This paper reviews key issues in cross-cultural communication; verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication is defined as spoken communication, including the use of words and intonation to convey meaning. On the other hand, non-verbal communication is "silent" communication, including the se of gestures, postures, eye contact, and conversational distance.

The issue of non-verbal communication is related to the teaching of Indonesia to speakers of other languages. The learners studying Indonesia should not only be equipped with the language ifself but also the Indonesian culture because " … to know another’s language and not his culture is a very good way to make a fluent fool of one’s self" (Brembeck, Winston: 1977) and "Culture hides much more than it reveals, and strangely enough, what it hide’s, it hides most effectively from its own participants" (Hall, Edward T: 1959).

The paper will limit itself to non-verbal communication or speaking without words, not verbal communication. It will emphasis on the importance of non-verbal communication concepts, because without them, a real communication cannot be conducted smoothly and successfully. Moreover, the paper is also going to explore the similarities and differences of non-verbal communication between Indonesians and non-Indonesians speakers. By doing comparisons, the learners learning Indonesian will avoid themselves from interpreting non-verbal communication that is culturally different from their owns.
 
 

Biodata:

Muhammad Handi Gunawan graduated from the English Education Department of Indonesian University of Education (UPI) Bandung in 1996. He has started teaching English since 1992 and has been interested in writing and conducting research on cross-cultural study. Mr Gunawan is currently the academic supervisor at Lembaga Bahasa Buahbatu Bandung.
 

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