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Proxemics
in the ESL Classroom
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Proxemics is the study of one's perception and
use of space. People handle space differently the way they do is largely determined by the
culture in which they are immersed. Therefore, one's use of space conveys meaning. North
Americans and Latin Americans, for example, have fundamentally different proxemic systems.
While North Americans usually remain at a distance from one another, Latin Americans stay
very close to each other. This simple fact can tell much about these people's different
concepts of privacy. While most North Americans value privacy, Latin Americans seldom
consider it an important aspect of life.
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The relevance of proxemics in foreign language
teaching is enormous. Mastering the verbal system of a foreign language does not guarantee
effective communication because mastering the non-verbal systems of that foreign language
is also essential. These verbal and nonverbal systems are connected, and the use of one
without the other might cause a disequilibrium.
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Proxemics is one of the most important aspects
of non-verbal communication. For those students whose own culture's proxemic patterns are
very different from the target culture's, it is essential to know these differences. For
instance, an Arab ESL student in the United States who ignores the difference between the
United State's and his own country's proxemic behaviors might have serious problems:
She/he could be rejected, considered homosexual, promiscuous, physically abused, and so
on.
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Teachers can help students avoid such
misunderstandings by teaching the different aspects of proxemics. Knowing and using these
cues, students can increase their comprehension and expression, hold their listener's
attention, and be more successful in the communication process.
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There are three fundamental areas related to
proxemics: space, distance, and territory. In this paper, I will examine each of these
areas among different cultures before suggesting some alternatives for the teaching of
proxemics.
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Personal space has been defined as "an area
with invisible boundaries surrounding a person's body into which intruders may not
come" (Sommer 1979:26). There are differences in the distance that people from
different cultures maintain from one another. For example, the British keep further apart
than the French. Though Sommer sees individual distance and personal space as closely
related, he says that "individual distance may be outside the area of personal
space" (1979:27). He establishes the difference with this image: When a person is
alone, his/her individual distance is infinite; but personal space is always carried,
although it disappears in certain situations such as crowding. When personal space is
violated, people react with defensive gestures, shifts in posture, attempts to move away,
and actually moving away.
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Three types of space have been identified by
Hall (1959): fixed-feature, semi-fixed feature, and informal space. Fixed-feature
space is one of the ways in which people organize activities. Houses, buildings, cities,
rooms, etc. are organized spatially. Objects and activities are related to these spatial
arrangements; and if objects or activities are moved, people react. In the ESL class, the
use of classroom space could either make the students comfortable or uncomfortable, feel
motivated or not, feel free to talk, or repressed, etc.
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Semifixed-feature space is of primary
importance in interpersonal communication, because it can be used in many different ways
to convey meaning. Hall mentions two types of semi-fixed feature space: Socio-petal spaces
are those which bring people together and stimulate involvement, while socio-fugal spaces
keep people apart and promote withdrawal (Hall 1959). Sommer affirms that socio-fugal
space transmits connotative meanings such as large, cold, impersonal , and so on,
while socio-petal arrangements usually connote the opposite. This type of space should be
considered in class, for it can bring people together or keep them apart. A teacher may
not even notice the atmosphere that the space arrangement creates in the class. Knowing
this fact, teachers take advantage of it to create a nice atmosphere and stimulate
communication among the students.
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Informal space is significant because it
includes the distances people unconsciously maintain when they interact. According to
Hall, "informal spatial patterns have distinct bounds and such deep, if unvoiced,
significance that they form an essential part of culture. To misunderstand this
significance may invite disaster" (1959:112).
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Leather defines distance as a "relational
concept, typically measured in terms of how far one individual is from the other"
(Leather 1978:87). People have certain patterns for delimiting the distance when they
interact, and this distance varies according to the nature of the social interaction. In
an attempt to identify and classify the distance people use, Hall identifies four types of
distances: intimate, personal, social, and public. These distances can vary
according to "personality and environmental factors," since an abnormal
situation could bring people closer than they usually are (Hall 1959:116).
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Intimate distance ranges from body
contact to approximately eighteen inches (just less than half a meter). According to Hall,
the close phase (up to six inches) includes intimate activities which require extensive
contact of the bodies while the far phase (from six to 18 inches) does not allow for much,
if any, body contact.
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People from different cultures use this intimate
space differently. For instance, North Americans may feel physical discomfort when someone
does not keep the proper distance from them; and this feeling may be aggravated
considerably if the person they feel is "too close" is of the opposite sex. Hall
also mentions that some English expressions such as "get your face out of mine"
and "he shook his fist in my face" show how important body boundaries are for
Americans. By contrast, the Costa Rican expression, "I don't bite" shows the
discomfort people from this culture feel when others are too far from them. Hall affirms
that the use of intimate distance is not proper in public places in the United States.
However, this distance is common among members of other cultures (e.g. Latin Americans and
Arabs).
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Personal distance ranges from 1.5 to four
feet between people. Hall identifies a close and a far phase. The close phase (1.5 to 2.5
feet) permits one person to touch another, while the far phase of personal distance (2.5
to four feet) "an arm's length" does not permit this. As Hall points out
"nobody touches or expects to touch another person unless there is a special
effort" (1959:120).
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Social distance (four to 12 feet) is the
casual interaction-distance between acquaintances and strangers. It is common in business
meetings, classrooms, and impersonal social affairs. Its close phase (four to seven feet)
is the characteristic of informal interaction, while more formal interaction requires the
far phase (seven to 12 feet). Some physical barriers such as desks, tables, and counters,
usually make people keep this distance. Hall mentions that this type of proxemic behavior
is culturally conditioned and arbitrary. To illustrate, Nydel (1987) mentions that for
Arabs it is normal to stay close to and touch strangers; the distance they keep in
ordinary social conversations is the same as what Westerners use in intimate
conversations. People from other cultures such as North Americans and British normally
offer an excuse if they touch a stranger.
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Public distance ranges from 12 to 25 feet
or more. Its close phase (12 to 15 feet) provides the amount of space generally desired
among strangers, while its far phase (15 to 25 feet) is necessary for large audiences. In
this case, speech must be projected or amplified to be heard.
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Researchers (e.g., Hall 1959; Vargas 1986)
identify high-contact cultures such as Arabs, Latin Americans, Greeks, Turks, French, and
Italians, who usually keep small distances among themselves; and low-contact cultures who
"stand further apart," like the Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Germans, Dutch, and
North Americans (Vargas 1986:106).
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These differences that may seem quite
unimportant to the ESL teachers, are key factors for students to be successful in their
communication in the target culture. Both the teacher and the students need to be
sensitive to these differences.
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This aspect of proxemics has important
implications for communication. It refers to any area controlled and defended by an
individual or group of individuals with emphasis on physical possession. There are public
territories or places anybody can enter, like restaurants; home territories in
which entrance is restricted to members, such as fraternities or sororities; interaction
territories or areas where people meet informally such as a lounge or the local gym;
and bodyterritories or the space used by ourselves (Leather 1978). As Vargas points
out, people as well as animals claim territories to protect themselves from invasion. For
example, in class, students usually choose a place and keep it for the rest of the year;
and if another student sits there, a problem may arise. The father usually has a place at
the table, and other family members do not sit there (Vargas 1986).
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Alternatives for teaching proxemics
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There are a variety of ways to teach proxemics.
One alternative for the teaching of proxemics is through readings. Several books and
articles about proxemic behavior are available. Books by Sommer, Hall, Vargas, and
articles by Pennycook and others can be used for this purpose. Students can read and
discuss them in class comparing the different proxemic norms among the cultures.
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A second possibility is found in interviews.
Students might interview people from different cultures about acceptable proxemic
behaviors in different situations and with different people, such as friends and
strangers. Consider the following questions: "At what distance does a good friend get
too close?" "Do you have a favorite seat at the table?" "What do you
do when you do not want to be disturbed?" After students have surveyed many people
about these issues, they can share their findings with the rest of the class.
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Observations offer a very powerful tool for
teaching proxemics. Students can observe people, videos, pictures, and television. Then
they might compare these people's proxemic behavior in relation to the situation, culture,
sex of participants, etc. It is very important for students to observe without judging;
they need to understand that these behaviors are just different, not better or worse.
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Roleplay is another possible activity to teach
proxemics. This is important because students can experience what a person feels when
someone stands too far from or too close to them.
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Experiments can help students see the reactions
of inappropriate proxemic behaviors. Students can be asked to stand closer than normal to
a person they do not know, sit in the place their father usually sits at the table, go
into a secretary's desk, get closer or farther away while talking to a friend, change the
place of some objects in the house, or sit at a table in a restaurant with strangers.
After seeing the reactions of the people, students can discuss the results of these
experiments with their classmates, or write them in a journal, or both. These are just
some of the alternatives to incorporate proxemics into the ESL class. There are many other
possibilities to explore for teachers who like to be creative.
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- Buller, D. 1987. Communication apprehension and reactions to proxemic violations.
Journal of Non-verbal Communication, 11, 1, pp. 13-25.
- Hall, E. T. 1959. The Silent Language. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
- -----. 1976. Beyond Culture. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
- Leather, D. 1978. Nonverbal communication systems. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
- Mancillas, W. and M. Nadler. 1983. Americans in Mexico: Learning the language is not
learning the culture. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International
Communication Association, Dallas, Texas. [ED 232-476].
- Morain, G. 1986. Kinesics and cross-cultural understanding. In Culture Bound, ed. J.
Valdes. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Nydell, M. 1987. Understanding Arabs. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press Inc.
- Pennycook, S. 1985. Actions speak louder than words: Paralanguage, communication, and
education. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 2, pp. 259-82.
- Sommer, R. 1979. Personal space. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
- Vargas, M. 1986. Louder than words. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
- Weatherford, H. 1986. Nonverbal communication and the foreign language teacher. Paper
presented at a meeting of the Foreign Language Association of Georgia. [ED 280-275].
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