Body Language and Intercultural Communication.doc

毕业论文（设计）B.A. Thesis Body Language and Intercultural Communication B.A. Candidate: Li YuxianAdvisor: Zheng Sanliang Foreign Language DepartmentJiaying UniversityMay 21, 2008vAcknowledgementsI would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Zheng Sanliang, for her kind assistance and valuable and insightful suggestions and constructive comments during the process of my thesis writing. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much appreciated. My gratitude also extends to all the teachers who taught me during my undergraduate years for their kind encouragement and patient instructions. A special acknowledgement should be shown to Mr. Tian Minggang who taught us how to do the reference last term. Moreover, I wish to extend my thanks to the Foreign Language Department for the reference room where I found the important information, and the library assistant who helped to supplied me with reference materials of great value. Last but not the least; I would like to offer my particular thanks to my friends and family, for their encouragement and support for the completion of this thesis.Abstract The paper makes a main study on body language, the most important part of nonverbal communication, from the perspective of intercultural communication. In human communication, people use body language to communicate as well as verbal language. Body language is also called Kinesics. It belongs to the scope of nonverbal communication. Body language plays an important role in repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating and contradicting. Body language, like verbal language, is also a part of culture. But in different cultures body language means the different things. Different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. In intercultural communication, understanding the different cultural implication of Chinese and English body language can promote peoples cross-cultural communication competence, reinforce the heart-to-heart understanding and in the end will benefit the communication between Chinese and English people. This paper mainly expounds the definition, classification and functions of body language in pragmatics, presents the meanings of body language in different cultures from the point of cultures, researches body languages cultural differences between Chinese and English, especially those in gesture, posture, facial expression, eye contact and physical distance, and discusses the importance of knowing cultural meanings. The research of Chinese and English body language in nonverbal communication is helpful for people to diminish or avoid misunderstandings caused by the cultural differences of body language.Key Words: body language function intercultural communication cultural differences摘 要本文从跨文化交际角度对非言语交际的主要方式-体态语进行可初步研究。 人们在进行交流的过程中，除了运用语言这种普遍的方式外，也经常运用身势语。身势语又称体态语，是人类交际中最常见的一种非语言交际手段。身势语对话语意义起着重复、补助、替代、调节、否定作用。身势语同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。在不同文化中，身势语的意义并不完全相同。各个民族有不同的非语言交际方式。在跨文化交际中，了解汉英身势语的不同文化内涵，有助于汉英国家的人民之间更好地交流，提高跨文化交际能力，增进感情与心态的理解，做到“入乡随俗”，传情达意。 本文重点论述了身势语的定义、类型和功能，并从文化角度对身势语在不同的文化背景中的含义作了介绍，探讨了中国和英语国家在手势，姿态，面部表情，眼神与体距等方面的文化差异，论述了了解文化含义在非语言交际中的重要性。对跨文化交际中的英汉体态语进行探讨，有助于人们减少或避免在跨文化交际中因体态语的文化差异而引起的误解。关键词：身势语 功能 跨文化交际 文化差异ContentsAcknowledgements.iAbstract(English).iiAbstract(Chinese). iv1.Introduction.12. Body language.2 2.1 Definition .2 2.2 Classification of body language.2 2.2.1. Facial expressions.2 2.2.2. Eye behavior.3 2.2.3. Gestures42.2.4. Posture.43. Pragmatic functions of body language.53.1 Repeating.63.2 Complementing.63.3 Substituting.73.4 Regulating.73.5 Contradicting.74. A comparative study of Chinese and English body language.84.1 Gestures.104.1.1 The same gesture with different meanings in different cultures.10 4.1.2 Different gestures with same meaning.12 4.1.3 Gesture and meaning in one culture without equivalent in other cultures134.2 Posture.144.3 Facial expression.154.4 Eye contact.174.5 Physical distance.205. Conclusion.22References.25Body Language and Intercultural Communication1IntroductionIntercultural communication is the process of communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. It can be divided into two types: verbal communication and non-verbal communication. People can communicate with one another not only through verbal communication but also through nonverbal communication; moreover, the latter plays an essential role and mainly expresses real emotion and attitude through facial expression, posture, eye behavior, clothes, sound, etc. Body language is an important part of nonverbal communication, and thus this paper intends to present its meaning and classification, pragmatic functions and cultural differences so that we can improve our communication skills and abilities by understanding it well.As the trend of globalization is strengthened step by step, international communication is frequent and important day by day. Thus, the significance of body language in intercultural communication has been greatly realized. “ Research shows that when people meet someone for the first time, only 7% of their initial impact on others is determined by the content of what they say; the other 93% of their message is made up of body language (55%) and the tone of their voice （38%）.”（Zhang Jianqing，2004: 105）. Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person. As well as that, various body language signs can complement each other to make a particular meaning crystal clear or strengthen the meaning of what we communicate.Owing to cultural differences, the same body language has different meanings and communicative functions, which causes a lot of trouble in intercultural communication. Therefore, in intercultural communication, it is of great importance for us to understand the body language. This paper focuses on the cultural comparison of the body language between Chinese and English.2. Body language2.1 DefinitionThere are different versions made by different researchers to the definitions of body language which are presented as in order to set a much clearer picture of it: a). “Body language is not conveyed through words. It is a kind of mans social attributes and behavior. Which are issued by the deliverer, and received by the received purposely.” (Burgoon and saine, 1978: 89) b). According to Birdwhistell, an American psychologist, who is the first person that created the definition of “body language”, “body language is also called kinesics, including eye contact, gestures, posture, facial expressions, and physical distance.” （Jia Yuxin，1997: 68） C). Chinese famous scholar, Chen Wangdao once gave body language the following definition, “the action of striking a pose is body language, which is a tool for communication.” (Chen Wangdao, 1979: 21) Based on the preceding definitions above, it can be seen that different researchers view body language from different standpoints, each definition of body language is represented from levels of the language. However, they have one point in common that body language refers to those appearances and actions transmitting communication information. It is the reflecting or nonreflecting actions made by the whole body or just parts of the body, through which to communicative with the objective world. 2.2 Classification of body languageBody language is the richest kind in all kinds of nonverbal languages, it is estimated that human can do more than 270,000 kinds of postures and actions, which are more than all the sounds they can made. And each part of body languag acttion can convey different meaning as well as sounds. Therefore, people express their emotions and attitudes by using kinds of body languages. According to the different actions of humans body, body language can be classified into four categories: facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, posture.2.2.1 Facial expressionsThe face has been called an “organ of emotion” because it is a very common way that people use to communicate and constantly to understand what others are feeling everyday, such as, people make a big smile on their face when they feel very happy, whereas, they make a long face when they fell unhappy. Compared with words, facial expression is a natural way to reveal persons emotion and it offers vital clues to peoples own feeling. In most cultures, in general, a smile is a sign of happiness or friendly affirmation, as in America and China. Its often found that others will return a smile to those who smile at them but will look away or stop speaking to the person whose lips are pursed in frown. This can well be used in business. For example, if the shopkeeper faces their customers with coldness and indifference, pulling a long face that hides mutual information of communication, its very likely that the customers will be kept away from their service. The manners of treating people with sincerity, of serving people with a big smile make people feel cordial and warm. 2.2.2 Eye behaviorEye behavior is an important part of facial expression. People often say that eyes are indeed “the window of soul”, because eyes can give people a lot of real information. Eye contact happens between two persons. “The sender uses them to convey information and the receiver uses them to get information.” In drama, movies, fiction, poetry, or in real life, eyes have always been accepted as a major source of communication. “From Shakespeares “Thou tellst me there is murder in mine eye,” to the musical balled “your lips tell me no, no, but theres yes, yes in your eyes,” the eyes have held a strange fascination for people.” (Xu Lisheng，2004: 205) For one thing, people can use eye contact to monitor feedback, to check the others response to the conversation. People can know whether others like them or not from the way they look at them. If they are being stared at when they are talking with someone else, they can infer that the person they are talking with is attracted by them and he/she is interested in what they say or what they do, however, if he/she looks around, glancing at his/her watch time to time, they will often wonder whether he is listening to them or absent-minded. Without eye contact, people generally infer that the person is insincere, lack confidence and is trying to avoid them or is lying. For another thing, eyes can express the six common emotions. Fear, for instance, is expressed by eyebrows that are raised and drawn together, upper eyelids that are raised, and lower eyelids that are tensed and draw up.2.2.3 GesturesGestures include those made by both hands and other parts of the body, such as arm gestures and leg movements. For example if people intend to let the other keep silent, people usually put the index finger on the lips, and at the same time utter the sound of hushes to work together with it.Without gestures, the world would be static and colorless. The movements of peoples arms, hands, eyes, and feet constitute another important way in which people broadcast interpersonal data. In a very general sense, people all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to help describe something. When people say, “Thats an English book”, at the same time people are pointing to the book. If someone asks people the way to the library, people point to the right, adding a little information about it, which will be more clear and concrete. Using gestures, it is obvious to see the size or shape of something which is described.2.2.4 PosturePosture is a matter of how people sit, walk, stand and move. How many times have people heard the following admonitions?“Hey, stand up straight and tall!”“Dont slouch!”“Why are you hunched over the desk?”Each of people expects others to display postures as well as them, for their posture can give others all sorts of messages. People can conclude something from others posture when they listen to others; people believe they are more energetic, confident and competent if they stand erect. On the other hand, when people see a person slouching over a lectern or standing lazily, they make negative interpretations. People say the person is not very interested in that they are discussing.Being a branch of means of nonverbal communication, body language can help people to solve a lot of problems they meet. By knowing it and applying it properly, people from different cultures can understand each other better and thus communication with each other more successfully.3. Pragmatic functions of body language Body language is the most natural part of non-verbal communication and it helps verbal-communication achieve effective communication. “Alber Mebrabian, after a long-time study, he concludes a formula: the total impact of message = verbal (7%) + vocal (38%) + facial (55%).” （Zhang Jianqing，2004: 128） Being a kind of signs, body language plays a significant role in communication. Firstly, body language is so subtle that a shifting of body actions can also send a message. Secondly, people use the actions to learn their affective or emotional states. Moreover, body language is usually responsible for first impressions and has value in human interaction. Therefore, body language has many uses and its own unique pragmatic functions in human interaction. It falls into five types of functions: repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating and contradicting.3.1 Repeating People often use body language to repeat a point they are trying to make. People might hold up their hands in the gesture that signifies a person to stop at the same time when they are actually saying the word “stop”. Or they might point in a certain direction after they have just said, “The new library is in the south of that building.” The gestures and words have a similar meaning and reinforce one another.3.2 Complementing Closely related to the function of repeating is complementing. Although messages that repeat can stand alone, complementing generally adds more information to messages. For example, people can tell someone that they are pleased with their performance, but this message takes on an extra meaning if they pat the person on the shoulder at the same time. Physical contact places another layer of meaning on what is being said. Many writers in the area of body language communication refer to this as a type of emphasizing because it emphasizes the idea the speaker is trying to convey. People can see how an apology becomes more forceful if their faces.3.3 Substituting People use substitution in body language communication when they perform some action instead of speaking. If they see a very special friend, people are apt to enlarge the size of their smile and throw open their arms to greet him or her, which is a substitute for all the words it would take to convey the same feeling. If a group of people is boisterous, one might place his index finger to his lips as an alternative to saying “Place calm down so that I can speak.”3.4 Regulating People often regulate and manage communication by using some form of body language: people nod their head in agreement to indicate to their communication partner that they agree and that he or she should continue talking; or they may remain silent for a moment and let the silence send the message that they are ready to begin their speech. Or they will have direct eye contact with someone to let him or her know that the channels are open. In short, peoples body language helps them control the situation. 3.5 ContradictingOn some occasions, peoples body languages send signals opposite from the literal meanings contained in their verbal messages. One tells someone he is relaxed and at ease, yet his voice quavers and his hands shake. It also is a contradictory message when he informs his partner that he is glad to see him or her, but at the same time he is sulking and breaking eye contact. Because people rely mostly on nonverbal messages when they receive conflicting data, people need to be aware of the dangers inherent in sending opposing messages. As Sigmund Freud noted（Tang Degen，2000： 384）, “Though people may lie with their lips, betrayal oozes out of them at every pore.From the above analysis of pragmatic functions of body language, it is obvious that besides using verbal language to convey ideas and information, human beings often use body language to express real feelings, emotions and thoughts to achieve more effective communication. However, body language is molded by culture, so different cultures have different body languages. Analyzing the Chinese and English body language in intercultural communication can help people learn more about English-speaking countries culture and avoid the mi