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I. Introduction
In China， classroom oral instruction is the chief or indeed the only source of English learning， which is quite different from the natural ways of language learning. Teachers usually put much attention to their language in teaching. However， in fact language is not just composed of verbal or vocal form. Instead， “language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs， sounds， gestures， or marks”. Body language occupies a significant position in the teaching， which merits much attention from both researchers and teachers.
II. Body Language in English Class Teaching
2.1 Facial body language
The facial body language is the embodiment of emotions， from which people’s moods can often be reflected. In class， since the teacher always stands on the platform in front of the whole class， the change of his facial body language will be clearly viewed by all the students and directly affect their learning psychology. Cheerful teacher， often smiling to students and has brisk tone will leave a deep impression on the student， and give them a feeling of kindness and trust， which can quickly shorten the distance between teachers and students. In order to achieve the desired teaching effect， teachers should pay attention to using more facial body language to attract the students’ attention， strengthen the emotional exchanges with students.
2.2 Eye contact
As is known to all of us， eyes are the windows of the soul. Therefore， eye contact is the most important and most expressive communication tool. By using eye contact， we can open， continue or terminate a conversation easily. Since eyes have special communicative functions， it is necessary for the teacher to use eye contact in the class. The frequent eye contact between teachers and students can extend the communication channels as well as enlarge the volume of the information exchange. On the contrary， eyes can also expose the teacher’s disgust， worries other negative information， cause students to behave badly.
2.3 Gestures
Gestures often match up with verbal and facial body language; it is an important kind of silent teaching language. When the students answer questions correctly， the teacher can thumb up and praise them. Such kinds of encouraging gestures can give students more confidence， inspiring them to participate in the class more actively. Therefore， proper use of body language in the class is very necessary， which could shorten the distance between students and teachers， giving them lots of encouragement and causing them to play a more active role in the class. III. The necessity of using body language in junior middle school English teaching
Though the last two decades has witnessed the great change of language study， whose focus has been gradually shifted from the study of language itself to the process of language learning or acquisition， most of the middle school teachers pay much attention to the use of oral language， and fail to notice the importance of body language in the class. According to the relevant researches on the current situation of English class in junior middle school， less than 50 percent of teachers heard the concept of body language and have partial knowledge about its important role in the class. Among them， only 22 percent admitted that they have applied it to their teaching. And as for these teachers who once used the body language in their class， most of them just knew one or two kinds of body language， including gestures and eyes contact， while they were not aware of others sorts such as facial expression or clothing. What’s worse， the majority of them know that body language is beneficial to the teaching， however， when asked its detailed functions， only a few could offer some clear and reasonable descriptions. Furthermore， it is clearly shown that only 13 percent of the middle school teachers could consciously and automatically apply body language to their class.
IV. Conclusion
In a word， since body language goes throughout the whole English teaching process， it is of great necessity to continue to explore some new ways to make full use of this teaching method during the teaching practice. English teachers need to motivate students’ study by using their various kinds of body language， and at same time try their utmost to grasp the intensity and scale of the body language to make it natural， accurate， and decent. What’s more， teachers are well advised to combine body language with sound language， making the classroom teaching artful and appealing so that they would become not only English teachers but also “performance artist” of the platform in the meanwhile.
In China， classroom oral instruction is the chief or indeed the only source of English learning， which is quite different from the natural ways of language learning. Teachers usually put much attention to their language in teaching. However， in fact language is not just composed of verbal or vocal form. Instead， “language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs， sounds， gestures， or marks”. Body language occupies a significant position in the teaching， which merits much attention from both researchers and teachers.
II. Body Language in English Class Teaching
2.1 Facial body language
The facial body language is the embodiment of emotions， from which people’s moods can often be reflected. In class， since the teacher always stands on the platform in front of the whole class， the change of his facial body language will be clearly viewed by all the students and directly affect their learning psychology. Cheerful teacher， often smiling to students and has brisk tone will leave a deep impression on the student， and give them a feeling of kindness and trust， which can quickly shorten the distance between teachers and students. In order to achieve the desired teaching effect， teachers should pay attention to using more facial body language to attract the students’ attention， strengthen the emotional exchanges with students.
2.2 Eye contact
As is known to all of us， eyes are the windows of the soul. Therefore， eye contact is the most important and most expressive communication tool. By using eye contact， we can open， continue or terminate a conversation easily. Since eyes have special communicative functions， it is necessary for the teacher to use eye contact in the class. The frequent eye contact between teachers and students can extend the communication channels as well as enlarge the volume of the information exchange. On the contrary， eyes can also expose the teacher’s disgust， worries other negative information， cause students to behave badly.
2.3 Gestures
Gestures often match up with verbal and facial body language; it is an important kind of silent teaching language. When the students answer questions correctly， the teacher can thumb up and praise them. Such kinds of encouraging gestures can give students more confidence， inspiring them to participate in the class more actively. Therefore， proper use of body language in the class is very necessary， which could shorten the distance between students and teachers， giving them lots of encouragement and causing them to play a more active role in the class. III. The necessity of using body language in junior middle school English teaching
Though the last two decades has witnessed the great change of language study， whose focus has been gradually shifted from the study of language itself to the process of language learning or acquisition， most of the middle school teachers pay much attention to the use of oral language， and fail to notice the importance of body language in the class. According to the relevant researches on the current situation of English class in junior middle school， less than 50 percent of teachers heard the concept of body language and have partial knowledge about its important role in the class. Among them， only 22 percent admitted that they have applied it to their teaching. And as for these teachers who once used the body language in their class， most of them just knew one or two kinds of body language， including gestures and eyes contact， while they were not aware of others sorts such as facial expression or clothing. What’s worse， the majority of them know that body language is beneficial to the teaching， however， when asked its detailed functions， only a few could offer some clear and reasonable descriptions. Furthermore， it is clearly shown that only 13 percent of the middle school teachers could consciously and automatically apply body language to their class.
IV. Conclusion
In a word， since body language goes throughout the whole English teaching process， it is of great necessity to continue to explore some new ways to make full use of this teaching method during the teaching practice. English teachers need to motivate students’ study by using their various kinds of body language， and at same time try their utmost to grasp the intensity and scale of the body language to make it natural， accurate， and decent. What’s more， teachers are well advised to combine body language with sound language， making the classroom teaching artful and appealing so that they would become not only English teachers but also “performance artist” of the platform in the meanwhile.