An american vietnamese cross cultural study of hand gestures, body movements and postures of teachers in class

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ XUÂN AN AMERICAN-VIETNAMESE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF HAN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ XUÂN

AN AMERICAN-VIETNAMESE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

OF HAND GESTURES, BODY MOVEMENTS AND POSTURES

OF TEACHERS IN CLASS

NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA VIỆT - MỸ

VỀ CỬ CHỈ TAY, CHUYỂN ĐỘNG CƠ THỂ VÀ TƯ THẾ

CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG LỚP HỌC

(M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS)

Field: English Linguistics Major Code: 60220201

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ XUÂN

AN AMERICAN-VIETNAMESE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

OF HAND GESTURES, BODY MOVEMENTS AND POSTURES

OF TEACHERS IN CLASS

NGHIÊN CỨU GIAO THOA VĂN HÓA VIỆT - MỸ

VỀ CỬ CHỈ TAY, CHUYỂN ĐỘNG CƠ THỂ VÀ TƯ THẾ

CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG LỚP HỌC

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Major : English Language (1 st Program)

Major Code: 60220201

Supervisor : PROF NGUYEN QUANG (Ph.D.)

Acknowledgments

I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Dr Nguyen Quang, without whose valuable comments and guidance, my thesis would not have been accomplished

My special thanks go to my dad and my mum

And I am immensely grateful to my husband who helps me a lot

My sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the department of Post- Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study

Finally, I should acknowledge my indebtedness to all my friends for their assistance during the process of preparing for this research

Tran Thi Xuan

ABSTRACT

It can be said that creating and sustaining an interaction through verbal communication skills is not enough to be successful Non-verbal communication is believed to play a vital role in transferring meaning in communication Heraclitus

once said “One’s eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears” Nowadays, more and

more researchers believe that communication without spoken and written words can also help people understand other’s behaviors Non-verbal behaviour occurs before verbal communication because individuals depend first on non-verbal means to present themselves This natural character of non-verbal behaviour is important in interaction because before a sentence is conveyed, the hearer follows the body gestures and facial expressions of the speaker, trying to find out these symbolic messages They are trustable because they are mostly spontaneous and parts of every-day behaviour

As cultures collide, it is essential for all of us to become more aware of the hand gestures, body movements and postures surrounding us Specially, when we cross over cultural borders, it would be fitting to understand more about the effective nonverbal communication This study is conducted to raise Vietnamese students’ awareness of cross-cultural differences in the use of body language in class for avoidance of culture shock

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 1

3 Scope of the study 1

4 Methodology 2

5 Design of the study 2

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 3

1 Literature review 3

1 1 Culture 3

1.2 Communication? 3

1.2.1 Definition of communication 3

1.2.2 Types of communication 4

1.3 Cross-cultural communication 4

1.4 Non-verbal communication 4

1.4.1 Definition of nonverbal communication 4

1.4.3 Means of nonverbal communication 6

2 Hand gestures, body movements and postures 6

2.1 Hand gestures 6

2.2 Body movements 11

2.3 Postures 13

2.4 Previous related studies 14

2.4.1 In the world 14

2.4.2 In Vietnam 14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16

1 Method and procedure 16

1.1 Research questions 16

1.2 Research participants 16

1.3 Research procedure 17

2 Data collection instruments 17

2.1 Observation 17

2.2 The survey questionnaires 18

3 Data analysis method 18

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 19

1 HAND GUESTURES 19

1.1 Frequencies 19

1.2 Similarities and differences 20

1.3 Students' attitudes 22

2.1 Frequencies 23

2.2 Similarities and differences 24

2.3 Students' attitudes 26

3 POSTURES 28

3.1 Frequencies 28

3.2 Similarities and differences 29

3.3 Students' attitudes 32

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 34

1 Recapitulation 34

1.1 Hand gestures 34

1.2 Body movements 34

1.3 Postures 35

2 Implications 35

3 Limitations 36

4 Suggestions for further study 36

References 37

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

According to Negi(2009, page 101) “Communication, which is used in

everyday life from greeting a stranger to touching a lover, is an ongoing process of sending and receiving messages that enables human to share knowledge, ideas, thoughts, information, feelings, emotions, and attitudes” There are two kinds of

communication: Verbal communication and non-verbal communication which are simultaneously used in interaction In the past, linguists focused more on studying verbal communication However, nowadays non-verbal communication is considered to be equally important for effective face to face interaction Non-verbal communication uses wide diversities of non-linguistic cues such as hand gestures, body movement, postures simultaneously with linguistic ones Clearly, hand gestures, body movements, postures of teachers in class play an important role in the support of teaching content and skills People in various cultures have same understanding of non-verbal cues; however, the total meaning of speech can be culturally determined and differ in diverse countries Therefore, misinterpretations

of non-verbal cues may happen American and Vietnamese teachers have different hand gestures, body movements and postures in class in order to make an effective

lesson As a result, the research “An American-Vietnamese cross-cultural study of

hand gestures, body movements and postures of teachers in class” is conducted to

help Vietnamese students avoid culture shocks and communication breakdown

2 Aims of the study

The thesis aims to point out the similarities and differences in the performance of hand gestures, body movements and postures of American and Vietnamese teachers in the classroom In addition, the researcher wishes to find out the frequency of hand gestures, body movements and postures performed by American and Vietnamese teachers in class

3 Scope of the study

The study is confined to only hand gestures, body movements and postures performed by American and Vietnamese teachers in class

4 Methodology

This study uses quantitative method based on data analysis to generate reliability Additionally, contrastive analysis is also employed All the information, comments and findings in this thesis are followed by the following methods:

 Reference to relevant home and foreign publications in both primary and secondary research,

 Survey questionaries,

 Statistic, descriptions, and analysis of the collected and selected data,

 Personal observations and experience,

 Consultations with supervisor

 Discussions with Vietnamese and foreign colleagues

5 Design of the study

The study is designed with five chapters: The first chapter introduces the study The second chapter involves 2 parts: Part one is related to the theoretical background of culture and nonverbal communication The definitions, features and classification of body movements, hand gestures and postures are provided in part two In addition, similarities and differences in the performance of hand gestures, body movements and postures in different cultures and their causes are also discussed A detailed description of typical gestures is also made Chapter 3 mentions the methodology of the study Chapter 4 involves the results of the survey and the detailed comparison of using hand gestures, body movements and postures between Vietnamese and American teachers The last chapter is the conclusion

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Literature review

1.1 Culture

As Harrison and Huntington note, the term “culture” of course, has had

different meanings in different disciplines and different contexts” (Harrison and

Huntington, (2000:xv) By stating “culture is human - made part of environment,”

Lonner and Malpass (1994: 7) contrast culture and nature In their ideas, things in

environment will never become cultural without the “human touch”

According to Triandis (1994:23) “culture” is a set of human-made objective

and subjective elements that in the past increased the probability of survival and resulted in satisfaction for the participants in an ecological niche, and this became shared among those who could communicate with each other because they had a

common language and they lived in the same time and place “The subjective

elements of cultures here are elements such as values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society” All of these

elements act as a framework that influences your interpretation of the world and interactions in it

1.2 Communication?

1.2.1 Definition of communication

There have been many definitions of “Communication” with different

aspects Larry Porter and McDaniel (2006: 12) select the all-encompassing

definition of human communication as “the process through which symbols are

transmitted for purpose of eliciting a response” Lustig (1996: 29) defines

communication as “a symbol” which may be “a word, action or object” containing

thoughts, perceptions or feelings a person wants t communicate with others

It is clear in the definition of Hybels, and Weaver (1992: 5) that

“communication is any process in which people share information, ideas and feelings that involve not only the spoken and written words but also body language,

personal mannerisms and style, the surrounding and things that add meaning to a message.”

Among the above definitions of “communication”, the one by Hybels and

Weaver (1992) is the most comprehensive and persuading As Nguyen Quang (F: 29), believes that it indicates the action, interaction and transaction nature of communication; specifying the characteristics of communication, the means to carry our communication and various levels of communication

1.2.2 Types of communication

People communicate with each other in a number of ways that depend upon the message and its context in which it is being sent Choice of communication channel and your style of communicating also affects communication So, there are variety of types of communication

Types of communication based on the communication channels used are:

Intra-cultural communication is the communication between people who live

in the same country and come from the same cultural background

Inter-cultural communication is the communication between people who live

in the same or different countries and come from different cultural backgrounds

Cross-cultural communication is the study of communication by different

people who come from different cultural backgrounds

1.4 Non-verbal communication

1.4.1 Definition of nonverbal communication

According to Lustig(1996: 187-188) “nonverbal communication is a

behaviors can become part of the communication process when someone intentionally tries to convey a message or when someone attributes meaning to nonverbal behavior of another, whether or not the person intends to communicate a particular process.”

Nguyen Quang (2004) defined: “all the components of the message that,

when taken together, constitute the communication which is not verbally coded but both vocally and non-vocally channeled Nonverbal communication is composed of paralinguistic factors (nonverbal - vocal channel), such as rate, volume, etc., and extra-linguistic factors (nonverbal - non-vocal channel), such as body language (gestures, postures, facial expressions,…) object language (including clothing, jewelry…) and environmental language (proxemics, settings…)”

1.4.2 Significance of nonverbal communication

Argyle, in “Bodily Communication,” points out five crucial roles of

non-verbal communication: to express emotions, communicate interpersonal relationships, support verbal interaction, reflect personality and perform rituals, such as greetings and goodbyes Altheimer(2008) identifies how non-verbal

communication interacts with verbal communication “We can reinforce, contradict,

substitute, complement or emphasize our verbal communication with non-verbal cues such as gestures, facial expressions and vocal inflection For example, as you

tell someone you love them but you avoid eye contact, it is a contrast If you have a bright smile when you say congratulations, this reinforces the sincerity of your words.”

1.4.3 Means of nonverbal communication

Nguyen Quang(2001: 19) believes that nonverbal communication is realized

by the following means:

2 Hand gestures, body movements and postures

2.1 Hand gestures

In chapter 5 of the book “Navy Instructional Theory” (1992) Commanding officer Netpmsa defines “A gesture is a natural movement of any part of the body

that conveys a thought or emotion or reinforces oral expression” Your gestures will

convey whether your personality is strong, calm or gentle rely on a large extent

Netpmsa(1992: 63 ) believes that “Regardless of your personality, gestures will add

to the effectiveness of your speech if you relax your shoulders, arms, and hands, and concentrate on communicating to the audience the meaning and importance of your

- Time/Chronicles

- Lighting system

- Color

- Heat

communicator performs an artificial gesture, it will detract When speaking, teachers who practice spontaneous gestures to illustrate more for words will arise naturally from enthusiasm and conviction Descriptive gestures illustrate an action

Use your hands to convey a message, such as a “V” formed with two fingers is

consider as a symbol of victory

Hand gestures are a effective way denoting what one person is saying However, a gesture performs distinctive meanings in different cultures These gestures are most useful when two people who come from different countries with different language communicate together The meaning of hand gestures in each culture has particular meaning

Thumbs up and Thumbs down

Although “Thumb-up” sign is recognized as approval or agreement in

English speaking countries, it is actually used as an insult in Bangladesh In certain parts of the Middle East, thumb-up is definitely a highly offensive People have

been confused about this sign for a long time Shalint Verma(2005: 59) wrote “More

recently, it is associated with movie reviews, having been popularized by critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on their televised review show Siskel & Ebert — the thumb up meaning a positive opinion of a film; the thumb down meaning a negative one.” The trademarked phrase "two thumbs up", originally meaning a positive

review from both reviewers, has come to be used as an indication of very high quality or unanimity of praise The thumb down sign obviously means the opposite

of a thumb up sign It is an indication of something that is bad or something that you do not approve of

( https://vi.scribd.com/document/161126797/Symbol-Gesture )

When someone performs “thumb down” sign, It means something or

someone has failed The thumb down sign is not used as much as the thumb up sign

because of its negative meaning R Royale (2015) indicated that “Its use is nowhere

near as common as the thumbs-up gesture and is seen as a somewhat rude, callous, and arrogant way of indicating failure or disapproval.”

A man giving a thumbs down sign of disapproval

Beckoning gesture (“Come here” gesture)

Beckoning gesture (“Come here” gesture) is a gesture when the hand is

extended and the forefinger is then repeatedly curled towards the palm in a hooking

motion “In today’s (western) society, the “crooked finger” is seen as a somewhat

hand gesture, it has arrogance about it It is also used for summoning a waiter and,

is some countries; it is used exclusively for calling-over a prostitute” according to

Umi Pujiyanti & Fatkhunaimah Rhina Zuliani (2014 : 70 ) You may have used it on people more junior to yourself but just try it on your superior and then watch their shocked facial expression

The Ok

In most of the English-speaking world, as well as in several other countries, this hand gesture means that everything is fine, great , okay and / or perfect

In Brazil, however, it is considered a rude gesture The most famous example of this

was in the 1950s when Richard Nixon visited Brazil and flashed the “Ok sign” to a

waiting crowd upon arriving in Rio de Janeiro, who responded with boos!

In japan, the “OK sign” means “money” Imagine a Western businessperson giving the “Ok sign” at the end of a successful negotiation The Japanese

businessperson might misinterpret this as the American asking for a bride!

The “V” Sign

This sign has two formats: one with the palm faced outwards, and another

with the palm inwards In the US, both ways refer to “victory” and peace: protesters

against the Vietnam War and activists adopted the gesture as a sign of peace [32] Because the hippies of the day often flashed this sign (palm out) while saying

“Peace”, it became popularly known(through association) as the peace sign [31] In

other places, such as in the UK, Australia and South Africa, the same gesture with the back of the hand facing the other person is considered to be an extremely insulting [32] A very common example of hand gestures is former President George

W Bush On a visit to Canberra in 1992, George H.W Bush unwittingly insulted a group of locals by giving them the V-sign while riding past in his armored car The

gesture might mean “Victory” in America, but it means something radically different

in Australia when given with the palm facing inward, as in Bush Senior’s case Used that way, it’s actually equivalent to the upraised middle finger in the US

Pointing gesture

The typical pointing with the index finger is a gesture used in many cultures Some cultures use the middle finger (certain regions of India) Other cultures also point with the thumb, often when referring to something behind the speaker

In Western cultures pointing directly with the index finger at a person is considered rude A more polite way of pointing to a person would be to direct the hand in their direction, as if holding a plate

There are many other ways to point, for example with the hand, a head nod or an eye gaze In some Native American cultures, one actually points with the nose, avoiding the disrespect associated with pointing fingers Some use lip pointing, for instance the Misquite in Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as Spanish speaking city dwellers in large parts of northwestern South America and it is also a common sight in the Philippines In America and European cultures, it is considered rude to point fingers at others This hand gesture is an indication of a dominant - to - subordinate behavior in the professional world It is considered a gesture to single out an individual from a crowd This aggressive signal is not liked by many, as no one likes to be singled out

2.2 Body movements

Body movement is an integral part of human interaction; it is one of the factors emphasizing and clarifying verbally expressed ideas Because body

movement is so easily adaptable for communicating, we should control your actions while instructing in order to reinforce rather than contradict our words The image

we present and your body movements will strengthen our communication so that we should utilize our body to communicate positively with the students Hamlet used to

have advice to the players in Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1601 “Suit the action to the

word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature” Movement is the motion of the whole body when you go

around the classroom “Movement attracts the attention of the listener because the

eye instinctively follows moving objects and focuses on them.” Netpmsa, (1992)

Movement can assist you convey ideas to your students The basic rule in movement is moderation Therefore, we - teachers should not remain standing in one spot and do not go on the move all the time As our skill and experience increase, our movement will become less conspicuous and more significant Learning to modify the degree of movement to make it natural and meaningful and

planning our movement so that we are at the proper place at the proper time

These movements connected to a thought or emotional impulse convey the messages Stand still without movement - while you are paying attention to a question, you can stand still without movement to show your interest

However, body movements can distract from the message Pacing from one side to other - If you pace from one side of the front of the room to the other meaninglessly, the students will follow the movement Moving a hand repetitively -

If you use your hand to move your hair out of your eyes constantly while speaking, the audience will focus on the movement rather than what you are saying

In this thesis, the researcher focuses on the movements of teachers in class Standing fixed on the podium, walking round and round, walking to and fro on the podium, coming up to students and keeping a close distance (30cms) from the nearest student, walking to and fro along the classroom are studied to find out the differences between American and Vietnamese teachers

2.3 Postures

Posture is the way you position your body Postures are divided into two groups namely conscious postures and unconscious postures The conscious postures are those which we are completely conscious when performing, hence we can control them These postures can be used in both formal and relaxed situations as a communicative channel The unconscious postures are those performed with our recognition that can not be controlled They often occur in relaxed situations and don not carry the meaning of communicational signal

Formal posture(closed posture)

This type of posture is performed in accordance with the rules and conversations in situations considered formal such as meetings, conferences, weddings, funerals etc with communicating partners who have higher power like boss, teachers, professors, grandparents

- Seating neatly, two legs close, body moving forward a little, two hands placed on the desk, face turned toward the audience

- Standing upright, two arms straight and close to the body

Relaxed postures (open posture)

This type of postures occurs in situations considered as informal, close It is used for the communicating partners having equal or lower relational power and having close social distance Following are main types of relaxed postures:

- Leaning back in a chair if seated

- Putting hands in pocket

This type of posture can appear in both formal and informal situations It can

be used in communication among power-unequals or those who have different

social distances

(http://www.livestrong.com/article/143115-4-key-characteristics-nonverbal-communication/ )

2.4 Previous related studies

2.4.1 In the world

The importance of nonverbal cues in communication as well as in class interaction is widely accepted There have been many researchers interested in carrying out studies on this issue For instance, Okon(2011) states that our daily nonverbal behavior and the powerful culture influences on participants in classroom However, his main purpose is to work on outcomes when conflict arises with a

student in the classroom and concerned about their teachers’ “behavior”

Sharing the same perspective, Guvendir(2011) insists that using only verbal cues cannot fully define the classroom interaction It is essential for teachers to use nonverbal communication to make students aware of their errors The researcher just gives insights into the use of nonverbal behavior of teachers in providing their students with corrective feedback

Discussing the teachers “nonverbal behavior” impact on students’

achievement, Negi (2009) and Chaudhyl and Arifi (2012) agree that teachers

“nonverbal behaviors” play a highly important and essential role on learners’

motivation in language classroom In addition, Peng Hong Li(2011) indicates that most of teachers are not aware of the fact that nonverbal cues they use have an influence on teaching effects and ignore the role of their nonverbal behavior in class His study recommends that teachers should take advantage of nonverbal communication to assist and complement classroom teaching to archive the best effect and high efficiency

2.4.2 In Vietnam

In Vietnam researchers become more and more aware of the importance of nonverbal cues There are a considerable number of research works on this topic

Son(2009) Dao Thi Thu Trang (2007) Trang (2007) focuses on comparison of common touching behaviors and their frequency in American and Vietnamese cultures Mai(2007) studies major the similarities and differences in the way of using gestures for agreement by Vietnamese male and female Son (2009) takes a look into the most common nonverbal expressions for disappointment in order to help American and Vietnamese communicators succeed in interactions Hang (2007)

also highlights the frequency and the specific performance of teachers “nonverbal

behaviors” She just emphasizes teachers’ performance but students’ attitudes to the

performance

However, she gives insight into eye contact, postures, and proxemics while the researcher does research on hand gestures, postures and body movements

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

1 Method and procedure

In order to set up a firm theoretical background for the study, relevant publications are critically reviewed Information from previous studies is also referred to

The main method used in this study is “quantitive” with the illustration of

tables and chart presenting statistic data The analysis is mainly based on the data

collected through the survey questionnaires Besides, “contrastive analysis” is also

used

Consultation with the supervisor, discussion with colleagues, as well as the author’s personal observation in class and her own experience in cross-cultural communication are also of great help in finding out the answers to the research questions

Discussions with foreigners, overseas students, American teacher and their Vietnamese counterparts are also taken into consideration

1.1 Research questions

The following research questions are raised:

 What are the major similarities and differences between American teachers and Vietnamese teachers in their performance of hand gestures, body movement and postures in class?

 What are students’ attitudes toward their teachers’ hand gestures, body movement and postures in class?

1.2 Research participants

As the thesis is about to find out the similarities and differences between American teachers and Vietnamese teachers in their performance of hand gestures, body movements and postures in class, the participants in the thesis are native American and Vietnamese teachers of English Ten survey questionnaires for each

experience which are essential to find out the factors leading similarities and differences In order for data to be reliable, prior to delivering the survey questionnaires, the participants are at first asked to give their permissions to join the survey

The number of American teachers participating in this thesis is ten in all : five male and five female in Hanoi

The number of Vietnamese teachers participating in this thesis is ten in all : five male and five female in Hanoi

The number of Vietnamese students studying with American teachers is twenty in all: ten male and ten female in Hanoi

Twenty is the number of Vietnamese students studying with Vietnamese teacher: ten male and ten female in Hanoi

1.3 Research procedure

In order to achieve the aim set out for the study, the thesis comes through three major stages Writing the proposal was the first stage in the process This stage lasted nearly two months from early October to late December, 2015 Then from early January to half of June, the survey questionnaire and personal observation were conducted In the last stage starting from late June to early October in 2016, the results from data analysis were analyzed and results were discussed

2 Data collection instruments

The study employs two data collection instruments These are survey questionnaire and observation

2.1 Observation

According to Mason( cited in Mackey and Gas (2005;175) ) observation

method is “method of generating data which involve the researcher immersing (him

or herself) in a research setting and systematically observing dimensions of that setting ,interactions, relationships, actions, events, and so on, within it” it is really a

useful tool to appreciate behavioral and social acts

Before observations are performed, the researcher take notes of a list of

different nonverbal cues and situations in order to follow more easily

For making sure that the presence if observer does not have any big influence

on the classroom setting, the researcher attends classes with the role of a non-participant and tries to minimize her attendance by sitting in the back of the classes The camera is also placed at the back position of the classes to avoid students’ attention

The data collected from observations is used to clarify the questions raised in the survey questionnaires

2.2 The survey questionnaires

Survey questionnaire was the major data collection instrument employed in this thesis The thesis aimed to investigate the similarities and differences in producing hand gestures, body movements and postures by native speakers of English and those of Vietnamese

Therefore, the delivered questionnaires are written in English and Vietnamese with equal values The questionnaire includes two parts The first part focused on personal information about the participants The second part of the questionnaire provides situations which require the participants’ answers

3 Data analysis method

After being collected, the data is statistically analyzed using quantitative method The findings are mainly based on frequency distribution The overview of results in each group is recorded in table containing numbers of participants choosing this form and the equivalent percentage

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, findings and discussions are given in response to the research questions This chapter includes three main parts which belong to main findings of

the three main types of nonverbal cues in class

Table 1: Frequencies of using hand gesture by American and Vietnamese teachers of

English

We can see from the table that very few people “always” use their hand gestures in class Although “V” gesture brings a positive meaning, it is not the tool

that teachers use to transfer what they mean for their students 60 % of American

teachers and 70% Vietnamese teachers never have “V” gesture while they are on duties “Beckoning gesture” and the thumps down are not popular in use for both

cultures, 50% Vietnamese and American never implement these action

The most are used by both of the informants are clapping hands and

thumb-up Because “thumb-up” gesture illustrates agreement and encouragement so

60% of American and 40% of Vietnamese frequently have this gesture in class Clapping hands is also common with 50%, 40% American and Vietnamese

frequently applied respectively

It can be said the 30% of “Ok sign” is frequently employed by American

meanwhile it is ignored by Vietnamese (just 10%) About pointing, Vietnamese and American have the same percentage frequently level usage.(10% always, 40% frequently, 30% sometimes, 20% rarely, 0% never )

1.2 Similarities and differences

Figure 1: Hand gestures by American teachers of English in specific situations

It can be said that in situation one of figure 1 most of gestures are employed

by American teachers and the most common gestures are “thumb up” and

“pointing” meanwhile American teachers rarely use hand gestures when students

questions, American teachers mainly use “pointing” gesture and also implement

“thump down” gesture but they do not employed “Ok sign” “Clapping hands”,

“ Ok sign” and “thump up” are use to encourage student when students are

answering the questions while there are no “V gesture”, “pointing” and “Thump

down” in this situation

Figure 2: Hand gestures by Vietnamese teachers of English in specific situations

In contrast, Vietnamese teachers usually use “OK sign” in situation one

while just 10% people employed this gesture in the rest three situations When

students are doing exercises in class, “V gesture”, “pointing” and “thumb down”

are implemented by Vietnamese teachers When students do not understand teachers

and raise questions, Vietnamese informants also use “Pointing” gestures most in

order to clarify knowledge transferred meanwhile “Thumb up” and “clapping

hand” are never employed in this situation

1.3 Students' attitudes

We can see from the data that most of the students are really interested in

some common hand gestures carrying positive meanings such as the “OK sign”,

“the thumb up” and “clapping hands” best (about 75-85%) and no one is against

them They also like the “V gesture” but their teachers never or rarely maintain it with them In addition, the “thumb down” which carries the negative meaning is not

supported by most of the students (just 10% feel OK, the rest of 90% goes to do not really like(80%) and hate (10%)

The

OK sign

The V gesture

The thumb

up

The thumb down

gesture

Clapping hands

down”, “pointing” and “beckoning gestures” Perhaps these hand gestures are the

negative gestures, meanwhile pointing and beckoning carry a neutral meaning in

America “Pointing” and “beckoning” can be normally used by the older people to call the younger people The students show their disagreements with “beckoning”

They may be affected by their cultural traditional belief Moreover, most of the students say that they cannot interpret exactly what their native teachers mean until they see their teachers' gestures Also, they are more interested in lectures with using gestures than without ones The students consider their teachers' hand gestures

as means of explaining lessons, responding positively to the students, as well as managing the class

Walking around classroom 20% 10% 50% 20% 30% 30% 10% 20% 0% 10% Pacing back and forth on

Go toward students and

stand in front of students

with the distance of 30 cms

20% 20% 50% 20% 10% 30% 20% 20% 0% 10%

Go from the board to the

60% Vietnamese teachers and 40%, 50% American teachers in class 60%

Vietnamese frequently “stay put in the podium” and 40% “Pacing back and forth on

the podium” meanwhile American just have 30% and 40% However, “Go toward students and stand in front of students with the distance of 30cms” and “walking around class” are most carried by American with 50% In the researcher bservations, American implemented these body movements with view to be closer

to their students to get information more exactly and transfer their knowledge more easily Both Vietnamese and American share the same frequency of employing the

body movement “Pacing back and forth on the podium”, 20% always, 40%

frequently, 20% sometimes, 20% rarely and 0% never When students do not

understand their teachers’ points and raise questions, Americans tend to “go toward

students and stand in front of students with the distance of 30cms” (50% frequently)

Other body movements are also used up by American informants for example, 50%

frequently “go from the board to the back of the classroom”

It is easy to see from the table, Vietnamese teacher do not use much body movements in order to not distract their students whether American utilize all body movements to make their students understands what they said

2.2 Similarities and differences

S1 You are lecturing on a topic or giving instructions

Figure 3: body movements by American teachers of English in specific situations

In the first situation, All body movements are used up especially “pacing

back and forth on the podium” and “stay put in the podium” by American

informants When students are doing exercises, Teachers mostly use all body

movements but “Go toward students and stand in front of students with the distance

of 30cms” because they do not want to distract their students, the movement that is

employed most in this situation is “Go from the board to the back of the classroom”

When students do not understand your points and raise questions, American tend to

“go toward students and stand in front of students with the distance of 30cms” Other body movements are also employed in this third situation but “stay put in the

podium” is not implemented In general, in the first three situations, most of body

movements are used to transfer what the teachers mean However, in the situation four, when students are answering the questions, American informants rarely use

body movements “Stay put in the podium”, “Walking around classroom”, “Go

from the board to the back of the classroom” are implemented but little

S1 You are lecturing on a topic or giving instructions

Figure 4: body movements by Vietnamese teachers of English in specific situations

Most of body movements are carried out in situation one when teachers are

lecturing on a topic or giving instructions “Pacing back and forth on the podium and stay put in the podium” are performed much in situation one but never occur in situation two In contrast, “Walking around classroom” are employed maximally

when student are doing exercises When students do not understand your points and

raise questions, Vietnamese teachers usually go toward students and “Go from the

board to the back of the classroom” The rest body movements are distributed in all

Pacing back and forth on the podium

Go toward students and stand in front of students with the distance of 30cms

Go from the board

to the back of the classroom Really

About body movements, Most of the students feel OK with these body movements above However, some students are not interested in some body

movement like “stay put in the podium” (30% don’t really like and 10% hate this movement) They suppose that this body movement creates boredom in lesson.”Go

from the board to the back of the classroom” is also not encouraged because

according some students it sometimes causes distraction (30% don’t really like and

10% hate this movement) In contrast, “Walking around classroom” and “Go

toward students and stand in front of students with the distance of 30cms” seems to

be loved by students 90%, 100% students feel really like, like and OK with

“Walking around classroom” and “Go toward students and stand in front of

students with the distance of 30cms” respectively Students have feeling that they

are cared when teachers have these body movements According most of Vietnamese students, they like teacher going around and interact with them rather than sitting or standing a place