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3350 Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal Communication 3350-01 Fall 2007
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
M, W – 1.40p.m. to 2.55p.m. SPCH Room 210
Instructor: Dr.Avinash ThombreVoice Mail: 501-683-7026
Office: SPCH Room 237BEmail:
Office Hours:Tues & Thur 10.45 to 11.45 a.m; Mon & Wed 10-11 a.m or by appointment.
A warm welcome to you. I’m excited about the present course in exploring the world of nonverbal communication and looking forward to working with you. I’m committed to quality teaching. Class time will be well organized, fully interactive, relevant, and intellectually stimulating. I need you to commit to the course as well. Come to class having read and reflected on the week’s readings. I encourage you to outline the readings and write down questions that you would like to raise during class. If there is anything I can do to make this course more relevant to you, your work, and/or your other interests, please let me know. I encourage you to take advantage of my office hours, voice mail, and email address. I have an open door policy and I'm willing to help whenever and wherever needed.
Course Description
Students will be introduced to the examination of codes of nonverbal communication within personal, interpersonal, and professional contexts. Topics include the functional perspective of nonverbal communication; factor of appearance, body language, space, touch, paralanguage, artifacts, and time; interpersonal attractiveness; credibility; dominance; and impression management. Focus will be on using major nonverbal communication concepts to develop heightened awareness of the role of nonverbals in human interaction.
Course Objectives
- Understand and explain how nonverbal behaviors affect human communication, and how these behaviors can be altered to improve or hurt effective communication.
- Be able to explain major categories of nonverbal communication: physical appearance, gesture and movement, facial behavior, eye behavior, vocal behavior, space and territoriality, touch, environment and physical surroundings, and time.
- Improve verbal and nonverbal immediacy skills.
- Improve nonverbal communication relationships skills between males and females in romantic and non-romantic contexts.
- Improve nonverbal communication establishment skills between superior-subordinate relationships.
- Improve nonverbal communication skills in student-teacher relationships.
- Improve nonverbal communication skills in intercultural communication situations.
Required Text
Richmond. V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2004). Nonverbal behavior in interpersonal relations. (5th Ed).Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Additional readings will be assigned by the instructor throughout the course.
AdditionalReadings (Not required):
Darwin, C., & Ekman, P. (1998). The expression of the emotions in man and animals.New York, New York: OxfordUniversity Press
Ekman. P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life.New York City, NY: Henry Holt.
CORE RULES
Attendance:(50 points)
Absences are not acceptable. The student is expected to attend all the class sessions as well as come to class on time and stay in the classroom during the entire class session. I will take attendance at the beginning of each class session. The student will be allowed one absence. After that, every absence will result in a loss of four points. There might be exceptions for this policy if you contact me prior to the missed class and provide adequate documentation.
Arriving late: You are expected to be on time for each class. Arriving late distracts your colleagues and displays disrespect for your fellow students and instructor. I expect you all to arrive a few minutes early and be prepared to start on time. Arriving after I call your name on the attendance list results in a “late”. Two “lates” equal one absence. If you arrive more than 10 min. late, you will receive an absence for the day. You cannot have a “late” excused. It is a good habit to arrive a few minutes early to settle in, ask the instructor a question, and be ready to start right on time.
Participation: (50 points)
Attendance does not mean simply being physically present in class but includescompletion of the assignments designated in the course schedule and active participation in class discussion and activities. Cell phones must be turned off in class.Each time your cell phone goes on your lose 10 points. Listed below are the participation rules.
1. Be a productive participant. Your thoughts and experiences are crucial to making this class an engaging environment. Speak your mind; change the world.
2. Be a respectful member of our class—active listening is expected every day. Focus on being the ethical listener you like to have as a communicator: cell phone off, headphones out, not studying for another class, not eating, not talking when someone else is talking, and AWAKE. If you feel uncomfortable because of something I said or did or because of something someone else from class said or did, please notify me immediately either in person or anonymously.
3. Be open-minded. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about life experiences and opinions that are different from our own. We may not always agree with one another, but it's vital that we be open to the diversity in our classroom.
4. Be informed. You are responsible for all material presented in class, whether you are here or not. If you choose to miss class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from a classmate. I do not review missed material.
ASSIGNMENTS
ARTICLE PRESENTATION
Each student will be assigned a nonverbal communication scholarly research article to present to the class. Read and analyze the article critically to explain the strengths and weaknesses of the research to the class in a presentation of 15 minutes.
SHORT PAPERS
Short (1-2 pp) paperseach worth 20 points and are assigned from time to time. Papers which adequately meet the assignment will be awarded 15 points. To receive 20 points, additional effort must be expended. For example, you might add some interpretation, show how the information can be applied, do some additional reading (and use the citation in paper) or link it to some other nonverbal concept. Be creative! You must work alone on these assignments. Late short assignments will not be accepted. Descriptions of these assignments are given below and due dates are below as well as on the course schedule.
Cry Paper: Due (8/30)
Human beings are the only animal that cries. Other animals may whimper, moan, and howl, but none cries tears of emotion, not even our closest primate relatives. Undertake a wide research on why human beings cry and how crying is related to nonverbal communication. How does crying occur? What particular emotions are expressed by engaging in crying? You can do an online search about crying, ask your biology or chemistry professors or your elders and write a paper about it.
Paper 1: Physical Appearance (Due 9/11)
Describe what you consider to be an attractive male and an attractive female. Then interview two friends of the same gender as you and find out what they think. Develop two lists (one for each gender) of characteristics.
Paper 2: Public Space Assignment (Due3/5)
Go to a public space and figure out the rules people are following. For example, walk inside and around Donaghey student center or library and see how people decide who goes first, where to stand, etc. Other public spaces are malls, restaurants, the airport, and waiting rooms at offices. What happens when the rules are violated? Do you think another set of rules would be more effective?
Paper 3: Touch Assignment (Due 10/9)
Keep a journal covering one 24 hour period in which you record all touches you participate in (both given and received). Compile a chart in which you record whether you touched or were touched, the gender of the other, the part of the body touched (e.g., arm, shoulder, etc), the kind of touch (e.g., pat, poke), and the function or purpose of the touch. Do you see any patterns? See Chapter 8 for a more detailed discussion of this assignment. Avoid weekends if possible. Please keep in mind that I will be reading these and embarrass easily.
EXAMS
There will be three examinations comprised of multiple choice and true/false questions. A study guide is available and review will be held.
CASE STUDY
Each student will write an original 4-6 page case study paper based on your own personal analysis and application of research about nonverbal communication. You can write about any aspect or application of nonverbal communication that interests you. Pick at least three nonverbal concepts that we studied during the semester and apply those concepts to analyze a situation that you experienced personally or in some situation that you observed. The paper is worth 100 points. Late papers are penalized 10 points plus an additional 1 point for each day late.
CASE STUDY PRESENTATION
Each student will present their individual case study to the class in a 10 to 15 minute presentation. The presentation will be graded based on guidelines provided in class.
Paper Guidelines:
(1)All papers must be typed with 1” margins, double-spaced with a 10-12 point font in Times New Roman. Handwritten work cannot be accepted.
(2)All papers should be free of spelling errors (use spell-check on your computer), grammar errors and typos (proof-read your paper after it is drafted), and clearly organized.
(3)When you use references in your paper, be sure to put quotation marks and cite the source (author, date, and page in the text). Also at the end of the paper, write all the information about the references following APA format.
(4)All assignments should be submitted during the class session of the due dates listed. You are responsible for planning ahead and balancing the requirements of this class with your other classes and other responsibilities (work, family, etc.)
(5)Work will not be accepted as an email attachment.
Calculation of Grade: Letter Grade 5 = (All earned points)/(All points available)
The grading distribution is as follows:
90% = A80% = B70% = C60% = D50% and below = F
Article Presentation50 points
Exam 1 Chapter 1-510%50 points
Midterm Test Chapters 6-1015%75 points
Final ExaminationChapters 11-1520%100 points
Short Papers(25x3)20% 75 points
Case Study Paper 20%100 points
Presentation of Case Study5 %25 points
In-class participation + attendance10%100 points
Total100%500 points
COURSE POLICIES
Student Handbook: I recommend that you read Section VI of your Student Handbook’s, “Statement of Behavior” (page 57) for a discussion of UALR’s policies on academic dishonesty and classroom disruption.
Late Work: Late work cannot be accepted without a reduction in the scores earned. Scores of late exams will be reduced 10% and grades of late paper will be reduced 10 points per each day after the due date’s class period without official documents or doctor’s notes. It is your responsibility to contact the instructor prior to the due date when an emergency or circumstance arises and prevents you from turning in assignments.
Academic Honesty/Plagiarism: Academic dishonesty and plagiarism are not acceptable behaviors. Your enrollment in this class indicates your understanding of the academic civility and honesty policies of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. All students who participate in plagiarism and academic dishonesty will fail the course and will be referred to the appropriate university officials.
Students with disabilities: It is the policy and practice ofthe University of Arkansas at Little Rockto create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement--such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos--please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contactthe DisabilityResourceCenter, telephone501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at
Presentation Day Policies:Please arrive early to class on presentation days and bring all of your materials needed to deliver your speeches. If you are tardy, do not enter the classroom unless I invite you in or deliver your speeches. I also highly recommend that you dress and look professional on presentation days. As you will learn, your appearance helps to establish your credibility.
Presentations MUST be delivered on the day assigned. Should extraordinary circumstances arise and you choose not to present on the day assigned, you must be in contact with me BEFORE class to discuss arrangements and their consequences (there is a FULL LETTER GRADE deduction for each day a presentation is late, regardless of the reason).
E-mail Address: You need to have an active UALR e-mail address for class-related announcements. Please ensure that you have UALR e-mail ID by the first week of class. Go to Computing Services on campus to get an UALR email ID.
If you have any questions about these rules, course assignments, or course readings, please ask! I am happy to talk with you about any difficulties you may be having in the course, but I can’t be of assistance unless you ask.
Tentative Schedule
Note: This schedule will be adapted to meet the needs of the class. You are responsible for date changes announced in class.
Week 1 TopicsReadings
Aug 21Course Introduction/Icebreakers
Aug 23Syllabus/Expectations
Week 2
Aug 27Communication and Nonverbal behaviorChapter 1
Aug30Facial Behavior-Darwin view(Cry Paper- Due)Chapter 4
Week 3
Sept 4Facial AnalysisChapter 4
Sept 6Physical appearanceChapter 2
Week 4
Sept 11Gesture and movement (Paper 1-Due)Chapter 3
Sept 13Eye behaviorChapter 5
Week 5
Sept 18Review
Sept 20Exam I
Week 6
Sept 25Vocal behaviorChapter 6
Sept 27Case paper guidelines
Week 7
Oct 2Space and territorialityChapter 7
Oct 4Space out class assignmentChapter 7
Week 8
Oct 9Touch and communication (Paper 2-Due)Chapter 8
Oct 11Touch game
Week 9
Oct 16Environment and physical settingsChapter 9
Oct 18TimeChapter 10
Week 10
Oct 23Review
Oct 25Exam II
Week 11
Oct 30Immediacy and communicationChapter 11
Nov 1Female-male nonverbal communication (Paper 3-Due) Chapter 12
Week 12
Nov 6Supervisor and employee relationshipsChapter 13
Nov 8Teacher-student nonverbal relationshipsChapter 14
Week 13
Nov 13Work on case study and presentations
Nov 15NCA
Week 14
Nov 20Intercultural relationshipsChapter 15
Nov 22Thanksgiving
Week 15
Nov 27Case study presentations
Nov 29Case study presentations
Week 16
Dec 4Case study presentation+ Review
Week 17
Dec 13Finals(1.30 pm to3.30 pm)
END OF THE COURSE – CONGRATULATIONS