A Traditional Approach Towards Identification and Evaluation of the Components of Verbal and Nonverbal Communications in the Tea Houses of Tabriz

Communication is one of the main activities of human beings through which they can convey their needs and messages to each other and also understand what others need or want and do. Of course, this is not fulfilled merely through verbal and written activities; but behavioral activities including both verbal and nonverbal elements (vocals), speech tones, and sounds play essential roles. Hence, the main objective of this study is to identify and then evaluate the components of verbal and nonverbal communications in the tea houses (traditional cafés) of Tabriz, a city in northwestern Iran. To achieve this aim, the data collection was conducted through interview and observation. The population of the study included all the tea houses and their customers scattered in Tabriz. Then cluster sampling method was used and all the tea houses were divided into 3 main groups of overcrowded, medium and low-crowded. Accordingly, 4 tea houses were selected from each of these groups and the samples were chosen randomly. Furthermore, this study emphasizes Habermas’s theory of the Public Sphere and Albert Mehrabian’s verbal and nonverbal communications. The findings suggest that there is no significant difference between verbal and nonverbal communications in the tea houses of Tabriz, though nonverbal communications enjoy relative independence and also act as supplementary to verbal communications. Meanwhile, the results indicate that the functions of tea houses have changed and their role has faded.