The Application of Teachers’ Body Language in English Teach(5)

(name of author) 5 at every pore”. [7] It means that no one could keep a secret. Even he does not tell others, his behavior betrayed him. Third, body language is delivered in many ways. A smile or eye contact could transform information. Four, the communication of body language is continuous. When a catfight ended, maybe the talking is over, but the facial expression or posture will still express the anger or agreement about that discussion.

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II. The functions of teachers’ body language in English teaching

A. Necessity of using body language in English teaching

The study of psychology indicates that human beings‟ remembering is based on 40% visual sense and 25% auditory sense. The students‟ remembering of visual sense is 1.66 times than auditory sense. [8] So the use of body language in English teaching can not only make the teaching vivid, but the knowledge in students‟mind is more profound, and clearer. According to the students‟ physical and psychological character, and the functions of body language, it is quite necessary to use body language in English teaching.

i. The dependence on students‟ physical and psychological character

The structure of human brain and the memory rule decided the use of body language in English teaching. Modern neuropsychology states that right hemisphere receives pictorial symbol, left hemisphere receives sound symbol, body language assists verbal language. The two kinds of information stimulate and influence the brain simultaneously, thus the efficiency of teaching will be improved. In addition, on the basis of students‟cognitive development regular, the cognitive development of children can be divided into three processes: enactive representation (0-2years), iconic representation (3-11years), symbol representation (11-15years) [9]. According to this theory, the students in 3-11years should be used with visual teaching method, such as picture or video. While the period of the students in 11-15 years is the most important course of learning language, also is the most proper stage to use body language for teachers. What‟s more, there is a debate in academic field about whether English teachers should use native language in teaching. One standpoint is that native language can help students learn English successfully, because it is a necessary way for Chinese learning English. The other point holds that native language should not to be used in English teaching, it should take the students in English situation. Although both viewpoints are controversial, they have common aspect that they all revealed that native language is just a means of teaching, not the purpose. In English teaching, it should not overuse native language. The use of body language could reduce the chance of using native language, increase the input of target language, which is helpful to students‟ language acquisition.