THE STUDENTS' NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

            This study was a mixed method in the Thai Language Program that aimed to investigate the barriers to non-verbal communication and to help enhance non-verbal communication among college students. The participants were 24 first-and second-year undergraduates who were enrolled in a course called “The Arts of Speaking and Presentation” (SWU 258). The participants were selected by using a random sampling technique. There were two phases in this research. The first was to investigate barriers to non-verbal communication among the students. We identified four main ones, as follows, and ranking from the highest to the lowest mean scores: The highest was for posture ( = 2.63), followed by hand gestures ( = 2.58), eye contact ( = 2.46), and tone of voice ( = 1.83). The second phase focused on developing a game based on the theory of game learning (GBL) in order to promote their non-verbal communication. Before starting this project, the students’ mean score for non-verbal communication was 9.50. That rose to 14.96. This was a statistically significant increase of .05.