ABSTRACT
Knowing a common language is necessary, but not sufficient, for success ful communication. Much of the emotional and interpersonal content of conversations happens nonverbally (Leathers, 1986). A raised brow, a lean forward, a glance away, a long pause-these reveal how the speaker feels about the conversation and the other participants. As Ting-Toomey (1999) pointed out, "nonverbal messages are often the primary means of signaling our emotions, attitudes, and the nature of our relationships with others" (p. 115). Becoming fluent in reading these cues must be part of a complete edu cation in intercultural communication. For the goal of communication is not just to transfer information, but also to develop relationships, which de pend on emotions and attitudes that are expressed nonverbally. We deter mine, for example, whether someone is trustworthy from their nonverbal behavior (Ekman et al., 1980), and trustworthy behavior is culturally spe
cific (Leathers, 1986). Thus, to be effectively trustworthy, a person must learn how to convey this nonverbally in the local culture.
