CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

1.1

Introduction
Language is a very powerful tool in communication. It has played

a vital role not just in Philippine history but even in each persons daily
personal and professional lives. When people think of communication,
they tend to focus to the words alone or to the language which is being
used. In fact, even in academe, more attention is being given to verbal
communication rather than non-verbal. However, communicating is not
just through the use of words, but people also have to consider other
factors in expressing themselves. In verbal communication, people
receive and interpret the message not only through the spoken
language but on how the speaker utter the statement. That includes
the tone of voice, the facial expression, gestures, postures, or even the
clothes the speaker wears can carry a message.
Soriano

(2012)

stated

that

there

are

two

forms

of

communication: verbal and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal

communication (NVC) is expressing and interpreting messages in any
means other than spoken or written language. Several research had
shown that between 70 and 90 percent of the entire communication
spectrum

was

non-verbal.

In

face-to-face

conversation,

the

communication is impacted by the tone of the voice (38%), by the

body language (55%) and by the words (7%). The conclusion of this

research is that communication is impacted by the non-verbal (93%)

way more than the verbal communication (7%). This study is from
Albert Mehrabian (as cited in Yaffe, 2011), and more recent studies
seem to agree with this report and use those numbers as well (Olah,
2011; James, 2008; Pease and Pease 2006).
In a daily conversation, most of the time, people pay more
attention to the message they are going to speak rather than how they
are going to say it. For example, in saying I love you, everyone can
just simply say it, but the level of sincerity and emotion will vary on
how it was uttered. Compare person A who says I love you in a fastfaced and monotonous tone versus person B who says I love you in a
slower and warmer tone. The receiver of the message would probably
not believe person A and

Anyone can say I love you but the sincerity of the message will
vary on how the message was uttered by the speaker.
In a daily conversation, people tend to give more focus on what
they are going to say. Sometimes, they try hard to find the best words
just to avoid hurting someone elses feelings or to avoid committing
mistake. But they dont usually notice, that even though no words are
spoken, they are still communicating message and that is through nonverbal communication.

One of the examples is when you dont speak when someone is

talking to you. You dont want to have a conversation with the person
so you avoid by not talking. However, silence already sends a message
that you dont want talking to the person even though you dont state
that in words.
There is no way to avoid communicating non-verbally. NVC is
involuntary, and so really do come as naturally as breathing. We all
register and interpret such behavior all the time, it comes naturally. But
acting on it is another matter. (Pergamon Flexible Learning, 2003, p. 11
& p.44)
Aside

from

face-to-face

conversation,

speech,

classroom

discussions, and alike, non-verbal communication is also essential in

television industry. Imagine the actors and actresses in delivering their
dialogues in a monotone. There are no gestures, no movements, and
no emotion.

Gamal (2009) states that:

Film is essentially a visual experience; and
since the advent of talkies the dialogue has
been regarded as an added feature to the
cinematic effect. However, people do not go to
the movies for the sole purpose of watching
others talk, but rather to enjoy a composite
cinematic language that includes verbal and
non-verbal communication.

This concept applies to the short soap opera parody, Kalyeserye.

This is a segment from the longest running noon-time variety show Eat
Bulaga. The Kalyeserye, coined by Joey de Leon, has elements
of parody of

Philippine

Cinderella, romantic

television

dramas

and

comedy and reality

Disneys
TV perform

by improved acting, which is broadcast live from a street in the

different barangays features daily in the "Juan for All, All for Juan" set.
This segment started when one of the main characters, Yaya Dub, sees
Alden for the first time (on-screen) then the AlDub team was born. Due
to audience positive feedback, it became a regular segment. What is
unique about them compare to other short opera parody is they are
not talking to communicate with each other.
A visual artist, Julius Legaspi (as cited in MaineMendoza.net) said,
that because of the concept of AlDub (in which they are not allowed to
speak), their romance is highlighted through their body language,
facial expressions and everything else that is non-verbal. This makes it
even more exciting for an artist to interpret and bring to life.
David (2015) stated that:
She gets behind all of us, and lip-syncs the
standard texts of our private selvesour
insecurities, anger, celebratory moments, and
frustrations. Beneath the performance is
parody of the highest type.
The show has proven their charisma by dominating not just the
broadcast television but the social media as well. They helped the

noontime show boost their ratings. The accidental and phenomenal

love team of Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards has been a frequent
Twitter trending topic, and recently made another history by breaking
the record of most tweeted topic worldwide.
In relation to this, the love team received the 1 st Catholic Social
Media Award. Their love team hooked not only the teen agers, but allages as well from a three-year old, senior citizen, tricycle driver,
office employee and even celebrities. They are renowned not only in
the Philippines but in other countries as well.
They created a lot of new gestures, terms that became part of
the trend. Their love team contributed a lot in the development of nonverbal communication. Thus, the researcher finds it interesting to be a
thesis topic that would be very helpful in communication development.

1.2

Conceptual Framework

After gathering related studies and research about the topic, the
researcher came up with a conceptualized theory that was applied as
the sole basis of the entire study.
A lot of non-verbal behaviors were established already by
different scholars around the world. In the book Making Communication
Work, Everson (2003) said there are seven nonverbal behaviors,
namely: Paralanguage, Body Movement, Body Type, Attractiveness,
Body Adornment, Space & Distance, and Touch.
Non-verbal communication is also essential even in business
management, or in government. Communication in Governance and
Accountability Program (CommGAP), is a global program at the World
Bank, seeks to confront the challenges inherent in the political
economy of development. This program is also using the principles of
non-verbal communication to promote good governance to result a
better development. They come up with Traditional Dimensions in Nonverbal Communication which are Physical Appearance, Territory and
Personal Space (Proxemics), Facial expressions, Gestures and Posture,
Touch

(Tactile

Communication),

Eye

Contact,

Vocal

cues

that

Accompany Speech (Paralanguage), and Time (Chronemics).

After analyzing all the gathered related studies, the researcher
came up in using the 12-part model of non-verbal communication of
Eunson (1994) which can be seen below in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Eunsons Model of Non-verbal Communication

1. Head movements this includes the nodding the head up and down
which means yes or shaking the head from side to side which
means no
2. Facial expressions showing emotions through the face like smiling,
giggling and laughing
3. Eyes using eye contact can also be a means of communication
like direct gazing
4. Voice words can also have their meaning altered by using
different inflections such as sarcastic, harsh, tearful
5. Gesture the meaning of each gesture may have cultural variations
like when a Vietnamese gaze directly to someone and folds his or
her arms across the chest, it means respect to them while in
Americans, it means defiance rather than respect.
6. Posture lowering your body towards someone else like shallow or
deep bow may also be a sign of respect
7. Orientation this talks about the angle at which we stand or sit in
relation to others
8. Touching this includes shaking of hands, embracing, kissing that
may determine your relation to someone else
9. Clothing and adornment by this, one can be identified in their sex
roles and social roles
10. Personal space/ territoriality each person has their own comfort
zone where they feel relaxed and they start to feel uncomfortable if
anyone invades that space
11. Environment each individuals

physical

environment

can

influence communication
12. Time and cultural context includes high-context and lowcontext cultures

10

Table 1. Eunsons Non-verbal Characteristics of Five Behavioral

State

11

The aforementioned discussion led to the construction of the

researcher paradigm as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 below showed the Short Soap Opera Parody, Kalyeserye
to be studied. The whole study focused on this one as the main
material for studying the non-verbal communication commonly used
by the two main characters, Alden and Yaya Dub using Eunsons Model
of Non-verbal Communication.

12

Figure 2. Research Paradigm

13

1.3

Statement of the Problem

The study entitled, The Romance of Kalyeseryes AlDub: A

Non-verbal Communication Study generally aimed to analyze the

non-verbal communication used in the Kalyeserye.
Specifically, the study aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What are the non-verbal communications commonly used by

AlDub in Kalyeserye?
2. What are the dominant models of non-verbal communication
used in Kalyeserye?
3. How do these models of non-verbal communication help in
developing the story and the characters of the series?

1.4

Scope and Limitations

The study was limited to the non-verbal communication used by

the two main characters, namely, Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza
a.k.a. Yaya Dub in the short soap opera parody, Kalyeserye of Eat
Bulaga. This study revolved on its 10-selected episodes that was
randomly chosen using random sampling fish bowl method. The
entries were the episodes started from the first one which aired on July

14

16, 2015 until the episode of Tamang Panahon which aired on October
24, 2015.

1.5

Significance of the Study

This study provided needed information that can be used

students,

teachers

and

academic

personnel,

media,

televiewers/spectators, future researchers and public readers regarding

the use, characteristics and meanings of non-verbal communication.
For students especially of ABLL, the study provided different nonverbal methods that were commonly portrayed in the selected short
soap opera parody and being used in real life situation as well. As
language and literature students, this will supply them further
knowledge and awareness that will help improve their ability to
communicate with others.
For teachers and other academic personnel, this study will help
them train themselves in decoding non-verbal messages that will be
useful in their profession not only inside the classroom discussion with
their students but in other aspects as well.
For media, this study will offer different methods and techniques
on how non-verbal communication could serve effectively in the Short
Soap Opera Parody, thus, satisfying their audiences in providing such
quality programs through effective use of non-verbal cues.

15

For common spectators/televiewers, this study will help them

develop their non-verbal skills through enhancing their interpretation
skills in decoding the non-verbal cues in this short opera parody, so
that they can better understand and appreciate such kind of programs.
For future researchers, the study will give thorough analyses on
the importance of non-verbal communication and on how it contributes
to the development of communication.
For public readers of the study, elaborated perspectives and
analyses of non-verbal communication can be found with proper
documentation and become reference that can be used for future
research of the same topic.

1.6

Definition of Terms
The following terms are conceptually and operationally defined

to help the readers understand better the topic of this study.

Non-verbal Communication. It refers to the sending of
messages to another person utilizing methods or means other than the
spoken language (Soriano, 2012, p. 12)
Short Soap Opera. This term is commonly known as teleserye
in Filipino. The word tele came from television and serye is the

16

Filipino translation for series. It is a short series that portrays life

situations which is being performed in television programs.
Parody. It is a literary or musical work in which the style of an
author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule
(Merriam-Webster, 2015).
Kalyeserye. It is a television love story started in a skit of a
Philippine variety show called "Eat Bulaga!" on July of this year. Millions
of fans watched their romance bloom although the two had not met in
person and they interact only through split screen. Both have also no
speaking lines and convey their feelings for each other by lip-synching
parts of a song or lines in a movie. They also used handwritten signs
(fansigns) which they flashed in the screen for the other to read,
according to the BBC.
(Batanes, 2015)
Dubsmash. It is a well-known video-messaging application
which allows the users to choose a famous song or quote which they
will lip sync while recording their face in a form of video.
Fansign. A picture taken by one friend or another friend. These
kind of pictures include a piece of paper (any form), body part, and/or
inanimate object with writing on it. (Urban Dictionary, 2006)

17

Random Sampling. A sampling technique using the concept of

lottery or fish bowl method. It is a subset of a statistical population in
which each member of the subset has an equal probability of being
chosen. A simple random sample is meant to be an unbiased
representation of a group. (Investopedia, 2015)
Weeksary. A weekly recurrence of a date celebrating a special
or notable event.