Nonverbal Communication?
Assalamualaikum everyone!
CÓMO ESTÁS?
Today, we are going to share with you
guys about nonverbal communication in Aboodi’s culture. For Malaysian, of
course we have our own gestures or cues that mean something right? So do
Aboodi. In fact, every culture has their own nonverbal communication. To make
it easier, let’s simplify it and make a smaller scope. We are going to talk
about gestures or body movement in Aboodi’s culture.
According to Dictionary.com,
nonverbal communication is “Communication without the use of spoken language.
Nonverbal communication includes gestures, facial expressions, and body positions
(known collectively as “body language”), as well as unspoken understandings and
presuppositions, and cultural and environmental conditions that may affect any
encounter between people”.
So, we asked
Aboodi the other day and basically he shared four gestures in his culture with
us. First of all, in his culture, when they are talking to each other, they
tend to point around a lot at people, which will eventually lead to
misunderstandings by the person whom being pointed at. Aboodi said that it is
not an act of disrespectful, but it is just that when they talk, their hands
will move around too, and to control their hands, they point them at the person
they are talking to.
Besides the
hands, there is also ‘the look’. The look here means when they get ‘that look’
from their parents when they have guests visiting their house. It means go and
serve them something like tea, coffee or any food that you have. We don’t know
about you guys, but for our families (Afina), we also get ‘that look’ from our
parents. Haha. But it’s not only for serving the food, but also introduce
yourself politely, and greet the guests. It’s Malay’s tradition to welcome
their guests warmly. So that is why we always get ‘that look’ from our parents when
we just sitting around and do nothing. We will get labelled as ‘lazy’
especially if it is girls.
Aboodi also
has shared with us a video to make us easier to explain about the next
gestures. Thanks Aboodi! ^_^
In the
video, the first gesture means ‘please wait for a while’. Based on Afina’s
observation, we also have this gesture for some people. But most of us usually
will use the gesture below to say ‘please wait’. Right? No? ookaayyyyy….
Anyway, the
second and the third move mean ‘hurry up’ or ‘faster’. Again, based on Afina’s observation, Malaysian usually wave their
hands toward their body repeatedly until the other party comes closer. Just like
the picture below.
Lastly, in Aboodi’s culture, when someone wants to ask you
something, you will nod your head. It means ‘what is it’ or ‘what do you want’
or ‘yeah?’
So that’s all from us. We hope you enjoy reading this entry!
-DANKE!-
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition.
Copyright ©2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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