Do emoticons pose a threat to human emotions? The influence of non-verbal communication on interpersonal skills among learners at secondary level

Abstract

The topic of this article is the influence of non-verbal communication on interpersonal skills of learners at secondary level. The author states that among people of generation of the so-called digital natives a new negative language related phenomenon may be observed, including significant impoverishment of the lexical resources and lack of even basic skills on constructing oral and written expression. An important reason for this state of affairs is a specific displacement of verbal communication (direct conversations, telephone conversations, writing letters or even e-mails) by various kinds of non verbal communication, including the use of iconic and symbolic signs and gesture speech. Graphic way of expressing feelings (emoticons) and gestures more and more often replace real expression of emotions based on the key principles of interpersonal communication, which often leads to significant impoverishment of emotional expression in direct relations.