Eye Contact

Eye Contact
The Importance of Eye Contact

In America, where Elemental English is based, confident and appropriate body language
is extremely important when speaking and listening. Americans (actually, people from all
around the world, including your own culture) immediately notice when communication is
off or when a speaker is uncomfortable, and they can notice all of this solely based on the
communication coming not from your words but coming from your physical body.
One of the most important communication skills to utilize in America is eye contact. Making
and maintaining eye contact is not only important, it is essential when conversing with
someone, especially if you want to be taken seriously. Think job situations, talking to a
professor, meeting a new girl or guy that you like anything!
What is eye contact?
First, lets say what eye contact isnt. Eye contact does not mean staring into the speakers
eyes without a break! Thats creepy! According to dictionary.com, eye contact is defined as:
The act of looking directly into anothers eyesa meeting of the eyes of two persons,
regarded as a meaningful nonverbal form of communication.
Why eye contact is important:
1) Interest: Making eye contact immediately tells your speaker that you are interested in
what he or she has to say. And the opposite is true, too. If you look away and fail to make
eye contact with someone who is speaking to you, they can and probably will take this as
a sign that you are not interested in what they are talking about!
2) Respect: In American culture, making eye contact shows that you respect the person
who is speaking and that you know that what they are saying is important (at least
important to them). This is in contrast to other cultures, where a subordinate may be
expected to look away. But in America, eye contact shows that you respect that the person
is speaking and that they have your attention. Consider this in numerous situations, from
being a student sitting in class and to being on a job interview.
3) Comprehension: Maintaining eye contact is part of the process of showing your speaker
that you as the listener understand what is being said. Other body language and
communication techniques may accompany the eye contact to communicate
comprehension, such as nodding your head up and down and confirmation sounds, such as
mmhmm or uh huh. All in moderation, of course.
The Importance of Eye Contact in the Classroom
Teachers often complain about discipline, about lack of attention, about the use of L2 in the
classroom and many other problems, many of which amount to a breakdown in
communication between teacher and students or between students themselves. It is well
known that speech is only one part of communication, yet teachers often forget about or
underestimate the importance of non-verbal communication in their own and their students'
performance.
One aspect of non-verbal communication is the use of the eyes to convey messages. The
eyes are a powerful tool for both the teacher and the learner, yet much classroom time is
spent with eyes firmly fixed on the book, the board, the floor, the window, or roaming
randomly around the teaching and learning environment.
Teachers working in all disciplines in secondary schools have always been advised to
develop 'the look' as part of their teaching persona. 'The look' ranges from 'be quiet please',
through 'I'm not going to tell you again' to 'don't mess with me, sonny', and in this respect is
seen as having a disciplinary function.
Meanwhile, the business world has accepted eye contact as an important component of
achieving success in giving presentations and improving rapport between representative
and client, while these days it is possible to find many websites offering advice on how to
forge personal relationships through the judicious use of eye contact. Researchers and
practitioners in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) have brought the notion of body
language and eye contact back to the attention of language teachers, but largely in the
context of providing clues to the nature of the learner rather than in terms of a teaching tool.
Here are some of the things that we have been reminded of or learnt anew:
'The look' still works, but don't overdo it or you will become a caricature of yourself.
Establishing a management role in the classroom involves eye contact from the
outset. Be in your classroom before your learners, and welcome them individually
with a combination of eye contact and their name as they enter the room.
Talk to your learners, not to the book, the board or the screen.
Eyes can set the tone of a lesson. As the lesson starts, walk around the room looking
to check whether the learners are ready -- books out, pens and paper handy, mobile
phones off. If not, eye contact should suffice to rectify the situation.
Try teaching part of a lesson without saying anything. This should remind you of how
important paralinguistic is as well as helping to control your teacher talking time.
Good eye contact does not mean staring or gazing. Many learners are likely to find
this uncomfortable and consequently avert their own eyes and lose concentration.
Neither does good eye contact mean eyes darting from learner to learner around the
room -- this has no effect whatsoever. It is recommended that there should be three
to five seconds eye contact for non-verbal communication to take place.
Watch your learners as well as listen to them, particularly while they are performing
tasks. Look for signs of being bored or being lost.
Encourage your learners to make eye contact while they are working together in
pairs or groups. Start by training them to listen to each other using non-verbal
responses only.
Research shows that there is a strong link between the amount of eye contact people
receive and their degree of participation in group communication -- in the number of
turns taken in a group conversation for example.
The NLP approach to eye contact is holistic and individualistic, but is soundly based
on the premise that good eye contact increases rapport.
Save time and effort with specific messages delivered by eye and facial expression.
Show praise, encouragement often, and disapproval occasionally. Remind learners
that they ought to know an answer or that they could provide a response if they tried.
Use eye contact as a correction technique.
Nominate and invite responses by eye. If the nominee is not watching, someone will
give him/her a nudge.
Eye contact is, fundamentally, time and effort saving.
Much of the above is likely to seem transparently obvious, only natural, and an aspect of
human behavior either innate or developed over time. But watch yourself, watch your
colleagues, and watch your learners!
Resources:
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Darn-EyeContact.html
http://www.elementalenglish.com/the-importance-of-eye-contact/

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The Importance of Eye Contact

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