非言语交际和跨文化交际

Non verbal communication and intercultural communication Abstract Language is the tool of communication and carrier of culture Non verbal communication can effectively complement verbal communication Non verbal communication often happens as verbal communication takes place It also has the same communicative function as verbal communication does People only emphasize verbal communication while they usually neglect non verbal communication which is of much importance in information transmission The main concerns in this paper include the relation between verbal and non verbal classification feature and function of non verbal communication The way solving intercultural conflicts in non verbal communication is also discussed here Key words non verbal communication function intercultural communication 1 Introduction Language is a necessary and very important tool in human communication When people talk about the communication they always regard verbal communication as a kind of way to communicate but neglecting the non verbal communication In fact verbal communication and non verbal communication are both ways for people to communicate Comparing with verbal communication non verbal communication can transfer information and express the meaning in a better way This paper mainly talked about the relation between verbal communication and non verbal communication the function of non verbal and the function of non verbal in the intercultural communication 2 the non verbal communication 2 1 The definition and classification of the non verbal communication Non verbal communication NVC is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages Such messages can be communicated through gesture by body language or posture by facial expression and eye contact Object communication such as clothing hairstyles or even architecture symbols Speech may also contain non verbal elements known as paralanguage including voice quality emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as rhythm intonation and stress Likewise written texts have non verbal elements such as handwriting style spatial arrangement of words or the use of emoticons Language is the most important way in human communication but it is not the only way to communicate For example sometimes we need lots of non verbal communication symbols to help us understand well In fact verbal and non verbal communications are both very important Some researchers divided the non verbal communication into three types the first one is that people just show the dynamic posture in a silent way For example when people show their agreement they will just nod their heads instead of saying yes to others Another example smiling is also a kind of non verbal communication it can express many different meanings It can show the satisfaction of something or even the polite refusal These depend on the different contexts The second one is static posture For example people were standing straight or leaning on the chair or sitting on the floor etc The different postures of the static bodies also can express different meanings according to the different contexts The third one is a kind of sounds which are produced by human beings but not verbal language it s a kind of non verbal language For example all kinds of smiling and the sigh both belong to the third type Those three non verbal communications play a very important way in human communication society 2 2 The comparison of verbal communication with non verbal communication As we all know verbal communication is very important in our real life however non verbal communication also plays an important role in daily life The phonetician David Abercrombie claimed that we speak with our organs but we converse with our entire bodies Abercrombie 1968 and we shall see in what sense this is true And in Mr Dai Weidong s book named A New Concise Course on Linguistic for Studies of English language was defined as langue is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication Short as it this definition has captured the main features of language First as all language is a system Second language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol and what the symbol stands for Third language is vocal because the primary medium for all languages is sound Last the term human in the definition is meant to specify that language is human specific Speech also reflects the social relations between the speakers and addressee most particularly the power and solidarity manifested in that relationship Power is self explanatory but solidarity is harder to define It concerns the social distance between people how much experience they have shared how many social characteristics they share religion sex age region of origin race occupation interest etc how far they are prepared to share intimacies and other factors Non verbal behavior is involved in the two aspects of speech considered in these chapter making relations between speaker and addressee and the structure of discourse and it also involved in the communication of content that is propositions and referents In the part 4 we will discuss the non verbal communication in intercultural communication in detail 3 The function of non verbal communication When communicating non verbal messages can interact with verbal messages in the following ways repeating conflicting complementing substituting regulating 1 Repeating Repeating consists of using gestures to strengthen a verbal message such as pointing to the object of discussion 2 Conflicting Verbal and non verbal messages within the same interaction can sometimes send opposing or conflicting messages A person verbally expressing a statement of truth while simultaneously fidgeting or avoiding eye contact may convey a mixed message to the receiver in the interaction Conflicting messages may occur for a variety of reasons often stemming from feelings of uncertainty ambivalence or frustration When mixed messages occur non verbal communication becomes the primary tool people use to attain additional information to clarify the situation great attention is placed on bodily movements and positioning when people perceive mixed messages during interactions 3 Complementing Accurate interpretation of messages is made easier when non verbal and verbal communication complements each other Non verbal cues can be used to elaborate on verbal messages to reinforce the information sent when trying to achieve communicative goals messages have been shown to be remembered well when non verbal signals affirm the verbal exchange 4 Substituting Non verbal behavior is sometimes used as the sole channel for communication of a message People learn to identify facial expressions body movements and body positioning as corresponding with specific feelings and intentions Non verbal signals can be used without verbal communication to convey messages when non verbal behavior does not effectively communicate a message verbal methods are used to enhance understanding 5 Regulating Non verbal behavior also regulates our conversations For example touching someone s arm can signal that you want to talk next or interrupt For example a person who is verbally expressing anger may accent the verbal message by shaking a fist 4 Non verbal communication in intercultural communication 4 1 The definition of culture A culture is a collection of beliefs habits living patterns and behaviors which are held more or less in common by people who occupy particular geographic area Culture influences all aspects of our lives It involves subjective attitudes values beliefs opinions behaviors and objective clothes food utensils architecture elements We use culture to explain similarities within and differences between groups of people Culture is not a static entity but is ever evolving what we commonly know as the generation gap is a cultural difference as it refers to different ways of life and being for people who are raised in different periods of time Culture exists on multiple levels and it enhances survival Cultures provide rules for living telling people how to interact work and play with each other Culture provides a hierarchy for decision making and sets the standards for group cooperation and divisions of labor With culture there is order without culture there is chaos Even people who think they have no culture have a culture it is just the culture to believe they have no culture Of all the possible things people could do culture helps to limit what we should do in order to survive in the environment in which we live Culture is communicated across generations And culture both enables behavior allowing it to be created or invented and it constrains and restricts it 4 2The definition of intercultural communication Intercultural communication is a form of global communication It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious social ethnic and educational backgrounds Intercultural communication is sometimes used synonymously with cross cultural communication In this sense it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act communicate and perceive the world around them As a separate notion it studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact Aside from language intercultural communication focuses on social attributes thought patterns and the cultures of different groups of people It also involves understanding the different cultures languages and customs of people from other countries Intercultural communication plays a role in anthropology cultural studies linguistics psychology and communication studies Intercultural communication can be simply defined as communication between people of different cultures The need for intercultural understanding does not begin or end with national boundaries One does not necessarily need to cross an ocean to have a cross cultural experience for virtually every country around the world is undergoing increased diversity within its own borders Even within our own country communication can often be somewhat intercultural 4 3 Non verbal communication in intercultural communication Just as this paper mentioned non verbal communication is necessary in our daily communication One very obvious aspect of non verbal behavior which helps to reflect power solidarity is the physical distance between the people concerned the subject matter of proxemics Pocheptsov 1994 It would be a safe hypothesis that physical distance is proportional to social distance in all cultures so that people who feel close in spirit will put themselves relatively near to each other when interacting At one end of the scale are courting couples and at the other end impersonal and formal occasions where speakers may be long distances from their addressees as in theaters or unable to see then at all as on radio and television What varies from culture to culture is the distance which is thought appropriate for a particular degree of solidarity For example Arabs generally set the distance lower than Americans This claim is supported by research Watson and Graves 1966 in which comparisons were made between Arab and American students in an American university The students were asked to converse in pairs in a room where they could be observed without their knowledge and records were kept of their movements how close to each other they sat how they oriented themselves towards each other how much they touched each other how much they looked at each other and how loudly they talked Sixteen Arabs and sixteen Americans were studied in this way with Arabs talking to Arabs and Americans to Americans When the results were compared it was found that Arabs confronted each other more directly than Americans when conversing they sat closer to each other they were more likely to touch each other they looked each other more squarely in the eye and conversed more loudly than Americans As we noticed such cultural differences can lead to serious misunderstandings and it is easy to see how physical distance relates to solidarity and power face We get and give solidarity face by physical contact touching stroking grooming and intimacies of the close family and between lovers are the ultimate in showing acceptance so the closer we are the more we can bolster each other s solidarity face On the other hand being physically close to another person is also an intrusion on their personal territory and a threat to their power face What is needed is a very delicate balancing act too near and we are intrusive too far and we are cold We don t make these decisions unaided but learn then from those around us this is very helpful when we are dealing with our own group but a source of problem when dealing with strangers Another kind of non verbal communication that is very important for power solidarity and other socially important emotions is what we do with our face in the literal sense this time We give out social signal with our mouths smiling showing disgust our eyes eye contact and our eye brows frowning showing surprise These signals are particularly interesting and important because some of them seem to be universal as Darwin claimed over a hundred years ago In short whatever our genes may or may not do for our spoken language they clearly have a lot of influence on the non verbal communicative framework within which speech takes place Besides non verbal communication also helps to mark the structure of the interaction One of the main kinds of structure considered was the pattern of behavior associated with entities and exits where non verbal behavior is just as clearly patterned as verbal behavior Some aspects of the former are relatively conventionalized such as hand shaking which in some cultures is replaced by nose rubbing or supplemented by kissing or embracing according to the relation between the participants In Britain hand shaking seems to be used to show that a relation is being given a fresh start rather than as a sign of intimacy Thus it is used to patch up quarrels between friends or when one is introduced to a stranger or to any one not seen for a long time In other cultures the rules for sha