A Comparative Study of Verbal Communication and Nonverbal Communication in Crosscultural Communicat.docx

A Comparative Study of Verbal Communication and Nonverbal Communication in Crosscultural Communicat.docx

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AComparativeStudyofVerbalCommunicationandNonverbalCommunicationinCrossculturalCommunicat

AComparativeStudyofVerbalCommunicationandNonverbalCommunicationinCross-culturalCommunication

ⅠIntroduction

Communicationisanindispensablepartinpeople’sactivities.Itfallsintotwocategories,namely,verbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunication.Whenitcomestocommunication,peopletendtoviewitasverbalcommunication.Yetbesidesthelanguage,non-languagecommunicationplaysadispensableroleinpeople’sdailylife.Bothdependoneachother.

Ⅱ.Verbalcommunication 

 Ingeneral,verbalcommunicationmeansthatpeoplecommunicatewitheachotherbymeansoflanguage.Throughverbalcommunication,peoplewilllearnwhotheyare,andwhattheworldaroundthemislike.Furthermore,verbalcommunicationexpressesone’sthoughtandfeelingstoothers,andtosatisfyone’semotionalandmaterialneeds.Inhuman’sdailylife,communicationissomethingthattheydoeveryday.Verbalcommunicationishuman’smaincommunicativeform,inwhichlanguageisitscommunicativetool. 

Ⅲ.Nonverbalcommunication

Inabroadsense,nonverbalcommunicationreferstoallcommunicativemeansexceptverbalcommunication.Accordingto《外语界》，上海外国语主办，nonverbalcommunicationmaydivideintotwocategories:

non-languageinformationsentbybodylikebodylanguage,facialexpression,eyecontact,physicaltouch,smellandparalanguage,andnonverbalinformationconnectedtoenvironmentsuchastime,spaceandsilence.Inanarrowprospect,definitionsofnonverbalcommunicationdifferfromoneexperttoanother.Nonverbalcommunicationmayconveyricherinformationthanthatofverbalcommunication.Sometimes,itcansendmessagesindependently,andinmanysituationsitisemployedincombinationwithverbalactionstotransmitmeanings.

Ⅳ.Superioritiesofnonverbalcommunication

4.1Comparisonofverbalandnonverbalcommunication

Insocialcommunication,verbalandnonverbalcommunicationarenotabsolutelyseparateeachother.Bothareindispensableandinteractive.Verbalcommunicationsendsinformationonlyinaway—language.Suchinformationmayberepeated,explained,complementedandreinforcedwiththeaccompanimentofnonverbalbehaviorsliketoneofvoices,smiling,nodding,eyemovement,facialexpression,etc.Duringpeople＇sface-to-faceactivities,verbalcommunicationisaprinciplecommunicativemeans,butonceverbalandnonverbalcommunicationhappentoconflict,nonverbalmessagesaremorepowerfulinthatitmayreflectone＇struethinkingandfeelings.Whyisnonverbalcommunicationmoreforcefulthanverbalcommunicationwhentheyconflict?

Therealvalueofthesetwokindsofcommunicationsliesintheirdifferences.

4.1.1One-wayinformationvs.Multiple-waymessages

Verbalcommunication,whosecommunicativetoolisonlylanguage,conveysinformationwiththeuseofverbalmessagessuchaswords,sentencesandparagraphs.Whethersendingcomprehensiveinformationthatwhatcounterpartneeds,itdependsonhisorherreaction.Unlikeverbalcommunicationthatsendsinformationinasingleway—language,nonverbalcommunicationmayprovidevariouswaysoflearningaboutotherssuchasothereyesmovement,facialexpression,postures,gesturesandsoon.JustasChinesesaying:

toreadone’sfaces.Then,verbalcommunicationconveysinformationwiththeone-wayuseoflanguage.However,infact,languagemayhardlyconveyabsolutelythesender’sthoughtandfeelings.Sometimes,thereisnoneedtoconveyone’smindsandemotions.What’smore,onlywiththeuseoflanguagecantheynotbeconveyed.Whereas,non-languageinformationsentbybodyandnonverbalmessagesconnectedtoenvironmentmaytellothers.Throughsomenonverbalcues,othersareabletounderstandthesender’sverbalinformationinthewhole.Itnaturallyleadstothefactthatverbalcommunicationsendsinformationinasingleway,whilenonverbalcommunicationmayexplainandcomplementthemessagesthatlanguagecannotconveyorimpossiblyconveythroughvariousways.

4.1.2Directvs.Indirect

Verbalcommunicationdirectlysendsinformationthroughlanguage,whilenonverbalcommunicationindirectlyconveysmessagesthroughsomenon-languagecuessuchasbodylanguages,physicaltouch,spatialuseandsoon.Whencommunicatingthroughhumanlanguage,peoplereceivedirectinformation.Then,inaconversation,thetopic,thecontent,thedirectionandthepurposeareobvious.Communicatorsareabletodirectlygainnecessaryinformationandtheywillreachanagreeableidea.Nonverbalcommunication,however,mayindirectlybringagreatvarietyofmessages.Althoughnonverbalcommunicationdiffersindifferentcultures,somebasicemotionsreflectedbybehaviorssuchassmiling,frowning,laughingandcryinghavecommonmeaningsinhumancommunication.Asmilesignifieshappiness,greeting,andwelcome;Frownmaydisplaydisagreement,unhappiness,discouragement,dissatisfaction,angerandsoon.Ontheotherhand,peopleindifferentculturehavedifferentattitudetowardsphysicalcontact,spatialuseandsoon.Suchindirectinformationwithouttheaidoflanguageismoreeffectivethanthatofverballanguage.

4.1.3Consciousvs.Unconscious

Itisausualfactthatpeoplethinkaboutwhattheywanttosaybeforespeakingorwriting,morenonverbalmessagesarenotconscious.Ofcourse,someonereallyfocusonsomeoftheirnonverbalbehavior:

smiling,aspeoplewanttotrytheirbesttoconvinceothersthattheyarehappyormakingsurethehandshakeisfirmtoshowthattheyarestraightforwardanddecisive.Yettherearesomanynonverbalsignalsthatareunlikelyforpeopletoconsideranddominantoverallofthem.Then,theirsubtlefrownsmaydenytheirsmiles,andtheireyemovementmaydestroyalltheself-confidenceoftheirstronghandshakes.Theunconsciousnatureofmostnonverbalbehaviorexplainsthereasonwhyitcanoffersomanyvaluablecuesabouthowothersarefeelingandthinking.

Verbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunicationareinseparable.Thetwodependoneachother.Thus,bothareinteractive.Itisdifficulttoimagethathowtheycouldtakeintoeffectwithouteitherone.Muchoftherealvalueofthesecommunicationsoftwokindsliesintheirdifferences.

4.2Functionofnonverbalcommunication

Nonverbalcommunicationisalsocalledsilentlanguagebecauseitdoesnotusesoundasmedia.Themessagessentbynonverbalcommunicationarenotinsuchanorderly,sequentialmanner.Nonverbalcommunicationmayconveyone’ssoundlessandtruefeelingsintheinnerworld.Ininterpersonalcommunication,nonverbalcommunicationisunlikelytobereplacedbyspokenlanguage.Nonverbalcommunicationisthelinguisticsignalsystemthatpeopleexchangethought,conveyinformationandexpressemotions.Ithasitsownfunction.Whenonlyused,ithasthefunctionofconveyingemotions,replacinglanguage,conveyinginformation,showingceremonyandsoon.Whenusedtogetherwithlanguage,ithasthefollowingfunctions.

4.2.1Emphasizingtheinformationofverbalcommunication

Nonverbalsignalmayunderlinetheinformationthattheverbalcommunicationconveys,andleaveadeepimpressiononothers.Inaspeech,nonverbaltransmissionisespeciallyimportant,sometimesevenmoreimportantthanlanguage.Whenyouaregivingaspeechortalking,nonverbalcuesmayleadtoyoursuccess,foritcandrawaudience’sattentionandemphasizeyourspeech.Inthisway,peoplewillhaveadeepimpressiononyouandabetterunderstandingonwhatyoutrytoconveyinthisspeech.Inaddition,nonverbalsignalsmayhighlightwhatoneisspeaking.Forexample,whenastrangergetslostinabigcity,thenturntoyouforhelp,youwilldescribehowtogetthere,pointingatalandmark.Insuchway,thestrangermakesaclearsenseofyourwords.Andthisgestureemphasizeswhatyousay.Nonverbalsignalsplayavitalroleinemphasizingwhatverballanguageisconveying.Itmaymakeverbalinformationclearer,morepowerful.

4.2.2Repeatingtheverbalmessages

Nonverbalcommunicationmayreinforcewhat’ssaidinverballanguage.Studiesshowthattheinformationthatverballanguageconveysisonlypartlysenttoreceiver.Hence,repeatingtheverbalmessagesbynonverbalcues,suchasbyagesture,thereceiverpossessesabetterpossibilitytounderstandthemessages.Forinstance,peoplemaypointatabuildingaftertheyjustsay“thisisthemostbeautifulofficebuildinghere”.

4.2.3Complementingmoreinformation

Repetitioncanreinforcetheinformation,whilecomplementinggenerallyaddsmoreinformationtomessages.Forexample,ifyouaredeliveringalecture,youmaychangeyourtoneofvoice,forinsuchway,audiencewillnotfeelbored.Meanwhile,thiswaymaycomplementyourlecturethatisexpressingideas.Inaddition,ifyoumakeanapologytosomeone,itismorepowerfulonyourface,eyesaswell,aresaying,“Iamsorry”.Itismoreeffectivethatyoucouldaccentyourangerbyspeakinginamuchloudervoicethaninnormal.

4.2.4Contradictingtheverbalmessages

Nonverbalcommunicationsendssignalsoppositetotherealmeaningconveyedinverballanguageinsomesituation.Insuchoccasion,itiseasiertobringaboutmisunderstanding.Itisoftenarguedthatpeoplehaveatrendtobelievetheinformationthatnonverballanguageconveyswhenverbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunicationconflict.Sometalkers,however,oftensendtheirnonverbalcuesbeyondtheirconsciouscontrol.Forexample,ifyouvisitafriend,whenyouaregoingtoleave,yourfriendenthusiasticallysaytoyou,“Ireallywantyoutostayadayonceagain”,openingthedoorandhavingadesiretopushyououtsideandshu