Unit 3 B LIFE SKILLS: UNDERSTANDING PROXEMICS


Proxemics is the study of how close people stand to other people. Research shows that the distances which people consider to be normal actually vary a lot from culture to culture.


1


In pairs. Cut a large piece of paper into four pieces. Write one letter, A, B, C or D, on each piece of paper. Put paper A on the floor. Put paper B on the floor, 45 cm away from paper A. Put paper C on the floor, in line with A and B and 120 cm from A. Finally, put paper D on the floor, in line with the others and 350 cm from paper A.


Step 1 Student A stands on paper A. Student B stands between Student A and paper B. Have a short conversation. How do you feel? Comfortable/uncomfortable? Too close/too far away?


Step 2 Repeat Step 1, with Student B standing first between papers B and C and then between papers C and D. Which position was the most comfortable for you both? Why?


2


The spaces you made on the floor in 1 correspond to different distances people use in North American culture. Read the descriptions and compare them to your own experience and culture.


Intimate distance (0–45 cm between people)


Only parents and young children or husbands and wives usually stand this close to each other. Even good friends who stand this close can make each other feel uncomfortable.


Personal distance (45–120 cm between people)


This distance is common only between members of the same family, or close friends. People who know each other only slightly can feel uncomfortable if they stand this close together.


Social distance (120–350 cm between people)


This distance is for talking with people you don’t know very well, or have only just met. Within this range, the closer people stand, the more comfortable they feel with each other.


C21 skills


English for the 21st Century • Unit 3 53


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