A Journal of Teaching English Language and Literature ISSN Print : 2229-6557, Online: 2394-9244 TAPPING TOES AND DANCING EYEBROWS: PROVIDING FEEDBACK ON NON-VERBAL PARAMETERS IN GROUP DISCUSSIONS Shravasti Chakravarty Abstract Group discussions are used as a means of shortlisting candidates in most campus recruitments. Many professional courses, therefore, incorporate orientation programmes to develop group discussion skills within their English syllabus. These programmes however focus on the verbal aspects of language use, while non-verbal parameters are rarely given importance. However, non-verbal parameters play an important part during the selection process of candidates. Hence, the English teacher needs to focus on these as well when teaching group discussion skills. In this paper, I will attempt to capture the progress of three first year engineering students with regard to four non-verbal parameters in communication—facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and posture. One male and two female students were observed during five rounds of group discussions across ten weeks. The data gathered from these observations was analysed qualitatively to identify emerging trends in non-verbal parameters. The findings suggest that progress was manifested not only in the form of increased use of certain parameters but also as a decrease in the use of certain elements which form part of these parameters. This study has implications for the nature of teacher feedback on non-verbal aspects of communicative speaking tasks in the context of formative assessment. Keywords: Non-verbal communication, engineering students, group discussions, formative assessment Introduction Engineering students generally get job offers even before the completion of their four-year course. This happens through a campus recruitment drive conducted at the engineering institutes during the third year of the programme. Group discussions form an integral part of this selection procedure as it gives the selection committee an idea about the language proficiency of the prospective candidates as well as their personality traits. Consequently, it helps them to gauge the appropriateness of the candidate for the company. Therefore, it is imperative to develop group discussion skills in students. This may be done by training the students as part of the Language for Communication course, which is aimed at improving communication skills. Communication skills, however, include but are not limited to the participants’ ability to communicate face to face, think creatively, respect the views and contributions of others, solve problems logically, and adapt to changes easily. While the orientation programme focuses on verbal aspects of communication, often, the equally important but understated non-verbal aspects of communication are pushed to the periphery. This is especially true in case of