Nonverbal communication is of great importance in the human communication. It is a new field of study mainly known for kinesics, paralanguage and proxemics. And it usually occurs at the same time as the verbal discourse and creates different effects in different situations. In general, it has six functions: accenting, complementing, repeating, substituting, contradicting and regulating. The most important effects are "to accent" and "to complement". For example, when a student answers the question correctly, then the teacher says "Thank you, that is quite right" with a bright smile and an encouraging eye contact, which shows the appreciation of the teacher that students may expect eagerly. Such nonverbal language repeats the meaning of the oral words. And in middle schools, teachers always ask students to look at the blackboard with a stick, which is also a way of using nonverbal communication to transfer information. In most cases, the nonverbal communication and verbal communication compliment each other. They compose the complete system of communication.
Much attention should be attached to its functions in foreign language teaching. This paper examines on its importance and necessity in the classroom teaching as well as the categories of nonverbal communication.
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II. The necessity and importance of using nonverbal communication in English teaching .
According to previous research by some predecessors, with regard to the effect of teaching, 82% is achieved by the nonverbal communication. And only 18% can be got by the oral words. Wiemann thinks that effective teaching needs effective nonverbal communication. He says, in talking about the relationship between teachers and students, nonverbal communication plays a vital role as well as the oral counterparts. How the students understand the body language of the teachers determines the effect of the discourse between them, so it also determines the quality of the teaching procedure.
