English for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

English for Business - Essay Example Non-verbal communication can be broadly grouped into two categories that is, nonverbal communications created by the body and nonverbal communications created by other settings like time, space, and silence. The type of the non-verbal communication to be used depend on the situations and the cultural background of the parties involved in communication. In a communication setting, each party should understand the different types of non-verbal signals used and their interpretations so that they understand one another (Lubin, 2011). Non-verbal communication is an important feature of communication especially in a high-context culture (Andrews University, n.d.).   It functions include repeating and emphasizing a verbal message pointing into the one direction while illustrating directions. Moreover, it can be used to accent a verbal message by tone variation that shows the concrete meaning of certain words. In addition, it complements the verbal message and can also contradict according to different cultures. For example, the head node among the Americans and Africans reinforces a positive message, but among the Chinese, it reinforces negative message. Furthermore, a wink contradicts stated affirmative message but reinforces the statement as positive among Chinese. Nonverbal cues also control interactions, for example, they convey when the other party should speak or not speak in a conversation. They can also be used to substitute for the verbal communication especially if an individual has lost voice tone through illness (Lubin, 2011). They can use gestures like finger to lips to show the necessity for silence, facial expressions, for example, a nod to mean yes among Americans. This type of communication is important in intercultural interaction situations and accounts for the distinctive difficulties in communication across cultures. The non-verbal communication among different cultures can be explained in various means of communication without the use of