BELF expert users: Making understanding visible in internal BELF meetings through the use of nonverbal communication strategies

• Main Authors: Birlik, Seval, Kaur, Jagdish
• Format: Article
• Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd 2020
• Subjects: P Philology. Linguistics; PE English
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/36778/

The worldwide use of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) has led to increased research of BELF that seeks to elucidate its complexities, and the multiple competencies of its users that contribute to its success. As much of previous BELF research has focused on verbal communication, little is known of how nonverbal conduct contributes to facilitating shared understanding in the business context. This paper focuses on the nonverbal communication strategies (NVCS) participants use as shared repertoire and resources in formal internal meeting interactions for successful and effective communication. Combining Community of Practice (CofP) and Conversation Analysis (CA) frameworks, and applying a multimodal approach, three video-recorded meetings were analyzed. The paper explores three salient NVCS: head nod, hand pointing gesture, and eye contact and gaze; each serves specific functions such as contextualizing or enhancing verbal communication, providing clarity and feedback, and making understanding visible. The findings not only contribute to the existing understanding of BELF but also offer an empirical basis regarding NVCS that may inform ESP: in business communication courses, raising awareness of effective NVCS based on authentic use in specific settings could provide valuable insights on communicative competence as part of the multiple competencies of BELF expert users. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.