NON – VERBAL CUES USED BY SCIENCE TEACHER AND PERFORMANCE

OF FOURT YEAR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

OF PAARALANG SEKONDARYA NG LUCBAN
S.Y. 2009 - 2010

A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the College of Teacher Education of

Southern Luzon State University – Lucban, Quezon
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Subject – Methods of Research

by:

LENY LUNA ARIENZA

BSEd III

2009
 CHAPTER I

PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Nonverbal communication (NVC) is usually understood as the process of

communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. NVC can be

communicated through gesture and touch (Haptic communication), by body language or

posture, by facial expression and eye contact. NVC can be communicated through object

communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, symbols and

infographics. Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including

voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm,

intonation and stress. Dance is also regarded as a nonverbal communication. Likewise,

written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of

words, or the use of emoticons. However, much of the study of nonverbal communication

has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal

areas: environmental conditions where communication takes place, the physical

characteristics of the communicators, and behaviors of communicators during interaction.

Nonverbal communication ranges from facial expression to body language.

Gestures, signs, and use of space are also important in nonverbal communication.

Multicultural differences in body language, facial expression, use of space, and

especially, gestures, are enormous and enormously open to misinterpretation.

Nonverbal cues convey emotions more powerfully than words. The impact and

forcefulness of nonverbal cues originate in the fact that they were our lifelines to survival

as infants. The expressions on the faces we first saw; the tone, intensity, timing, and pace
of the sounds we first heard; and the quality of touch we first felt created a nonverbal

form of communication that is the mother language of all human life. Even after children

learn to use words, nonverbal communication remains the basis of all relationships

because the brain retains its tremendous receptivity to emotional cues throughout life.

There is variety of nonverbal signals emitted from teacher in classroom which to deepest

levels influence classroom atmosphere, students’ moods, perception, learning and

eventually attitudes towards knowledge and school generally.

This is the reason why the researcher became motivated to know the non-verbal

cues used by science teacher that having non-verbal cues about friction, motion and force

will be of great help to lessen the teachers speaking chores inside the learning area and

that it can be an easier way of boosting the performance of the students in studying

Physics subject.

Background of the Study

The classroom teacher is one of the key persons in the educational enterprise. As

she becomes directly involved in the instructional process in the classroom setting, the

teacher occupies an strategic position in the school system, for on her shoulders lie the

responsibility of translating the curriculum into concrete learning experiences.

On the other hand teacher has powerful tool to identify what is actually going on

with his class in general and each individual per se, without any word being said. As a

future teacher, we should know the instructional materials needed in the classroom and

the quality of teaching with the use non-verbal cues. It offers the potential to create and

implement highly engaging and effective environment to support a wide array of learning
goals. Improvement on the medium of instruction used in teaching situation should be

implemented to meet the demands of the pedagogical advancement.

Paaralang Sekundarya ng Lucban, which is located in Barangay Aliliw Lucban,

Quezon is one institution that offers the quality education wherein students are imbued

with knowledge and skills through the aid of teaching approaches that complement the

needs of time. Friction, Motion and Force became popular topics in studying science ever

since and science teachers use non-verbal cues such as pictures, drawings and texts in

their teaching to test whether the students’ performances will boost or not with wordless

messages as form of instruction.

This is the reason why the researcher became motivated to know the non-verbal

cues used by science teacher that having non-verbal cues about friction, motion and force

will be of great help to lessen the teachers speaking chores inside the learning area and

that it can be an easier way of boosting the performance of the students in studying

Physics subject.

Statement of the Problem

This study is attempts to determine the preferred non – verbal cues used by

science teacher and its effects in the performance in Physics of selected fourth year high

school students of Paaralang Sekondarya ng Lucban.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the respondent’s profile in terms of level:

1.1. upper level; and

1.2 . lower level?

 2. What is the level performance of the fourth year students non – verbal cues

used by Science teachers in terms of:

2.1. Kinesics (Body Motion);

2.2. Paralanguage (Use of Voice); and

2.3. Objects?

3. Is there a significant difference between the non – verbal cues used by science

teacher and the performance in Physics of fourth year high school students in

Physics at Paaralang Sekondarya ng Lucban?

Hypothesis

There is no significant difference between the non-verbal cues used by science

teachers and the performance in Physics of fourth year students at Paaralang Sekundarya

ng Lukban.

Significance of the Study

There is a fast changes occurring within our educational system that the educators

must be aware of, moreover, teachers should learn to cope with the demands of more

contemporary teaching techniques in order to expand knowledge and improve the

teaching and learning condition.

Non-verbal cues will stimulate the interest of the students to learn and create

opportunities for students’ collaboration and for them to take more direct and responsible

role in the learning process that they otherwise might. It also leads them to become
active, creative and critical thinkers because of improved understanding and better

appreciation of ideas presented.

This study has great importance to the teacher because they are expected to

minimize their participation in every lesson. They can differentiate ideas and knowledge

on how their lessons can be presented effectively. They are also able to upgrade their

skills in content and medium of instruction for it will give them access to materials and

approaches that will provides students’ with experiences that will lead them to mastery of

scientific concept and processes as well as gaining authentic knowledge.

This study will serve as baseline information for the administrators to develop

their capacity to undergo such challenging transition together with appropriate resources.

It is also a great help to gain new insights on how to improve the teaching process of their

subordinates through non-verbal communication, thus, it will also help them to encourage

teachers to attend learning programs so that they can uplift the educational performance

of their institution.

The result of this study may serve as additional information for future researchers

who wish to further study the use of Non-verbal cues as instruction in facilitating

concepts and ideas.

Scope and Limitation

The respondents of this study were sixty (60) selected fourth year students who

were enrolled in Paaralang Sekundarya ng Lucban for the School Year 2009 – 2010

coming from upper sections and lower sections. Each of the selected students will answer

the researcher’s made checklist.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The researcher reviewed literature and studies conducted by other researcher in

order to have sufficient and valuable knowledge about the study being completed.

Related Literature

Mehrabian and Wiener (2008), in their study explains that nonverbal

communication is learned shortly after birth and practiced and refined throughout a

person’s lifetime. Children first learn nonverbal expressions by watching and imitating,

much as they learn verbal skills. Young children know far more than they can verbalize

and are generally more adept at reading nonverbal cues than adults are because of their

limited verbal skills and their recent reliance on the nonverbal to communicate. As

children develop verbal skills, nonverbal channels of communication do not cease to exist

although become entwined in the total communication process.

Humans use nonverbal communication because:

1. Words have limitations: There are numerous areas where nonverbal

communication is more effective than verbal (when explain the shape, directions,

personalities are expressed nonverbally)

2. Nonverbal signal are powerful: Nonverbal cues primary express inner feelings

(verbal messages deal basically with outside world).

3. Nonverbal message are likely to be more genuine: because nonverbal behaviors

cannot be controlled as easily as spoken words.

 4. Nonverbal signals can express feelings inappropriate to state: Social etiquette

limits what can be said, but nonverbal cues can communicate thoughts.

5. A separate communication channel is necessary to help send complex messages:

A speaker can add enormously to the complexity of the verbal message through

simple nonverbal signals.

The linguist George L. Trager (2000), developed a classification system which

consists of the voice set, voice qualities, and vocalization. a) The voice set is the context

in which the speaker is speaking. This can include the situation, gender, mood, age and a

person's culture; b) The voice qualities are volume, pitch, tempo, rhythm, articulation,

resonance, nasality, and accent. They give each individual a unique "voice print"; c)

Vocalization consists of three subsections: characterizers, qualifiers and segregates.

Characterizers are emotions expressed while speaking, such as laughing, crying, and

yawning. A voice qualifier is the style of delivering a message - for example, yelling

"Hey stop that!", as opposed to whispering "Hey stop that". Vocal segregates such as "uh-

huh" notify the speaker that the listener is listening.

Givens (2000), said that, “When we speak (or listen), our attention is focused on

words rather than body language. But our judgement includes both. An audience is

simultaneously processing both verbal and nonverbal cues. Body movements are not

usually positive or negative in and of themselves; rather, the situation and the message

will determine the appraisal.”

Birdwhistell (1994), pointed out that “human gestures differ from those of other

animals in that they are polysemic, that they can be interpreted to have many different

meanings depending on the communicative context in which they are produced”. And, he
“resisted the idea that “body language” could be deciphered in some absolute fashion”.

He also indicated that “every body movement must be interpreted broadly and in

conjunction with every other element in communication”.

Related Studies

Jeanne Segal (2009), stated in her study that nonverbal communication, or body

language, is a vital form of communication. When we interact with others, we

continuously give and receive countless wordless signals. The gestures we make, they

way we sit, how fast or how loud we talk, how close we stand, how much eye contact we

make–all of these nonverbal behaviors send a strong message. The way you talk, listen,

look, move, and react tell the other person whether or not you care and how well you’re

listening. The nonverbal signals you send either produce a sense of interest, trust, and

desire for connection–or they generate disinterest, distrust, and confusion.

Nonverbal communication cues can play five roles: 1) Repetition: they can repeat

the message the person is making verbally 2) Contradiction: they can contradict a

message the individual is trying to convey 3) Substitution: they can substitute for a verbal

message. For example, a person's eyes can often convey a far more vivid message than

words and often do 4) Complementing: they may add to or complement a verbal

message. A boss who pats a person on the back in addition to giving praise can increase

the impact of the message and 5) Accenting: they may accent or underline a verbal

message. Pounding the table, for example, can underline a message.

G. W. Porter (2005), divides non-verbal communication into four broad

categories: 1) Physical. This is the personal type of communication. It includes facial

expressions, tone of voice, sense of touch, sense of smell, and body motions. 2)

Aesthetic. This is the type of communication that takes place through creative

expressions: playing instrumental music, dancing, painting and sculpturing. 3) Signs.

This is the mechanical type of communication, which includes the use of signal flags, the

21-gun salute, horns, and sirens. and 4) Symbolic. This is the type of communication that

makes use of religious, status, or ego-building symbols.

Studies by Lamb (2005), indicates that communication comes about through our

degree of body flexibility. If you begin a movement with considerable force and then

decelerate, you are considered a "gentle-touch." By contrast, if you are a "pressurizer,"

you are firm from beginning to end. The accuracy of Lamb's analyses is not fully known.

Tortoriello, Blott, and DeWine (2005), have defined non-verbal communication

as: "the exchange of messages primarily through non-linguistic means, including:

kinesics (body language), facial expressions and eye contact, tactile communication,

space and territory, environment, paralanguage (vocal but non-linguistic cues), and the

use of silence and time."

Rosenthal and Jacobson (2005), states that teacher expectations for the

disadvantaged suggested that, through nonverbal behavior, teachers expectations for the

progress of their students become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Ekman (2001) found that facial expressions of emotion are not culturally

determined, but universal to human culture and thus biological in origin. Ekman's finding

is now widely accepted by scientists. Expressions he found to be universal included those

indicating anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise. Findings on contempt are less
clear, though there is at least some preliminary evidence that this emotion and its

expression are universally recognized.

Argyle (1998) put forward the hypothesis that whereas spoken language is

normally used for communicating information about events external to the speakers, non-

verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. It is

considered more polite or nicer to communicate attitudes towards others non-verbally

rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations.

He also concluded that there are five primary functions of nonverbal bodily

behavior in human communication. 1) Express emotions; 2) Express interpersonal

attitudes; 3) To accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers

and listeners; 4) Self-presentation of one’s personality; 5) Rituals (greetings).

In his studies, Mehrabian (1991), comes to two conclusions. Firstly, that there are

basically three elements in any face-to-face communication: (a) words, (b) tone of voice

and (c) body language. And secondly, the non-verbal elements are particularly important

for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are incongruent: if words

and body language disagree, one tends to believe the body language.

It is emphatically not the case that non-verbal elements in all senses convey the

bulk of the message, though this is how his conclusions are frequently quoted. When

delivering a lecture or presentation, for instance, the textual content of the lecture is

delivered entirely verbally, but non-verbal cues are very important in conveying the

speaker’s attitude towards their words, notably their belief or conviction.

Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

Paaralang

Sekundarya ng

Lukban • Planning and

Performance in
• Science Preparation
Physics of Fourth year
Teachers
students using Non-
• Non-Verbal • Administration of
Verbal Cues.
Cues the Questionnaire

• Fourth Year

Students

• Books

• Internet

Fig. 1: Research Paradigm

For the input, the researcher read and studied some books and surf the internet,

and asked science teachers which serves as his pattern in finding the non-verbal cues used

by teachers inside the classroom. She also considered the background and nature of the

respondents. Following this is the processing stage which he underwent the steps of

planning and preparation and administration of the questionnaire to the students. After

those processes will be the output in the Performance in Physics of Fourth year students

using Non-Verbal Cues.

 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the locale of the study, research design, sampling and

population, instrumentation, validation of the instrument, data gathering procedures and

the statistical treatment used to analyze the data.

Locale of the Study

The study was conducted in Paaralang Sekundarya ng Lucban, Lucban, Quezon to

find out the effects of non-verbal cues to the performance of the students in Physics.

Research Design

The construction and presentation of material was used in conducting this study,

with the checklist questionnaire as the main instrument in gathering data.

Sampling and Population

The respondents of this study were eighty (80) selected fourth year students

coming from upper sections and lower sections who were presently enrolled at Paaralang

Sekundarya ng Lucban for the School Year 2009 – 2010.

Checklist type questionnaire was the main instrument.

Instrumentation

A. Development of the Research Study

In preparation of this research study, there were books, encyclopedia, internet

resources and unpublished materials utilized. A researcher’s made questionnaire was the

instrument in gathering data. It deals with

B. Development of the Questionnaire

The researcher used books, internet resources and unpublished materials in

constructing the questionnaire with the help and guidance of his research adviser. He

prepared a researcher made checklist questionnaire as his data gathering tools to

The tool used in this study was constructed under the guidance and supervision of

the researcher’s adviser. The questionnaire was divided into three (3) categories which

consist of five (5) items on Kinesics (Body Motion), five (5) items on Paralanguage (Use

of Voice), and five (5) items on Objects, a total of fifteen (15) items.

C. Revision

The instrument was submitted and shown to adviser for revision. Suggestion for

clarity of the instrument was properly considered and followed.

D. Final Draft

Improvement of the questionnaire was reproduced and no further revision was

made.
Data Gathering Procedure

The permission to conduct was secured from the principal of Paaralang

Sekundarya ng Lucban. Then, the final administration of the instrument was conducted to

selected fourth year students of Paaralang Sekundarya ng Lucban with the supervision of

the researcher. After the questionnaire was answered, the researcher gathered and

tabulated the data. It was further analyzed and interpreted through the following

formulas; percentage, weighted mean and chi-square.

Statistical Treatment

The researcher used the following formula in the analysis and interpretation of

data.

The percentage of the respondents was statistically treated by means of this

formula:

F
P = x 100
N
Where:

P = Percentage of samples

F = Frequency

N = Total number of respondents

 The responses of the respondents were statistically treated by means of weighted

mean.

ΣX
X=
n
Where:

X = weighted mean

ΣX = sum of scores

n = number of cases

ΣX = 5F + 4F + 3F + 2F + 1F

Where:

F= frequency

The significance difference of the respondents’ perceptions was statistically

treated by means of chi- square.

(o – e)2
2
‫=א‬ ∑
E

Where:

2
‫ = א‬chi-square

o = observed frequency

e = expected frequency