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辽宁对外经贸学院毕业论文Introduction 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%）.” Body language helps us to manage and guard against these tendencies, and also - significantly especially in flirting/dating/mating rituals - body language often helps people to communicate and resolve relationship issues when conscious behaviour and speech fails to do so. Body language has evolved in spite of human awareness and conscious intelligence: rather like a guardian angel, body language can help take care of us, connecting us to kindred souls, and protecting us from threats. While the importance of body language in communications and management, etc., has become a popular interest and science in the last few decades, human beings have relied on body language instinctively in many ways for many thousands of years. And thus this paper intends to present its meaning and classification, cultural differences and analyze the factors that influence body that influence our communication of body language so that we can improve our communication skills and abilities by understanding it well. 2 Body Language2.1 Definition of Body Language Body language is a term for communication using body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language or other communication. It forms part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of human communication that are not verbal language. This includes the most subtle of movements that many people are not aware of, including winking and slight movement of the eyebrows. In addition body language can also incorporate the use of facial expressions.Western scholars have made a lot of definitions about it, the most vivid and specific definition is that body language is the non-verbal language which can express information that language cannot express and the actions most people can understand. To get good at reading body language, go out and do the “R” over and over. Open your eyes and ears. Turn off your biased,over-analytical brain and observe the way a child observes. A toddler sees objects and actions in a more stand-alone way than adults, who go to extraordinary means to make connections. He has no preexisting framework to overlay his observations onto, so hes a much better collector of pure body language than older, well socialized people. If you place a wrapped box on the table in front of a young child capable of speech, the questions are endless. As you get older, you answer the questions for yourself, assuming you know what everything means.2.2 The Classification of Body Language Body language can be divided into eye contract language, body touches language, posture and gesture, manner, facial expression, flavor language, proxemics and clothes language. And in this paper just introduce four of them:eye contract, body distance,facial expression and gesture.2.2.1 Eye contractA 16th century proverb calls the eyes the windows to the soul. More than 500 years later, the proverb has assumed the stature of gospel. When you really understand the eyes, youll see how close the proverb is to the mark.Some of the following words used to describe a persons eyes are heard daily:direct, sensual, sardonic, expressive, intelligent, penetrating, sad, cheerful, worldly, hard, trusting, and suspicious. Most students, as well as your personal observations, tell you that culture modifies the amount of eye contact in which you engage and who is the recipient of the eye contact. If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they think eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. Japanese often look at the other communicators neck when they are in conversation. They believe eye contact is impolite. And Chinese consider gazing people is an unfriendly behavior and it is a challenge. Some South American Indians used to look at different directions when they are talking. In the Middle East, it is considered extremely provocative for a woman to let a man catch her eyes, let alone, return his gaze. 2.2.2 Gesture Gesture action language is a highly expressive body language, it is not only rich in diversity, but also simple and intuitive, so I use a wide range, high frequency, effective good. A good example is the award in 2005 CCTV Spring Festival Galas most popular dance audience show special award category of Avalokitesvara, 21 live in the silent girl in the world of sign language with their hundreds of millions to the nation transmission of information the audience to express New Years blessing. In a very general sense, we all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to help describe something. When we say, “Thats an English book”, at the same time we are pointing to the book. If someone asks us the way to the library, we point to the right, adding a little information about it, which will be more clear and concrete. We like to use our hands to indicate the dimensions when someone asks us to describe the size or shape of something. Americans often touch their temples to express somebodys cleverness. But this action means there is something wrong with ones mind or one is stupid to Chinese. Chinese are often surprised to see Americans lay their hands on their necks when they are full. Because it is an suicide action to Chinese, who used to express fullness by patting their stomachs. And another example, 2.2.3 Facial expressionFace is the organ of expression. Morris conjectured that it is the easiest to control because it is the closest to the brain. When it comes to the face, I think were dealing with a paradox: The face is both the easiest and the hardest area of the body to control. There are many things we do with our faces that we arent even aware of because they are second nature.A lot of emotion comes out through the brow in both voluntary and involuntary expressions. We use the forehead muscles when we normally interact with people, even on the phone, and we develop wrinkles as a result. If Morris were right and we can control the muscles in the face more easily than others, then we wouldnt be using so much Botox. We could voluntarily stop using the muscles that create the problem, and even voluntarily reverse the process of wrinkling by exercising them. In addition, if the face were under our control, more facial movements would be cultural, not universal.Facial movements become practiced behavior over time, because we learn how to present an even smile when meeting someone and an arched eyebrow when our kid drops mustard on the floor. But the plethora of muscles in our faces makes it hard for us to keep track of them. We often do not even realize the range of emotions and physiological reactions we express with our faces.What does that upturned brow mean? Is there a difference if the person sending the message is male or female? If the receiver is male or female? The head is the workhorse of communication. And although much of what it conveys is intentional, we still leak messages that are impossible to cover.2.2.4 Body distance Psychologists discover any person needs personal space, yet skins are not the boundary of personal space, their personal spaces are encircled by bubbles and other people cant break in at will.People always carry personal space with them no matter how far they will go, and they always have a kind of instinctive common sense of self-guard. So the speakers talking with him need to keep a distance during conversation to avoid offence. The anthropologist and socialist Doctor Hall advanced 4 kinds of definitions for it. 1. Intimate distance (0-45cm)proper for spouse and lovers; 2.personal distance(5-120cm)Proper for friends, acquaintances, and relatives; 3.social distance (120-360cm)proper for dealing with impersonal thing;4,public distance(360-750cm)proper for informal party. Take Britain and Italian for example, there would be a very interesting sense when people from the two countries are talking to each other. It seems that the Italian would always be the aggressor while the English be the defender. However, in their own condition, they just want to hold the communication space they used to. A persons use of space is directly linked to the value system of their culture. For example, oriental people could bear the physical touch in a crowd bus, while western people may find it unable to endure. As to personal space, Chinese, Japanese, even most of Asian people have fewer requirements than western people. For westerners value more on individualism.2.3 Functions of Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication, like verbal communication is also a part of culture and the carrier of a certain culture. The function of nonverbal communication in the whole communication cant be overlooked. “In the daily communication, we can see people cant communicate efficiently by verbal language alone. And nonverbal communication will express clear meanings in a certain context. And a certain nonverbal communication should be connected with verbal communication or the other nonverbal communication to provide correct information.”So in communicative activities, nonverbal communication also plays a great role. Of course, we should pay close attention to the functions of nonverbal communication. “In any case, when verbal communication conflicts with nonverbal communication, people are willing to accept the information nonverbal communication delivers. Because nonverbal communication sounds more natural, more instinctive and it is hard to pretend.”Obviously, we should make full use of nonverbal communication to achieve efficient communication. Now, we will discuss the functions of nonverbal communication. Repetition. For example, when we tell people how to get to the nearest hospital, we are not only telling them the direction but also pointing to the direction with hands. Supplement. For instance, we greet people with a smile. Smile functions as a supplement to the pleasure of meeting people. Replacement. When we communicate with others, we will frown instead of asking directly to hint that we dont understand and expect repetition or explanation. Emphasis. When we are talking or making a speech, we often raise our voice to stress the content. And sometimes, we say, “It is my fault” while hung down our heads. We smile and say, “Welcome”. We shout out to the people while waving our fists. All the nonverbal communication here emphasizes what we say. Adjustment. We often suggest that our talk is over by our tone, eyes, head nodding and other nonverbal communicative behaviors. For example, the manager stands up to show the end of the interview. 3 The Commonly Used of Body LanguageBody language is the most important behavior of nonverbal communication. For example, Chinese Tibetans stretch out their tongues when meeting people, this is the way to express their politeness and respect, but when Americans doing this, they want to express despite to others. So body language may cause difficulties and misunderstanding, lead to failure in intercultural communication. Following are some examples of use some of the nonverbal messages in intercultural communication which frequently appear in the course of communication and might easily cause misunderstanding.Following are some examples of use some of the nonverbal messages in intercultural communication which frequently appear in the course of communication and might easily cause misunderstanding.3.1 Greeting In Asian countries, there are some common greeting gestures, they are handshaking, bowing, avoid eye contact. In China , the western custom of shaking hands is the customary form of greeting, but often a nod of the head or slight bow is sufficient. Hugging and kissing when greeting are uncommon. Business cards are often exchanged, and yours should be printed in your own language and in Chinese. Also, it is more respectful to present your card (or a gift or any other article) using both hands. The Chinese are enthusiastic applauders. You may be greeted with group clapping, even by small children. When a person is applauded in this fashion it is the custom for that person to return the applause or a thank you. When walking in public places, direct eye contact and staring is uncommon in the larger cities, especially in those areas accustomed to foreign visitors. However, in smaller communities, visitors may be the subject of much curiosity and therefore you may notice some stares. In Japan, the graceful act of bowing is the traditional greeting. However, they have also adopted the western custom of shaking hands, albeit with a light grip and perhaps with eyes averted. Meanwhile, to show respect for their customs, it would flatter them to offer a slight bow when being introduced. It is considered rude to stand with your hand or hands in your pockets, especially when greeting someone or when addressing a group of people. Although handshaking is generally adopted around the world, Southeast Asians press together; Japanese bow; Middle Easterners and many Asians favor a gentle grip.3.2 SmileAnother facial sign, but one that varies from person to person,is the smile. Here is the difference between a practiced, perfect C-shaped smile and a smile that rises to the eyes: one is for presentation, and one is genuine.In a chimp, a smile means fear. Did our human smiles develop as a way of making ourselves less threatening to other chimps? Perhaps our ancestors found the smile a quick way of alerting another chimp that they had no intention of causing harm. They chose to express fear so they would not be perceived as a threat. Both chimps would put their guard down and everyone remained alive.A few of the common smiles that communicate a distinct message are these:When President George W. Bush says something and wants to know whether or not his audience will approve of it, he makes a goofy, country-boy smile.You can tell when hes uncertain about how people will perceive him.The amused smile is one you see among audience members at the Oprah Winfrey show when someone on stage says something mildly humorous. It engages the temple muscles, but exposure of teeth is limited or nonexistent.For an example of the seductive smile, think Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct.A smile of recognition shows genuine happiness if you like the person, and simple politeness if you do not. Regardless of the form it takes, it always involves the involuntary eyebrow flash associated with recognizing someone.3.3 Body Touch The French will shake hands with his host when they come into and leave the hosts house. But Germans only shake hands only with their host when they come into the house. Some Africans will make a sound by fingers after hand-shaking to show freedom. And Chinese shake hands for a short time and loose and then they stand away from each other. But Chinese shake hands tightly and keep closer to express politeness and respect. In English speaking countries, people used to hug or kiss each other in public between males and females, which is unacceptable and only exists between lovers and couples in private in China. In America, common friends and acquaintances will avoid body touch. Even in the elevator, body touch is not allowed. Touching the other people slightly or unconsciously, people will say “Sorry”, “Very Sorry”, “Excuse me” in a hurry to express apology. Or they will be abused. In western countries, people particularly mind their private space, which often represents peoples privacy and intimacy. But Chinese pay less attention to their private space. It is crowded in China because of a large population. So Chinese have got used to it and they often show their understanding and tolerance. Though Japanese also pay less attention to private space, they have strict rules in body touching. Arabians like body touching. Whether at home or in public, they like to be together and often hug together when they meet. Even they often touch each others nose and smell each other, which will frighten Englishmen and Americans. In English speaking countries, like America and Britain, females often hug males and kiss their faces to say goodbye. And in East Asian countries and western countries, males seldom hug but often shake hands to show welcome. Japanese often show welcome by bowing. In the countries like Arab, Russia, France, East Europe and some countries at the bank of the Mediterranean, males often hug tightly and kiss each others cheeks to show welcome. People living in Latin America also do the same thing. It is common to see youth of the same sex hold hands and hug in China. But in English speaking countries, it will be regarded homosexuality. “Scientists have made a survey on “touch” for the people from different countries. They spent an hour observing the people in couples in caf and counting their touching times: Englishmen-0; Americans-2; French-10; Puerto Rico-18.”In daily life, when teachers encourage their students or leaders appreciate their employees, they will pat their shoulders to express encouragement.3.4 Gestures “Gesture means we communicate and express by the movement and manners of our hands and fingers.” “Without gestures, our world will be static and colorless.