When two people are keen to agree with each other, they would likely, though unconsciously, adopt the same posture, as if an imitation of each other. They sit or stand in the same manner. When used in this way, echoing appears to complement the verbal communication. Of course, when such imitation is carried out consciously, it often indicates that someone is marking at another speaker. Ok, in today's lecture, we looked at some paralinguistic features, such as tone of voice, gesture and posture. These features, together with linguistic features of language, like grammar, or vocabulary, are all part of the way we communicate with each other in face to face encounters. In our next lecture, we'll watch some video material, and see how people actually use paralinguistic means in communication to express their intention or desire or mood. |