**2.2 Non-verbal communication functions**

As already said, nonverbal communication is used to send messages of the body, to express emotional states, attitudes, emotions, one's personality, to strengthen verbal expressions, to send feedback and signals in order to achieve better empathy with the interlocutor [1].

It has function:


Nonverbal communication is therefore used for:


#### **2.3 Cultural influence**

Culture has strong and pervasive influences in communication [18]. Verbal and non-verbal languages are determined by cultures, that is, they are not natural and equal for all regardless of cultures but they change depending on cultures themselves [19, 20]. Understand cultural foundations of the communication, in today's multicultural and pluralistic world, is an essential help for human beings

**71**

from different cultures [20].

*The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

vulgar.

in every culture.

to handle a conversation. The lack of knowledge of cultural aspects, that extend beyond of the purely linguistic knowledge, can lead to the rise of misunderstandings and communicative problems for interlocutors [20], who stop the social coordination and increase the conflict potential [18]. It's easier for people coming from expressive cultures (Mediterranean cultures, Latin American …) to judge as untrustworthy, inscrutable, smart, misleading or elusive those belonging to reserved culture. At the same time, it's easier for people coming from reserved cultures (Asian, northern European…) to judge as arrogant, noisy, immature or

Hall, in 1968, remarks that people of different cultures, as well as speaking different languages, live different sensory worlds, set according to cultural influences. Therefore, it is usual that in multicultural communication a different perceptive way could lead to contrasting meanings and obstacle to communication. In such context, recognise a nonverbal signal, do not always lead to an adequate interpretation of its meaning. Consequently, it's easier to misunderstand, especially when we suppose, perhaps unconsciously, that a particular behaviour has the same meaning

Nonverbal communication components vary considerably according to the reference culture: native and stranger speaker communicative competences depend on different cultural background, is therefore clear what are the inconveniences that could arise after have used or interpreted gestures that can be innocent in a language but rude and insulting in another. In fact, gestures, can be more or less conventional, but it is important to know that they show relevant cultural variations, especially for what concerning emblems (gestures with the verbal meaning that id different from word, like the OK signal) and the sign language, used by deaf-mute. The knowledge of gestures and their specific use can be very useful, particularly to

Face expressions and smiles are universal and biologically instinctual, in fact, they have the same meaning in all nations, but culture plays an important role in moderating their use [18]. For what concerning eye contact, it has strong cultural influences: for example, Eastern people tend to look a stranger person for a long

The use of silence, on the other hand, has an ambiguous and ambivalent nature, in fact his meaning varies according to the situational context, the type of relationship of the participant of the communication act, the reference culture [10]; as a matter of fact, Westerners, who are constantly surrounded by a life characterised by din, perceive silence as resignation, powerlessness, and paradoxically connect it to death or disgrace; the Eastern culture instead, is still perceiving and living silence as a force that reaches the bottom of someone's inner reality, digs down into it, and that is able to protect the individual. Just as much as the voice tone that, used in a conversation both high or low, varies according to the discussing topic and the cultural influence, but in general, as shown by Matsumoto and Hwang in 2013, expressive cultures encourage the use of higher vocal tones, while in restricted cultures, the voice tone is weaker and lower [18]. So, different vocal tones can cause embarrassment, discomfort and misunderstandings, especially if interlocutors are

Proxemics first of all depends on culture; for example, during a communication situation, distant for an Asian person, is shorter than the one of a European person. Moreover, inside the same culture, proxemics is influenced by the type of the existing relationship: there's a restricted space, same for everyone in the world, inside of which are included only affectively close people. This space is enlarged in case of working relationships and increases more and more as quickly as people in front of

know when use them as to not appear ridiculous or rude.

us are less known and are perceived as more far away [1].

time, thing that can be particular according to Western people.

#### *The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

*Types of Nonverbal Communication*

with the interlocutor [1]. It has function:

**2.2 Non-verbal communication functions**

relating to the external world;

• Individual-expressive, to satisfy interior affective needs;

• Cognitive, to relate the subject with the external world;

• Cultural-social, to transmit history and culture of a society.

Nonverbal communication is therefore used for:

of expression in the relationship infant-mother.

As already said, nonverbal communication is used to send messages of the body, to express emotional states, attitudes, emotions, one's personality, to strengthen verbal expressions, to send feedback and signals in order to achieve better empathy

• Psychological-developmental, to build the individual autonomy and awareness

• Establish interpersonal relationships: it can be considered as "relationship language"; through nonverbal language there is the possibility to influence others behaviour: according to the way we act in front of the interlocutor, he will act accordingly. If, for example, we act in a way that expresses a sense of superiority, it is at least possible that the who is in front of us will act in a defiant attitude. It has been observed, In the wake of Mehrabian studies, how nonverbal language has major power than verbal communication, in influence others behaviour [3]. Consequently, the most used signals are gestures, voice tone, posture, mimicry and look, that allow to express our feelings with regard to other persons and create relationships between interlocutors. These signals are the first that have been used to communicate and represent the first means

• Show the personality: it allows to express the image of ourselves and introduce to others. Face expression, look, gestures and movements make it clear the personality of who is in front of us. Sometimes we try to send controlled o

• Support verbal language: nonverbal signals, linked to what it is said, influence this last and give more information to the interlocutor. Nonverbal signals complete the verbal communication and have a meta-communicative function,

• Express emotions: interlocutors are capable of understand and recognise body status and moods through the analysis of face, eyes, gestures, postures and

Culture has strong and pervasive influences in communication [18]. Verbal and non-verbal languages are determined by cultures, that is, they are not natural and equal for all regardless of cultures but they change depending on cultures themselves [19, 20]. Understand cultural foundations of the communication, in today's multicultural and pluralistic world, is an essential help for human beings

modified nonverbal signals to give a better presentation of us.

as they supply elements to interpret verbal expression.

**70**

voice tone.

**2.3 Cultural influence**

to handle a conversation. The lack of knowledge of cultural aspects, that extend beyond of the purely linguistic knowledge, can lead to the rise of misunderstandings and communicative problems for interlocutors [20], who stop the social coordination and increase the conflict potential [18]. It's easier for people coming from expressive cultures (Mediterranean cultures, Latin American …) to judge as untrustworthy, inscrutable, smart, misleading or elusive those belonging to reserved culture. At the same time, it's easier for people coming from reserved cultures (Asian, northern European…) to judge as arrogant, noisy, immature or vulgar.

Hall, in 1968, remarks that people of different cultures, as well as speaking different languages, live different sensory worlds, set according to cultural influences. Therefore, it is usual that in multicultural communication a different perceptive way could lead to contrasting meanings and obstacle to communication. In such context, recognise a nonverbal signal, do not always lead to an adequate interpretation of its meaning. Consequently, it's easier to misunderstand, especially when we suppose, perhaps unconsciously, that a particular behaviour has the same meaning in every culture.

Nonverbal communication components vary considerably according to the reference culture: native and stranger speaker communicative competences depend on different cultural background, is therefore clear what are the inconveniences that could arise after have used or interpreted gestures that can be innocent in a language but rude and insulting in another. In fact, gestures, can be more or less conventional, but it is important to know that they show relevant cultural variations, especially for what concerning emblems (gestures with the verbal meaning that id different from word, like the OK signal) and the sign language, used by deaf-mute. The knowledge of gestures and their specific use can be very useful, particularly to know when use them as to not appear ridiculous or rude.

Face expressions and smiles are universal and biologically instinctual, in fact, they have the same meaning in all nations, but culture plays an important role in moderating their use [18]. For what concerning eye contact, it has strong cultural influences: for example, Eastern people tend to look a stranger person for a long time, thing that can be particular according to Western people.

The use of silence, on the other hand, has an ambiguous and ambivalent nature, in fact his meaning varies according to the situational context, the type of relationship of the participant of the communication act, the reference culture [10]; as a matter of fact, Westerners, who are constantly surrounded by a life characterised by din, perceive silence as resignation, powerlessness, and paradoxically connect it to death or disgrace; the Eastern culture instead, is still perceiving and living silence as a force that reaches the bottom of someone's inner reality, digs down into it, and that is able to protect the individual. Just as much as the voice tone that, used in a conversation both high or low, varies according to the discussing topic and the cultural influence, but in general, as shown by Matsumoto and Hwang in 2013, expressive cultures encourage the use of higher vocal tones, while in restricted cultures, the voice tone is weaker and lower [18]. So, different vocal tones can cause embarrassment, discomfort and misunderstandings, especially if interlocutors are from different cultures [20].

Proxemics first of all depends on culture; for example, during a communication situation, distant for an Asian person, is shorter than the one of a European person. Moreover, inside the same culture, proxemics is influenced by the type of the existing relationship: there's a restricted space, same for everyone in the world, inside of which are included only affectively close people. This space is enlarged in case of working relationships and increases more and more as quickly as people in front of us are less known and are perceived as more far away [1].

Body contact and the effects, favourable or not to relations, depend on the subject and his personal inclination, but also cultural differences play a crucial role. There are countries in which contact is frequent and intense (like those Arabian and Latin American) and others in which the contact is even forbidden.

In public relation, vestemic system influences the communication and leads to relations of dominance and persuasion between individuals. Especially in modern society, more and more people give importance to external appearance, not only given by the way of clothing and dressing up, but also given by the purely physical condition, by considering it a benchmark in the relationship choice. Different persons have major or minor confidence even through the way of dressing and the choice of personal objects that often act as status symbol [21].

Finally, it is important that the interaction between interlocutors is adequate from the point of view of chronemics (as is, that respects others' rhythms), so that the communication results effective: each individual has a personal rhythm and does not know the ones of other people, or presumes that they are identical to his; this can lead to awkwardness and dystonia, and it happens when rhythms do not correspond with each other, while when a regular and fluid communication flow is established, communication is synchronous [10]. In modern world, this aspect of communication is very neglected, mostly in Western culture. The time, in fact, in the fast culture if western world is not considered as a resource or an asset to spend in communication, but it is actually lived in a completely frenetic way, in a temporary perspective always future-oriented and economically respecting the "time is money" rule. On the other hand, in Eastern culture, the time has not yet been charged of these negative meaning and it is not lived with such anguish, people live in view in which "time is relation".

In conclusion, being expert in nonverbal communication and knowing the main analogical and intercultural differences, allows to establish effective and beneficial communicative relationships, even ignoring completely o partially interlocutors language.

### **3. Children and communication**

Communication, especially from the nonverbal point of view, assumes a basic position in personal and social development of every individual. With children communication assumes a relevant aspect even in relationship because it is necessary to adjust and moderate every message according to their age. Knowing and understanding how the child's brain matures, when it reaches specific competences, when it is capable of doing specific types of mental operations, can be a very big help for adults, both parents and teachers, which daily interact with children. Working on the way to communicate of the adult with the child at school and at home (but even during free time) can truly make the difference for significance relationships of life. Talk in a respectful, empathic and friendly way to children is an attitude that helps a lot in little daily difficulties and during learning times, that brings real harmony affective moments with children, which ask constantly to the reference adult to help and understand them.

For a healthy development, the child, since birth, needs to live daily communicative situations that are challenging, rewarding and most of all clear. With the beginning of kindergarten, the student, who is living a great development moment both physical, cognitive and especially lexical, gets in touch constantly with peers and adults, with which he spends time and establishes solid and significant relationships, by communicating regularly, giving and receiving information [22]. It is therefore important that kindergarten gives to students effective communicative

**73**

*Gestures*

verbal one (Rotenberg et al., 1989).

*The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

and nonverbal coherence principle3

production thereof [24].

student.

exchanges, that are adequate to subjects age, by increasing in them cognitive and relational curiosity. The key role is the one of the teacher: as communication is an important component of early years education, pre-school teachers also need to have adept communication skills [4]. He has to transit to students not only didactic information, but also rules applicable in the society, for example he has to be able to teach them to communicate effectively to solve in the right way their problems or inconveniences, without the use of verbal or physical violence. However, a good communication is based on empathy and listening, both of the teacher and the

Focusing on languages development steps, it must be kept in mind that preschool children, between 3 and 5 years, still need to learn using properly the verbal

nonverbal signals, despite their salience during the incoherent communication. 2003 research by Eskritt and Lee suggests that children below 5 years old do not have this capacity yet, that can be acquired during primary school; therefore, during the pre-school age, for a lot of children is difficult to understand an interlocutor's mixed message (in which the verbal shows to be different from the non-verbal or even contradictory), finding thems99elves in a position where they have to choose a source on which they can concentrate. Most of the time, the verbal part of the message is chosen, while sometimes people rely on the non-verbal part, but only when these messages are salient, exaggerated. The research has shown also that preschool children have just start recognise the importance of intention of the speaker in communication; with the rising of the mind theory beyond the preschool years, children can develop the capacity of deduce the communicative intention of a

In addition, during this period, children, according to Boyatzis and Satyaprasad research [24], have developed major capacities for what concerning decoding, so the interlocutor emotions and gestures understanding, rather than coding, as is the

So, many researchers argue that preschool years are a critical period for the development of the language; is therefore important to understand all factors that can potentially influence or interact with language development during this period. Assessment and monitoring of language and communication development should be integrated into each country's healthcare settings, alongside easy and timely access to quality early interventions and services, in case the child experiences dif-

Preschool children, which was mentioned earlier, prefer the body as means of communication; this allows them to handle themselves, to be conscious of themselves and support the development of the person in all dimensions. The way to communicate nonverbally can have long term effects on how children listen, act, process information and talk to others; therefore, it is necessary to analyse nonverbal characteristics in order to determine emotions shown by aforementioned [16].

Word and gesture, as already demonstrated, are intimately interwoven. This strong relationship between gesture and word, emerges soon in life and gets stronger when children learn the language. The gesture, influenced by cultural

<sup>3</sup> This principle assumes that verbal and nonverbal behaviours transmit normally the same message, but when there is a discrepancy, adults tend to assume as trustworthy the nonverbal message, rather than the

speaker when he/she communicates in an incoherent way [23].

ficulties in communication and language development [5, 25].

**3.1 Non-verbal communication in 0-8 years-old children**

; to do so they have to concentrate and rely on

#### *The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

*Types of Nonverbal Communication*

in view in which "time is relation".

**3. Children and communication**

reference adult to help and understand them.

language.

Body contact and the effects, favourable or not to relations, depend on the subject and his personal inclination, but also cultural differences play a crucial role. There are countries in which contact is frequent and intense (like those Arabian and

In public relation, vestemic system influences the communication and leads to relations of dominance and persuasion between individuals. Especially in modern society, more and more people give importance to external appearance, not only given by the way of clothing and dressing up, but also given by the purely physical condition, by considering it a benchmark in the relationship choice. Different persons have major or minor confidence even through the way of dressing and the

Finally, it is important that the interaction between interlocutors is adequate from the point of view of chronemics (as is, that respects others' rhythms), so that the communication results effective: each individual has a personal rhythm and does not know the ones of other people, or presumes that they are identical to his; this can lead to awkwardness and dystonia, and it happens when rhythms do not correspond with each other, while when a regular and fluid communication flow is established, communication is synchronous [10]. In modern world, this aspect of communication is very neglected, mostly in Western culture. The time, in fact, in the fast culture if western world is not considered as a resource or an asset to spend in communication, but it is actually lived in a completely frenetic way, in a temporary perspective always future-oriented and economically respecting the "time is money" rule. On the other hand, in Eastern culture, the time has not yet been charged of these negative meaning and it is not lived with such anguish, people live

In conclusion, being expert in nonverbal communication and knowing the main analogical and intercultural differences, allows to establish effective and beneficial communicative relationships, even ignoring completely o partially interlocutors

Communication, especially from the nonverbal point of view, assumes a basic position in personal and social development of every individual. With children communication assumes a relevant aspect even in relationship because it is necessary to adjust and moderate every message according to their age. Knowing and understanding how the child's brain matures, when it reaches specific competences, when it is capable of doing specific types of mental operations, can be a very big help for adults, both parents and teachers, which daily interact with children. Working on the way to communicate of the adult with the child at school and at home (but even during free time) can truly make the difference for significance relationships of life. Talk in a respectful, empathic and friendly way to children is an attitude that helps a lot in little daily difficulties and during learning times, that brings real harmony affective moments with children, which ask constantly to the

For a healthy development, the child, since birth, needs to live daily communicative situations that are challenging, rewarding and most of all clear. With the beginning of kindergarten, the student, who is living a great development moment both physical, cognitive and especially lexical, gets in touch constantly with peers and adults, with which he spends time and establishes solid and significant relationships, by communicating regularly, giving and receiving information [22]. It is therefore important that kindergarten gives to students effective communicative

Latin American) and others in which the contact is even forbidden.

choice of personal objects that often act as status symbol [21].

**72**

exchanges, that are adequate to subjects age, by increasing in them cognitive and relational curiosity. The key role is the one of the teacher: as communication is an important component of early years education, pre-school teachers also need to have adept communication skills [4]. He has to transit to students not only didactic information, but also rules applicable in the society, for example he has to be able to teach them to communicate effectively to solve in the right way their problems or inconveniences, without the use of verbal or physical violence. However, a good communication is based on empathy and listening, both of the teacher and the student.

Focusing on languages development steps, it must be kept in mind that preschool children, between 3 and 5 years, still need to learn using properly the verbal and nonverbal coherence principle3 ; to do so they have to concentrate and rely on nonverbal signals, despite their salience during the incoherent communication.

2003 research by Eskritt and Lee suggests that children below 5 years old do not have this capacity yet, that can be acquired during primary school; therefore, during the pre-school age, for a lot of children is difficult to understand an interlocutor's mixed message (in which the verbal shows to be different from the non-verbal or even contradictory), finding thems99elves in a position where they have to choose a source on which they can concentrate. Most of the time, the verbal part of the message is chosen, while sometimes people rely on the non-verbal part, but only when these messages are salient, exaggerated. The research has shown also that preschool children have just start recognise the importance of intention of the speaker in communication; with the rising of the mind theory beyond the preschool years, children can develop the capacity of deduce the communicative intention of a speaker when he/she communicates in an incoherent way [23].

In addition, during this period, children, according to Boyatzis and Satyaprasad research [24], have developed major capacities for what concerning decoding, so the interlocutor emotions and gestures understanding, rather than coding, as is the production thereof [24].

So, many researchers argue that preschool years are a critical period for the development of the language; is therefore important to understand all factors that can potentially influence or interact with language development during this period. Assessment and monitoring of language and communication development should be integrated into each country's healthcare settings, alongside easy and timely access to quality early interventions and services, in case the child experiences difficulties in communication and language development [5, 25].

### **3.1 Non-verbal communication in 0-8 years-old children**

Preschool children, which was mentioned earlier, prefer the body as means of communication; this allows them to handle themselves, to be conscious of themselves and support the development of the person in all dimensions. The way to communicate nonverbally can have long term effects on how children listen, act, process information and talk to others; therefore, it is necessary to analyse nonverbal characteristics in order to determine emotions shown by aforementioned [16].

#### *Gestures*

Word and gesture, as already demonstrated, are intimately interwoven. This strong relationship between gesture and word, emerges soon in life and gets stronger when children learn the language. The gesture, influenced by cultural

<sup>3</sup> This principle assumes that verbal and nonverbal behaviours transmit normally the same message, but when there is a discrepancy, adults tend to assume as trustworthy the nonverbal message, rather than the verbal one (Rotenberg et al., 1989).

differences and personal social status, has a particularly important role during starting language development. Children, when using gestures when they are not yet able to produce word and combining words and gestures when their repertoires are still limited, increase their communicative potential and communicate over the ability of their talking way [17].

Up to 3 years infants do not combine gestures with words, then they arrive to a turning point in which they start to combine them and synchronise le production of gestures and words. The start of this combination, in correspondence of kindergarten, announces a new linguistic developing phase of children and expands notably the range of their communicative systems. These characteristics of semantic integration and temporal sync, characterise the relationship between gesture and language even in adults. In fact, children from 3 years use gestures like adults [26].

As for adults, even for children, the use of gestures during a speech supports the collection of information from the memory and it lightens, by acting as an instrument, the charge of cognitive work of vocal process, by facilitating the lexical research [25].

In addition, Goldin-Meadow, Cook and Mitchell's 2009 research, showed a strong relation between gesture learning: in fact, the use of gestures helps children learning, therefore, the teacher has to stimulate it. For example, Clark et al., in 1974, showed that indicative gestures of adult speakers have helped understanding adults speech. Tfouni and Klatzky, in 1983, discovered that indicative gestures help children understanding the meaning of deictic words as, for example, "this". In 2008, McGregor reported a series of studies that show that hand gestures used in communication adult-child have been functional for the acquisition of an early vocabulary. Gesturing, by students, increases their implicit knowledge and prepares them to learning [17, 25].

As already said, gestures can be more or less conventional, but every child is different, so it is important to pass time with him to learn his gestures and meanings. It is fundamental, during Primary school, to promote the transition from the dimension of spontaneous expression to that of intentional gestural communication [1].

#### *Expressions*

Smile is one of the first mechanisms of social intelligence that is developed by children, to the point that 90% of infants has already smiled during the first two months of life. When one relates to such young subjects, a smile can reduce many barriers during the communication; a smile is also able to create a comfortable situation, that "connects" the subjects, provides and opens the communication channels. This aspect has strong cultural roots; therefore, the essence and intensity of children smiles varies according to the sociality and the culture to which they belong [16]: as a matter of fact, in the same occasions we smile neither in the same way nor with the same frequency. At first, children find it easy to smile and laugh, but their culture can inhibit their spontaneity, especially in girls, insisting on the fact that a woman should be introverted and reserved with advancing age. To the boys, on the other hand, could be taught to hide their feelings, as a sign of masculinity, with the result that, besides the tears, they will inhibit also a smile or a laugh*.* Ultimately, it seems that a child inherits a raw action, and then refines it with social experience. A person who belongs to an expansive culture could judge insincere a smile of another person who belongs to a more reserved culture, when in reality it's just an attenuated form of expression, conveyed by the cultural contest of belonging. In this case, knowing how to be on the specific wavelength of the culture with which one gets in touch becomes essential.

Look is linked to the internal emotive component of children: the expression of his own emotions, in fact, supply information on the internal status of the child that, at the same time through look direction (that is eye movement),

**75**

*The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

stand when he likes something or not.

affect the relation and the development of the child.

a sense of empathy, patience, understanding and equality.

**3.2 The teacher of kindergarten and primary school**

them [14].

*Proxemics*

something.

conscious way [15].

check the stimulation that he sends or perceives. Therefore, the child look can have a different functional meaning according to social-scientific relevance of stimulus. So, focusing on the combined role of the smile, the look and the emotive expression, researchers examining the early affective development in developing subjects, claim that children smile more when they look people and interact with

In general, children do not have the same capacity as adults to filter, cover and hide their own emotions, so they tend to show always their feelings. Facial expressions generally arise what a child is thinking or feeling and it is very easy to under-

The space is a very important aspect, in fact, since birth are necessary relationships that are built inside an intimate and personal space. But age is an aspect that affects the space use; in fact, a research has shown that from 3 years old to almost 21, personal space increase gradually and constantly. This has been demonstrated both in naturalistic and experimental contexts. However, Proxemics is not influenced only by age, but also by cultural, familiar and gender differences [11]. The teacher, in fact, has to try to establish physical contact with his/her students, but respecting times and modality of each one of them; if not he/she risks to invade the student personal space by creating inconveniences and negative reactions, that

Throughout history, experts have succeeded in formulate various strategies to try to improve non-verbal communication in children, included those with disabilities. For example, children, especially those with ASD, often need to be taught about eye contact or to hold body contact. Eye contact can be stimulated and taught by holding objects, that they draw their attention, in front of own eyes; as time goes by, ASD individual will look up independently, when he/she chase

These strategies are important because, first of all, allowing all of them to learn how to communicate with each other without the barrier of verbal language, creates

The presence of motivated, prepared teachers that are also careful to children groups specificity, is an essential quality factor for the construction of a friendly, inclusive, sure and well organised environment, also capable to stimulate trust in parents and community [27]. So, the teacher has to create conditions in order that students can learn in the best conditions, by identifying his/her role of speaker, harmoniser and stimulus in relationships between students and knowledge. Context is a fundamental element for the child, because, when he realises of being in a suitable space, he starts to communicate in a relaxed manner, not only verbally, but also with his own body; in addition, the child can establish good relations with his friends in a

Teachers communication is of great importance in children educative process; in fact, according to Pianta studies, have effective communicative capacities is very important for their development and education. It was determined that pre-school children who perceive their relation with their teachers as positive, warm and close had better school adaptation. However, school adaptation of students who perceive their relation with their teachers as negative were poorer compared to others. In similar studies, Brich and Ladd in 1997, and Justice, Cottone, Mashburn, RimmKaufman in 2008, it was revealed that when child-teacher relationship is negative, children exhibit negative attitudes towards school, have poor academic

#### *The Body Speaks Society, School and Culture DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94586*

check the stimulation that he sends or perceives. Therefore, the child look can have a different functional meaning according to social-scientific relevance of stimulus. So, focusing on the combined role of the smile, the look and the emotive expression, researchers examining the early affective development in developing subjects, claim that children smile more when they look people and interact with them [14].

In general, children do not have the same capacity as adults to filter, cover and hide their own emotions, so they tend to show always their feelings. Facial expressions generally arise what a child is thinking or feeling and it is very easy to understand when he likes something or not.
