中英文化中非言语交际之身势语的比较研究.doc

a comparative study of body behaviors as a way of nonverbal communication between chinese and english culture中英文化中非言语交际之身势语的比较研究abstract body language is an important part of nonverbal communication and it is connected with culture. in order to make successful exchange in cross-cultural communication, we should know the body language from different cultures. and we should realize that body language, like verbal communication and culture, also has many similarities all over the world. however, body language from different cultures has many differences because of different regions, races and cultural customs. and it is restricted by its culture and has different cultural connotations. that is to say, the same body language has different meanings in different cultures and has different social functions. it aims to illustrate the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding.key words nonverbal communication; body language; cultural differences and similarities; principles【摘 要】身势语是非语言交际的重要组成部分并和文化紧密联系在一起。为了在跨文化交际中能够成功地进行交流，我们应该了解不同文化的身势语，必须承认世界各国的身势语与语言和文化一样，也有相似之处。然而，由于地域，种族，文化习俗的差异，不同文化的身势语有许多差异。它们由文化制约并拥有独特的文化内涵。也就是说，同样的身势语在不同文化背景下有不同的含义，行使着不同的社会功能。本文致力于从目光语，手势语，身体姿态，面部表情，体触语方面对不同文化的身势语进行对比。目的在于通过列举身势语的文化差异与共性，并提出交际中遵循的原则，从而促进有效交流，避免误解。【关键词】 非语言交际；身势语；文化异同；原则 chapter 1 introduction1.1 background(7 浅谈身势语的introduction)people can communicate with each other through not only verbal communication but also nonverbal communication. moreover, the latter plays an essential role in human communication. nonverbal communication is connected with cultures and it is the result of cultures. but many people pay great attention to the acceptance and correctness of the verbal communication and overlook the influence and cultural difference of nonverbal communication. then the misunderstanding and cultural crash often occur in the cross-cultural communication. so in the process of communication, it is not a complete communication while ignoring the cultural differences of nonverbal communication. a famous anthropologist e.t.hall pointed out “silent language expresses more information than verbal language. because it contains much information.” according to some researchers abroad, in peoples daily life, nonverbal communication takes part over 65% in all of information exchange. and body language is an important part of nonverbal communication. many experts have shown the importance of body language in the cross-cultural communication. “a psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal + 38% vocal +55% facial expressions and behavior.”1p89 it is clear without body language we cant finish our informational exchange. body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. so we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication. 1.2 the purpose of this thesis(7浅谈身势语的abstract中间)this article devotes to a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of eye language, gestures, postures, facial expressions and touch. the purpose of writing this thesis is that the author is very interested in body language both in china and western countries. for body language is very interesting and it has great effects on human beings communication. here, the author decided to explore the different body language between china and western countries, hoping to get the further study. on the other hand, knowing much knowledge about different body language in different country is in accordance with the authors major, which will help the author to know the background of chinese and western countries through their culture differences, after all, body language can reflect the important condition of a country, especially peoples concept, custom. all of those give me the idea to study the chinese and western body language. chapter 2. literature review2.1 studies abroad（7浅谈身势语的introduction）a famous anthropologist e.t.hall pointed out “silent language expresses more information than verbal language. because it contains much information.” according to some researchers abroad, in peoples daily life, nonverbal communication takes part over 65% in all of information exchange. and body language is an important part of nonverbal communication. many experts have shown the importance of body language in the cross-cultural communication. “a psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal + 38% vocal +55% facial expressions and behavior.” it is clear without body language we cant finish our informational exchange. body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. so we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.before the 20th century, darwin, in his famous book the expression of the emotion in man and animals, already mentioned this. it has made great influence and significances on the study of modern nonverbal communication. in the first half of the 20th century, the study in this field hasnt been formed systematically, and studies at that time only focused on some individual aspects, such as sound, appearance, clothing and facial expressions. in that period, the most influential works include kretschmers physique and character, the variation of human physique, and the last one is gesture and environment by david efron in 1941. in the 1950s nonverbal communication made a breakthrough development. birdwhistells introduction to kinesics and halls the silent language can be seen as the foundation stone. in the 1960s, the study was taken with further step, and began the studies on mans different gestures. during this period ekman and friesen contributed the most. they wrote articles about the cause, use and decoding of nonverbal communications. there were a lot of research papers and works published in the 1970s. one distinguishing book that cant be ignored is body language by fast. since the 1980s, the study on body language has further developed, and some contrastive analysis in this field has been carried out, such as the effort made by bi jiwan. he translated the book contrastive analysis of body language communication between china and english-speaking countries, which comprehensively introduces the different uses of body language in different countries. 2.2 studies at home scholars at home have also contributed a lot. in china the scientific study of body language only began at the end of 1982s. the representative works are introduction to body language by geng erling (1988), language and culture by deng yanchang and liu runqing (1989), practical body language edited by fan yunhua and li jiequn (1991), international communication by jia yuxin (1997), intercultural nonverbal communication bi jiwan (1999), and the series of books on intercultural communication edited and translated by hu wenzhong such as introduction to intercultural communication (1999), etc. generally speaking, the chinese scholars studies on body languages consist of two parts: communicative functions and cultural differences. on the basic of foreign scholars researches chinese scholars have added more specific and convincing examples from chinese culture.judging from what is mentioned above, we can see that cultural differences of body language, as barriers to intercultural communication, have already been drawn an increasing attention by scholars.but the previous studies on body language are either found in the studies of intercultural communication and nonverbal communication, which only consist of several paragraphs or pages and are far from detailed studies, or they just make brief comparisons of body behaviors in many different cultures with discrete examples, which are not systematic. until now, there has been no research done on the chinese and western cultural connotations of body language. chapter 3 the introduction of nonverbal communication3.1 the definition of nonverbal communication nonverbal communication (nvc) is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. i.e., language is not the only source of communication, there are other means also. definition of nonverbal communication: nonverbal communication is defined as “ the way in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words; nonverbal cues include facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position and movement, the use of touch, and gaze” (areson, wilson, & akert,2010,p.84). nonverbal communication is a constant part of our everyday lives. this is a format of communication that we develop as infants in an effort to communicate our needs to our mothers or caretaker indicate to us there is built-in regulator of serial order within our infant central nervous system. these inter change between mothers and infants from as early as the new born period. we all throughout our infancy went through that change, as we prepared ourselves to communicate non-verbally. the earlier we began our nonverbal communication the faster we as infants are able to move on to verbal (reilly, 1980). nvc can be communicated through gestures and touch (haptic communication), by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. nvc can be communicated through object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, symbols and infographics. speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. dance is also regarded as a nonverbal communication. likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emoticons.3.2 the functions of nonverbal communication argyle (1970) put forward the hypothesis that whereas spoken language is normally used for communicating information about events external to the speakers, non-verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. it is considered more polite or nicer to communicate attitudes towards others non-verbally rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations.argyle (1988) concluded there are five primary functions of nonverbal bodily behavior in human communication: express emotions express interpersonal attitudes to accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers and listeners self-presentation of ones personality rituals (greetings)chapter 4 the body language in nonverbal communication4.1 the function of body languagealthough language is a chief tool to help people communicate, yet body language cant be replaced by verbal language, especially in interpersonal communication. the study of psychology shows when two people do faceto-face communication, more than 50% information of communication are finished by mute body language. moreover, body language is international, so people coming from different countries can communicate with each other by body language even if they cant speak each others language. someone find that the time of a man on an average talking with the others each day takes up 10% of his total communicating time with others, at the same time, when people communicate with others, they always communicate by body language now and then. sometimes people even find body language can express all information. (zhao yanping, 56)4.2 necessities of studying body language in intercultural communicationwith the further opening to the outside world, more and more people go abroad or stay in motherland to go in for the work of intercultural communication. in intercultural communication people often feel confused and baffled because they cant immerge into the same background of culture and then result in failure in communication.this “body language” just like verbal language is also a part of culture. the specific meanings of body language originate from specific culture background. people can take advantage in conversation if only they master it well. in most situations, nodding ones head means agreement yes. waving an outstretched hand with open palm is the gesture for goodbye. leaning back in ones seat and yawning at a talk or lecture shows lack of interest, boredom. the meanings of these gestures have come to be accepted by most people, at least by chinese and americans. but the same gesture or body languages have different meaning in different background of culture. even nodding the head may have a different meaning. to nepalese, sri lankan, some indians and some eskimos it doesnt means “yes” but “no”. so if somebody wants to succeed in international business, if they want to have a good personal relationship with the foreign friends, and if they want to go out of mistaking zone, they must learn and master the practical skill of dealing with people coming from different background of culture. because body language is one of the most useful ways to salve the problems mentioned above.4.3 analysis on some commonly used body language in intercultural communication 4.3.1 eye contact eyes are important aspects of body language. people often compare eyes to the window of mind, and eye contact plays important part in interpersonal communication, however, there is much knowledge and question during communication about eye contact. for example, could speakers look at their partner directly when talking? how to look? how long could be looked at ? which part could be looked at? and which part couldnt to be looked at?4.3.1.1. the eye contact in britishthere are different habits in different nations and areas. in britain, if an orator only bend his or her head during lectures but faces the audiences as what many chinese do, they would be thought of indifference and impoliteness to audiences. british think the people who dont dare to communicate by eyes lack sincerity or dishonesty. also the educated englishman takes directly looking at the partners eyes as gentlemen.when you are in britain, you should know the rules for eye contact. in dealing with strangers the rule for british society is that you must not stare at them but at the same time you cannot ignore them. when strangers are passing in the street, you may not look at them until they are about eight feet away, then your glances must veer away as they pass. generally speaking, strangers feel comfortable looking at one another at a distance. the closer they are, the greater the tendency to avoid eye contact. this can be observed in a crowded lift where strangers glances fly from one spot to another.however, the british need eye contact when they are communicating with each other. there is a saying in english, “dont trust anyone who wont look at you in the eye.” not looking at the person could mean a number of things, including fear, contempt, uneasiness, guilt or indifference. even for a lecturer speaking to his audience, there is plenty of eye contact. to bury ones nose in ones manuscript is not welcome. this is not to say that people talking to one another will look directly into one anothers eyes all the time. british people normally look at the other persons eyes much longer when they are listening than when speaking. when they are about to stop speaking and start listening they look at the other persons eyes to signal they are about to change roles.staring at people is considered rude in britain and young children will be reprimanded by their parents if they look too long at another person. many english people traveling to some countries find being looked at intensely uncomfortable.so, when you are in england, you should know when you should look at others and when you shouldnt.4.3.1.2 the eye contact in chinesesmall differences in manners and customs can often lead to misunderstandings especially amongst co-workers from different countries that need to work together. one area is eye contact, or “looking each other in the eye.”in western culture, eye contact is very important because it is a way to tell whether someone is being honest with you or not. if someone looks you in the eye and says something, it is probably true; whereas if someone does not look at you when they talk, it may mean they are being evasive or untruthful.the functions of eye contact are quite rich and various. eye contact is important way of judging the relationship between two speakers. but the cultures of different countries of eye contact have great differences. chinese people are unaccustomed to being looked at directly, which is taken as an impolite action. so there exit such embarrassing situation that when chinese people converge with english-speaking people face-to-face, during conversation english-speaking people will be unpleasant about chinese peoples rarely eye contact, which will make them feel self-contemptuous or be looked down upon by the partner. however, chinese people feel uncomfortable and uneasy about the partners too much eye contact, because which make them suspect if they make some mistake. for chinese, on the other hand, eye contact is not necessary during a conversation, and in fact, may be considered too direct. people do not ” open their face” to everyone, any they control their emotions. thus lack of eye contact does not say anything about their honesty or focus.it is considered disrespectful to stare into another persons eyes. in crowded situations the chinese avoid eye contact to give themselves privacy. “the language of the eyes” also one of the most common and ancient ways of exchanging feelings between boys and girls, men and womenis