SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: English Language & Literature

CONTRIBUTORS:

Oti, O.J;
Ezenwa-Ohaeto, N;

ABSTRACT:

This research provides a descriptive analysis of Nigerian, American and British nonverbal communications. The actual feelings of people are often revealed through nonverbal aspects of their communication. Nonverbal messages are mutually intelligible, some are culture specific, some are shared by all humans regardless of culture, some are honest channels of information while some convey emotions people feel intensely. This study identifies, compares and describes the unique nonverbal codes of the three countries. The study adopted the non-probability sampling technique. In other words, the purposive or judgemental sampling technique was used to select emblems, illustrators, regulators, adaptors and affect displays as the samples for this study. Library and internet sources were used to collect data for the study. Ekman and Friesen’s theory on Kinesics was used as the framework while the comparative and descriptive methods were adopted for analysis. The findings revealed that Nigerians, Americans and Britons use nonverbal communications in varying ways, though there are similarities in their use of the codes. Most nonverbal behaviours were found to be culturally specific while some are shared by the three countries. Some nonverbal codes were discovered to be honest channels of information which may be ambiguous, and enhance or jeopardize interpersonal interactions. Nonverbal communications convey emotions that people feel intensely which show mostly on the face. The analysis has therefore established that Nigeria, the United States of America and Great Britain use nonverbal communications which they apply in a variety of ways as they also exhibit cultural specifics.