body language.docx

body language.docx

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bodylanguage

1Introduction

Verbalcommunicationisdefinedasspokencommunication,includingtheuseofwordsandintonationtoconveymeaning.Ontheotherhand,non-verbalcommunicationis“silent”communication,includingtheuseofgestures,postures,position,eyecontact,facialexpressions,andconversationaldistance.

Aninvestigationintothefunctionsofverbalandnon-verbalcommunicationshows:

thetotalimpact=7%verbalfeeling+38%vocalfeeling+55%facialexpressions.

Thisresultreflectstheimportantroleofnonverbalcommunicationindailycommunication.AsDavidAbercrombiesaid:

“Wecanspeakinvocalorgans,butwecanusenonverbalgesturetocommunicate.”

Asonemeansofnonverbalcommunication,bodylanguageisthemostnaturalpartofnon-verbalcommunicationanditplaysanimportantroleinnon-verbalcommunication.Justlikeverballanguage,bodylanguageisalsothecarrierandcontainerofculture.Thesamebodylanguageintwocultureshasdifferentmeaning,sostudyingthecultureanddifferencesofbodylanguageincross-culturecommunicationisveryimportant.

1.1NonverbalCommunicationandBodyLanguage

“Nonverbalcommunicationisaprocessinwhichcommunicatorsusethenaturalfeaturesoftheirbodiestodeliverinformationandexpressspecificmeaninginstinctivelytotheothercommunicator.”（Guanyanxiang,2004,p90）Thestudyofnonverbalcommunicationcoversthreemajorparts:

proxemics,kinesicsorbodylanguage,andparalanguage.Kinesicsisalsocalledbodylanguage,whichstudiesthemeaningsofthemovementofallpartsofbodyanditincludesmanynonverbalbehaviorsuchaseyelanguage,gestures,postures,facialexpressions,touchandsoon.InWebster’sNewDictionary,kinesicsisdefinedas“tosystematicallystudynonverbalbodyaction（suchasblush,eyemovements,etc）andcommunication.”Samovaroncesaysthat“Kinesicsisthesystematicstudyofbodylanguagemovementsandaction,”andthroughthestudy,kinesicsmakestheseactionandbehaviorsformalizedandencoded.HuWenzhongsaysthatspaceandorientation,andseatingarrangementarealsopartsofbodylanguage.（HuWenzhong,1995;23）CollinsEnglishLanguageDictionarygivesthefollowingdefinition:

Bodylanguageisthewayinwhichyoushowyourfeelingorthoughtstootherpeoplebymeansofthepositionormovementofyourbodyratherthanwords.Thedefinitionofbodylanguageinthispapercanberegardedasoneinawidesense,itincludessigngesture,bodygestures,eyecontact,facialexpressionandtouch.

1.2TheFunctionsofBodyLanguage

Bodylanguageisonemeansofnonverbalcommunication.Itisthemostnaturalpartofnon-verbalcommunicationandithelpsverbalcommunicationachieveeffectivecommunication.Bodylanguagehasthreemajorfunctions:

assisting,substitutingandexpressingorhidingemotionalfeelings.（胡文仲,1998.10）Duringthestudyofcommunication,researchersjustpayattentiontotheverbalcommunicationwithoutpayingattentiontobodylanguage,however,themessageandinformationconveyedbybodylanguageisfarbetterthanwords.Forexample,whenwetellpeoplehowtogettothenearesthospital,wearenotonlytellingthemthedirectionbutalsopointingtothedirectionwithhands.Weoftensuggestthatourtalkisoverbyourtone,eyes,headnoddingandotherbodylanguage.Forexample,themanagerstandsuptoshowtheendoftheinterview.

1.3TheClassificationofBodyLanguage

Bodylanguageistherichestkindofnonverballanguage.Itisestimatedthatmancandomorethan270,000kindsofposturesandactions,whicharemorethanallthesoundstheycanmake.Samovaremploysthetermsbodybehaviortomeanbodylanguage.Hedividesitintoappearance,clothing,bodyaction,facialexpression,eyecontacts,starting,touch,ect.Andheevencollectsparalanguageandshowoffhislanguageintothiscategory.

Tosomeitem,peoplehavereachedanagreementonwhethertheyshouldbelongtothescopeofnonverbalornot.Suchasfigure,smellandsomesignals.Sincebodylanguagecoverstoomanyitems,andtheresearchinthisfieldhasprogressedrapidly,itisnotnecessaryforustomakeanaccuratedefinitiononitsscope.Butstartingfromcross-culturalcommunications,andcombiningwithwhathasbeenachievedbywesternscholars,wecanroughlydividethecategoryofbodylanguageintothreetypes:

thoseoffacialexpression,gestureandaction.Theyoffersupplementaryfunctionstoverballanguage,andsomecanreplaceverballanguageforcommunication,andsomeevenexpressmuchricherideas.

1.4CultureandBodyLanguage

Incross-culturalcommunication,wemustclearlyunderstandnon-verbalcommunicationandtherelationshipbetweencultures.Cultureandthevastmajorityofnon-verbalcommunicationarehandeddownfromgenerationtogenerationandacquiredacquisition,andthelonghistoricalandcultureheritageo