Understanding Non-Verbal Communication

• The term 'non-verbal' is used to describe communicative resources such as gesture, facial movement and tone of voice.
• The term has long been useful in challenging the misconception that words constitute the whole of communication.
• However, a further assumption has sometimes seemed to follow: that 'non-verbal' expression is something unitary, independent of verbal communicating, or classifiable under some single term like 'body language'.
• This is to drastically simplify our actual practice. As pointed out by Writers on language and social interaction, gestural and vocal actions are often integrated rather than autonomous, and verbal and non-verbal communication is usually produced in a highly coordinated fashion.
• Proposing a concept of 'non-verbal expression' has led to an unfounded generalisation about this supposedly distinct subject: that it is the medium for expressing emotions and relations rather than conscious thought or ideas.
• Even if this were true, the fact remains that the resources covered by the term 'non-verbal' are diverse and complex in the extreme. It can only be misleading to bunch them together as a distinctive communicative mode.

Explore the complexities of non-verbal communication and challenge common misconceptions about its distinctness from verbal communication. Delve into the integration of gestural and vocal actions and the coordination of verbal and non-verbal communication. Question the generalization of non-verbal expression as solely conveying emotions and relationships rather than conscious thoughts or ideas.