Australian reactions to Chinese EFL speakers

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Education, 2000Paralanguage encompasses many areas of non-verbal communication, and is a vital part of interactional communication. Despite its significance, it is a relatively neglected area in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Besides a lack of paralanguage awareness and explicit teaching in using Target Language (TL) paralanguage, paralanguage factors are strongly tied to cultural influences; in this way a mismatch between utterance and non-verbal signals may commonly result, causing confusion and/or irritation, and leading to a breakdown in interpersonal harmony. This not only affects the ongoing interactional process at the time, it may also have repercussions on future encounters. Chinese EFL Iearners, who form a sizeable group of EFL learners, are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of paralanguage incongruity when interacting in English with native English Speakers (NES), due to the wide gap that exists between the EFL learners' first language and culture, and that of the NES. This thesis examines these issues in the context of Australian NES responses' to adult Chinese EFL speakers, and identifies those areas of paralanguage which produce a negative reaction in the former group, as well as the nature of that negative reaction. This would aid selection of EFL curriculum and ultimately contribute to meeting the need for interactional competence by Chinese EFL learners