researchers have found that everyday people use nonverbal clues much more than verbal codes for communication. Miller suggests“only 7% of a message is sent through words with the remaining 93% sent through facial expressions (55%) and vocal intonation (32%)”. This indicates the relative predominance of nonverbal information over verbal one in daily life. Kinesics, as the most frequent use of nonverbal cues, is therefore of vital importance. Classroom teaching, which is an important social interaction, is an activity during which the teachers and the students convey meanings by both verbal and nonverbal cues. Many researchers believe that Kinesics plays a more important role in teaching than verbal cues. And they have shown that the relationship between teachers and students can be improved if teachers learn how to use body language in classroom. Using body language in primary school classroom meets the Physical and Psychological characteristics of students, stimulates their interest in learning and improves their cross-cultural awareness.