English as a lingua franca the fore. English as a lingua franca English as a lingua franca (ELF) is the use of the English language as "a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages". ELF is also "defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication rather than formally by its reference to native-speaker norms" whereas English as a foreign language aims at meeting native speaker norms and gives prominence to native speaker cultural aspects. While lingua francas have been used for centuries, what makes ELF a novel phenomenon is the extent to which it is used – both functionally and geographically. A
Body-to-body communication to those with the ability to read and understand another person's body language and communication. Nonverbal communication is not possible to use for those who lack the ability understand bodily communication, specifically people with a nonverbal learning disorder. Culture has a very significant impact on how people communicate, and this influences both verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures. The same way that people of different cultures speak in different languages, the use body language and nonverbal communication is very different across cultures and ethnic groups and only few nonverbal gestures have the same or a similar meaning universally. For example,