HANOI UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

DEPARTMENT

BODY LANGUAGE IN NEGOTIATION

IN THE VIEW OF ESPD STUDENTS
(Word count: 2440 words)

Teacher: Vũ Thị Hoàng Yến

Students Phan Thị Vân Anh
: Trịnh Huyền Thương
Nguyễn Thị Hà Vy
Class: 3-K19
Course: ESP 2019
Date: 17 June 2020

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC
PURPOSES DEPARTMENT
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HANOI UNIVERSITY
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-------------------------------------------
ESP - WRITING A RESEARCH REPORT

Statement of authorship
Students’ names: Phan Thi Van Anh – Trinh Huyen Thuong – Nguyen Thi Ha Vy
Class: 3K19 Students’ Numbers______________________________
Subject: ESP Writing
Lecturer: ____Vu Thi Hoang Yen____________________________________
Name of research paper: BODY LANGUAGE IN NEGOTIATION IN THE VIEW OF ESPD
STUDENTS

Declaration
We declare that the work attached is entirely our own, and that we have given due acknowledgement
as required by the English for Specific Purposes Department.
We understand that the work submitted may be reproduced and/ or communicated for the purposes of
detecting plagiarism.
Signed__________________ Date: 17th June, 2020
]]]]]

Plagiarism
By signing the declaration, you are stating that you have not plagiarized.
Use the following as a checklist.
 This work is entirely our own.
 We have not copied another student’s work.
 We have not copied or used in any way material from a text, journal, website or other
published source without acknowledgement (including non – English sources)
 We have cited and referenced fully and correctly as required by the English for Specific
Purposes Department where applicable.
 We have not reworded material from another source and presented it as our own.
 We have not used this work in a previous class (self – plagiarism).
ABSTRACT

Body language is one of important communication skills in negotiation. It

is the unspoken kind of communication which helps you express your true
feelings and emotions through gestures, facial expressions and postures,
for instance. Therefore, being aware of using body language is very useful
for people to negotiate more effectively. As the title suggest, this paper
aims at reflecting on the awareness of ESPD students about body
language. Based on the data collected from a small scale research
conducted within ESPD of Hanoi University, we investigate the frequency
of using body language of students, analyzing their ability, identifying the
difficulty and problem that they encounter and simultaneously suggesting
solutions. It aims to assess the importance of body language in
negotiation and provide readers possible suggestion to improve body
language. As such, it is hoped that this research might be useful students
to use body language better.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................iii

LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................v

1. Introduction................................................................................................................1

2. Method........................................................................................................................2

3. Results.........................................................................................................................2

4. Discussion of result....................................................................................................5

4.1. The importance of BL...........................................................................................5

4.2. Difficulties............................................................................................................6

4.3. The solutions and outcomes..................................................................................7

5. Conclusion..................................................................................................................9

REFERENCES........................................................................................................10

APPENDICES..........................................................................................................11
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The importance of using body language in negotiation......................................3

Figure 2: The frequently used form of body language in negotiation................................3
Figure 3: The expression of those who are not good at using body language....................4
Figure 4: The evaluation of using body language in negotiation.......................................5
 1. Introduction
Nowadays, oral and written words are the primary sources of communication. From the
very beginning, people were educated to use those communication techniques which help
them to send and receive information or participate in public hearings. Ironically, there is
nonverbal communication, which is used most often is rarely being taught at school or
college. As the old saying go: “Actions speak louder than words”. According to Dave
Gustafson (2002), some research has shown that up to ninety-three percent of
communication is nonverbal where all kinds of language describe without words. One of
the most common ways to present nonverbal communication is through body language –
which use physical behavior such as: facial expression, eye contact, gestures or body
posture.

There is no doubt that body language plays a significant part in human’s communication
techniques since it is one of the most useful ways for people to express their thought or
feelings without using any words. However, people are not fully aware of the importance
of body language so that they tend to use it involuntarily. They prefer to pay their
attention on the substantive content when preparing for a negotiation with the hope that
they could be able to influence and convince their partner through what they are saying
verbally. While the literal words make up for only seven percent of the overall message,
body language which account for fifty-five percent is considered to be the most powerful
mode communication (Lucy, 2020).

Until now, there are few formal investigations into the use of body language in
negotiation. Actually, some journalists have approached the subject of body movement in
conversation; however, each of them usually reflect the importance of using body
language rather than give any solutions to tackle the difficulties when practicing this
nonverbal technique. In “Body language and Negotiation”(n.d.), Shen Yang Lee reported
that body language is going to be seven times more impactful and powerful than spoken
words, followed by the key advantages to be an effective speaker and master in
negotiation. Nonverbal communication, in contrary, may be distinct from culture to
culture. This is the reason why people, especially business travelers who routinely visit
other countries, might meet some troubles and difficulties when using body language. In
Thailand, for instance, touching someone on the head or exposing the sole of the foot is
considered rude (Gregory, 2000).

Dave and Shen Yang Lee above mentioned that using physical response is significant, on
the other hand, if it were misused, their finding suggestions might be less effective. It
would seem, therefore, that further studies are needed in order to help young people who
are studying at Universities be fully understand the critical role of body language and
overcome the complication of nonverbal communication to apply it in the most efficient
way. Therefore, this paper, as the result of our research, aims to answer three questions:
How do ESPD students comprehend the importance of body language in negotiation?;
What are the difficulties when students apply body language skills in negotiation? And
What have students done to tackle these problems and how effective are those solutions?.
In addition, in each problem, there would be a possible solution to students’ body
language problems in negotiation.

2. Method
We acquire the data of this report by carrying out a survey of ESPD students within
Hanoi University. Initially, we set up a questionnaire including 10 multiple-choice
questions to answer three research questions. In the next step, 100 ESPD students were
randomly selected to fill the questionnaire with their choices. 10 questions are designed
to assess the level of awareness, the way to apply and the difficulties of ESPD students
while using Body Language. With the fundamental data from the questionnaire, we aim
at evaluating the effect and importance of body language among ESPD students and
suggesting some useful methods for students to tackle the problems when using body
language.

3. Results
The participants of this project were students who are studying ay ESPD, Hanoi
University. As expected, the acquired results fully reflect the view of 100 students about
the importance of body language, their major problems while apply body language in
negotiation and their self-assessment of nonverbal communication skills.
 25% 45% 50% 75% 100%

8% 6%
1%

41%
44%

Figure 1. The importance of using body language in negotiation

As can be seen in Figure 1, the majority believe that the importance of Body language
account for 50% to 75% in a negotiation (41 percent and 44 percent respectively). There
is only one student who think that using body language make up for 45% significance in
a discussion, followed by 8 percent of students surveyed suppose that this nonverbal
communication weighed totally in a negotiation
 Gestures

Voice

Touch

Postures

Facial expression

Eye contacts

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Figure 2. The frequently used form of body language in negotiation

In terms of 100 ESPD students who were questioned, a large proportion respondents
reported that they usually use facial expression for negotiation purpose, with 82%. The
second most favored kind of body language which accounts for 78% is eye contacts.
Voice and postures come third and fourth of the list, at 69% and 65% respectively. Only
few students of ESPD used touch to show their body language with a small figure of
15%. Hands gesture came last of the list with just 1% of students using.
 Fidgeting, picking at clothes, or fiddling with pens and phones 62.9

Gazing at something else, or into space 57.3

Eyes downcast, maintaining little contact 79.8

Body turned away from you 34.8

Minimal or tense facial 60.7

expression

Arms folded in front of the body 31.5

Percentag
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 e

Figure 3. The expression of those who are not good at using body language

Turning to the questions about the expression and action of a person who is bad at using
body language, 79.8% of those surveyed replied that it is: Eyes downcast and maintaining
little contact. Minimal, tense facial expression and fidgeting at clothes were the next
common expression, with 62.9% and 60.7% in turn, followed by the action: gazing at
something else or into space with 57.3%. The least common action is turning body away
with just over 30%.
 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

Percentage

Figure 4. The evaluation of using body language in negotiation

In Figure 4, 53 percent of ESPD students chose number 3 which is medium score in their
evaluation of their ability to use body language in negotiation. The number of student
who chose number 4 which is good score was slightly higher that of people who chose
number 2 which means bad score with 21.3% as opposed to 20.2%. Approximately 3.2%
of people who chose number 1 which means very bad, compared to around 2.1% which
were chosen number 5 means very good in how they evaluate their ability to use body
language in negotiation.

4. Discussion of result.
The outcomes shown above have presented ESPD student’s point of views about Body
Language in negotiation. This research may have some limitations about the
generalizability since the findings came from a group of students who are currently
studying in Hanoi University. However, the main purpose of this research is raising
student’s awareness about the importance of nonverbal language and finally suggesting
some useful ways for ESPD students to improve their body language skills.

4.1. The importance of BL

From the result as revealed in Figure 1 (page 3) it can be conclude that the majority of
students are conscious of applying Body Language in their discussion. According to our
online survey outcome, 81 in 100 students usually consider their body language in
communication. This result is not beyond our expectation, comparing with other previous
researches, it can be seen that most people use body language as a significant part in their
conversation since nonverbal communication "is a human process that men have
intuitively used for hundreds of thousands of years to understand one another naturally"
(Dave, 2002).

The questions regarding student’s opinions of using physical communication manifested

that besides using oral communication as usual, almost all interviewees need gestures,
facial expressions, eye contacts, etc to communicate with their partner. This is
understandable because sometimes words cannot describe the full meaning of human
attitudes or in some cases, people are not willing to say something directly to their friends
so that they choose another form of communication: body language. In negotiation, every
gestures meant something, it can be positive attitude or negative attitude as reported by
Hui Zhou & Tingqin Zhang (2008). If students especially who are major in business
administration comprehend the influence of Body Language, they can use this kind of
communication as an advantage to be a good negotiator.

In accordance with our survey, up to 92 percent of students responded that they notice
their encounter’s body movements during discussing. This result is not the same with our
prediction, comparing with the research of Shen Yang Lee, he stated that people tend to
pay their attention to what their counterpart’s verbally saying not how their counterpart
deliver it. In contrary to his survey, our research on ESPD students show that a
surprisingly large number of them consider other’s Body Language when they are
negotiating. This phenomenon may come from their self-awareness about the importance
of nonverbal communication in a conservation. Focusing on their encounter’s physical
expressions is one of the most useful way for students to read other’s opinion as Lucy
Debenham stated: “the nonverbal communication becomes the most powerful mode of
communication when conveying feelings or attitudes” (2020).

4.2. Difficulties
From the results as shown in figure 2 page 3, a massive 79% of ESPD students reported
that they have been in trouble with using body language in negotiation. This result is not
beyond expectation. Body language is a mix of different activities of gestures, postures
and expression. Therefore, there are a great deal of difficulties when a person who is bad
at body language uses it. The majority of ESPD students have troubles with eyes contact
using. According to the research of Huizhow and Ting Quin Zang, Eyes contact is very
important of body language. If you do not comply with a list of “rules” about eyes
contact such as: “to look or not to look, when to look and how long to look, who and who
not to look at”, you can easily loose the control of eyes contact. Also, as stated
previously, problems about facial expression accounts for a large proportion. The feeling
of nervous can be showed on face because the face can convey several emotion
simultaneously, which causes limited and tense expression. Vijendva said that: “Hand
signals can communicate without the use of any speech” (2018). Naturally, when people
cannot control hand gestures, they often fidget, pick at clothes or fiddle with pen. These
activities show that people are trembling or not confident with their body language skill.

In some cases, students keep gazing at someone else or into space, which means that
they forgot the content prepared or do not know to solve a problem during the
negotiation. Body language is unspoken kind of communication. It can help people show
their true feelings and emotion. Therefore, the signs such as turning or folding arms in
front of the body can be easily read by others people. These activities means people are in
tense or nervous attitude. Folding is a defensive action of person not feeling safe.

Overall, ESPD students experience many problems when using body language in
negotiation. This puts some negative impacts on their performance as well as on the
efficiency of their negotiation.

4.3. The solutions and outcomes

According to our survey, the results show that half of students evaluate their body
language skill at average score, a state of affairs which is reflected in the fact that the
majority of them try to use body language as much as possible, especially practice in
front of a mirror or learn and imitate from others. This outcome is obviously
unconstrained to ESPD students of Hanoi University, in the research paper “Body
Language in Business Negotiation”, investigator Hui Zhou and Tingqin Zhang cited a
range of study about the ability of using and understanding the body language from many
different countries such as China and England. In addition, there are some other effective
ways to manage your nonverbal behavior and that of your counterpart, by putting your
notepad on the table, sliding forward in your seat, and uncrossing your legs, you can
change your position to a much more receptive one, you will start reaping the benefits of
using body language.

It is, consequently, safe to assume that the confidence of communication by using

nonverbal is a general characteristic of any ESPD students. Nevertheless, it is fascinating
to find out that there also in Hanoi University have quite a large number of students who
do not have enough self-assurance would choose to practice facial expression to improve
their social skills. When facing the same problem, fewer students would not do anything
to solve this situation because they suppose that it comes from their own natural ability.

As the rule at the end of each interview, we would request the student to grade their body
language in negotiation on a scale of 1 to 5, which 5 is the highest score. Based on the
opinion of 100 people, the total answer we assemble is a pretty convincing result, as our
interviewee usually gives themselves a medium mark of 3. When we asked about the
action to promote the skill in using nonverbal language, most of them responded that they
were trying to use body language at anytime, anywhere they can, only few people gave us
an equivocal answer such as do not know what to deal with this situation or not even give
it a try. This indicates that students of Hanoi University not only have full background
knowledge but also have strong personality and social communication skills.

Therefore, it is our suggestion that the university should continue organizing a training
workshop on communication for college students. On the student’s side, it would be
better for them to keep practicing forward their body language to improving their
knowledge, help their brain work more logically and acquiring necessary skills on the
fields. It will be gain lots of successful once they enter their later negotiation in their
business.

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, ESPD students’ understanding of body language is still unlimited and we
fully hope that our research results can promote the identical interests associated with
body language in negotiation. Moreover, our research may serve as a prototype of future
projects. As we checked through the data and found out the restrictions of our research,
further and deeper investigation is actually needed. While exploring the differences
among ESPD students, we realize that there will also be variations depending on
students’ age groups, genders, and even the majors that they are chasing at the university.
In addition, expanding the scope of the survey will most possibly yield new and unique
results awaiting reasoning and explanation. Hopefully, within the future, more research
are going to be done to thoroughly examine all potential regulations as well as this can be
a definitive skill to students’ academic success.
 REFERENCES

Debenham BA, L., 2020. Communication - What Percentage Is Body Language?. [online]

Bodylanguageexpert.co.uk. Available at:

<http://www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/communication-what-percentage-body-

language.html> [Accessed 5 June 2020].

Gustafson, D., 2002. Nonverbal Communication In Business Interviewing And Negotiation.

[online] Scholarship.shu.edu. Available at:

<https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=3436&context=dissertations&fbclid=IwAR0KNwRmnYrKaWvr1dajwfS_OICHb4

US1MCuN37LO-W3bD8FfHSDaLc9nNM> [Accessed 6 June 2020].

Lee, S., n.d. BODY LANGUAGE AND NEGOTIATION. [online] ACADEMIA. Available at:

<https://www.academia.edu/6563173/BODY_LANGUAGE_AND_NEGOTIATION?

fbclid=IwAR3sEvZAWfSR-rmUyyWDnW9SOw3I7phHWmw4-

64oaGMJzZIiPCUEu8022Xs> [Accessed 5 June 2020].

Singh, V., 2018. Language And Body Language. [online] ResearchGate. Available at:

<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324246401_Language_and_Body_Langua

ge?fbclid=IwAR1REp4UW7aNRA7-FhJ-T0u8hadcDT7fWiMUbDtvBPDMmgo5DK-

H6f3slcw> [Accessed 5 June 2020].

Zhou, H. and Zhang, T., n.d. Body Language In Business Negotiation. [online]

Pdfs.semanticscholar.org. Available at:

<https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/34b1/9dad36b9f78bc166b3b3620c82e2609d7358.

pdf?fbclid=IwAR2MhC5aD3nF5bTF4Wi-

YvHX3WZ7ymidCbr0RN8GBFB9j0pzEC07gi8l9XA> [Accessed 5 June 2020].

 APPENDICES
APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE

We are Nguyen Thi Ha Vy, Phan Thi Van Anh and Trinh Huyen Thuong, ESPD Student,
Hanoi University. We are doing a research project on ESPD Students of Hanoi University
“Body language in negotiation in the view of ESPD students”. This questionnaire is
designed to help us obtain data for our research project. We highly appreciate your
opinions which are apparently crucial to the completion as well as the quality of our
paper. Please answer honestly and return the completed questionnaire for us. Thank you
for your cooperation.

1. Do you often use Body Language in negotiation?

o Yes
o No

If your answer is "No", go to question 2. If "Yes", go to question 3.

2. Why don't you often use Body Language in negotiation?

o Because I’m scared of speaking in the public.
o Because I’m not good at controlling my gestures
o Because I’m not confident with my communication skills
o Because I used to fail when i apply body language
o Others (please specify)
3. How do you evaluate the importance of Body Language in negotiation?
(percentage)
o 25%
o 50%
o 75%
o 100%
o Others (please specify)
 4. What kind of Body Language do you often use in negotiation? (You can
choose more than one)
o Eye contacts
o Facial expression
o Postures
o Touch
o Voice
o Others (please specify)
5. Which one do you often use most?
o Eye contacts
o Facial expression
o Postures
o Touch
o Voice
6. Do you often consider others' Body Language in negotiation?
o Yes
o No
7. Have you been in trouble with using Body Language in negotiation?
o Yes
o No

If your answer is "Yes", go to question 8. If "No", go to question 10.

8. Which of the following is an expression of a person who bad at using Body

Language? (You can choose more than one)
o Arms folded in front of the body.
o Minimal or tense facial expression
o Body turned away from you.
o Eyes downcast, maintaining little contact
o Gazing at something else, or into space.
o Fidgeting, picking at clothes, or fiddling with pens and phones
 o Others (please specify)
9. What major problem have you encountered?
o Trembling
o Nervous
o Missing the content prepared or what to say.
o Others (please specify)
10. How would you evaluate your Body Language in Negotiation?

Very bad      Very bad

1 2 3 4 5

11. What did you do to improve your Body Language Skills? (You can choose
more than one)
o Practice in front of mirror
o Try to use as much Body language as possible
o Learn from others and imitate them.
o Others (please specify)