The Significance of Silence

Two aspects of nonverbal communication that are often considered together, because they involve manipulating sound, are paralanguage and silence.

Paralanguage is a vocal but nonverbal dimension of speech. It has to do with the manner which you can say something rather than with what you say. An exercise used to increase a students ability to express different emotions, feelings and attitudes was to have the student say the following sentence while accenting or stressing different words:

1. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?
2. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?
3. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?
4. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?
5. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?

The above statements are equal but the stresses on different words give the statement different meanings. This is called Paralanguage.

They way we say it when we are laughing, yelling, moaning, whining and belching will make the statements different. The pitch of highness and lowness also contribute to what we want to make clear of what we want to say.


Silence

Some says it is the ultimate in thinking as in communication is silence. Silence allows the speaker to think beforehand what the want to express.

Silence is nothing negative; it is not the mere absent of speech. It’s a positive, a complete world in itself.

During class as US culture, we are silent, the lecturer might think that the students are not paying attention to the class; therefore they want the class to be alive by having debate over the topic.

But in the East, silence in class does not mean the listeners are not paying attention. They are giving respect to the speaker. So, silence in the west is negative while silence in the east is seen as positive.