Observations offer a very powerful tool for teaching proxemics. Students can observe people, videos, pictures, and television. Then they might compare these people's proxemic behavior in relation to the situation, culture, sex of participants, etc. Roleplay is another possible activity to teach proxemics. This is important because students can experience what a person feels when someone stands too far from or too close to them.
Experiments can help students see the reactions of inappropriate proxemic behaviors.
Students can be asked to stand closer than normal to a person they do not know, sit in the place their father usually sits at the table, go into a secretary's desk, get closer or farther away while talking to a friend, change the place of some objects in the house, or sit at a table in a restaurant with strangers. After seeing the reactions of the people, students can discuss the results of these experiments with their classmates, or write them in a journal, or both. These are just some of the alternatives to incorporate proxemics into the ESL class. There are many other possibilities to explore for teachers who like to be creative. Ivannia Jimenez Arias works at the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica.