theuseofbodylanguageininternationalcommunication文档格式.docx

1、 93% of their message is made up of body language （55% and the tone of their voice. Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person. As well as, various body language signs can complement each other to make a particular meaning clear or strengthen

2、 the meaning of what we convey. Thus body language is very crucial. Because every culture has its special body language, learning the application of body language in different culture backgrounds becomes increasingly essential.This paper intends to present its meaning and classification, functions,

3、above all, displays its application in different countries, so that we can improve our communication skills and abilities by understanding it well. When someone communicates with foreigners, he can know their real thoughts from their body language.All in all, language is the component parts of cultu

4、re. Studying and understanding body language is helpful to study language of foreign countries and avoid mistakes in intercultural communication.1 Literature ReviewWhen people speak of the communication, first they think of the verbal language. Actually, body language is used earlier than verbal lan

5、guage. So the research of body language is also important.The research of body language can trace back to 1872 when Charles Darwin （1872 publishes the book The Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals. He thinks human will gradually obtain communication capacity through body information. Afterward

6、s, people are beginning to recognize, in the foundation of the language, the groups members through facial expressions, gestures, posture, and speech to relay the information to each other and complete language and nonverbal language decoding process. In the early of 20th century,Kreteschmer（1925 wr

7、ites Physique and Character and Variation of Human Physique, as well as Efron （1941 writes Gesture and Environment. There book are the reformation of the research of body language. Then G. L. Trager（1948 and E. T. Hall（1948 propose thatpeople need to learn cultural characteristics in the other count

8、ries in international communication.R.L.Birdwhistell （1952, as the founder of Kinesics, points out the concept of Kinesics, which is the study of nonlinguistic bodily movements, such as gestures and facial expressions, as a systematic mode of communication. And in 1970, he advances the theory that h

9、uman communication needs and uses all the senses. The information conveys by human gestures and movements is coded and patterned differently in various cultures, and these codes can be discovered by scrutiny of particular movements within a social context in Kinesics and Context.In China, HuWenzhong

10、 （1988 writes Cross-cultural Social Intercourse and English Study, The Cross-cultural Social Intercourse Choose to Read, Culture and Social Intercourse, which analyzes body language in cross-cultural communication and explain the importance of it.In addition, Huang Xianjin explores the difference of

11、 non-verbal communication under different cultural background. And Cao Hejian researches the effect of body language in the words meaning.Today though the mankinds language system has been highly flourishing, the study is still going on. Body language is one of the most useful ways in intercultural

12、communication.2 Information about Body Language2.1DefinitionAs a kind of communicative tool, body language takes a complementary role to help people transfer information to improve communication, which is an indispensable power to break up language obstacles in intercultural communication. Body lang

13、uage, also called Kinesics, is the complementary of language and belongs to the scope of nonverbal communication. It cooperates with verbal language to express information more accurately.2.2 Functions of Body Language The study of psychology shows when two people do faceto-face communication, more

14、than 50% information of communication are finished by mute body language. Moreover, because body language is international,people coming from different countries can communicate by body language even if they cant speak each others language. Why do people see this phenomenon? It is because body langu

15、age plays an important role in repeating, complementing, regulating, contradicting.2.2.1 RepeatingSome of the nonverbal information can be repeated with oral language. Movements of head and hands are always playing a role of strength when talking to others. For example, sometimes when you say the nu

16、mber “one”, you put out one of your fingers to help you express your idea. Samovar said: “The most important communicational tool used by human beings is of course language。 however, it does not mean that language is the only tool. It also depends on many other nonverbal behaviors. When one is speak

17、ing, gesture, eyes contact, posture and facial expression are always accompanying voiced language. All the movements including allnonverbal behaviors are behaved as one aim to deepen the impression of meaning”（Samovar, 1981: 11. In intercultural communication, this function of body language has grea

18、t help. There is a simple example, when people say,“goodbye” while they wave their hands. This is repeating.2.2.2ComplementingSometimes the voiced languages were powerless and the nonverbal behaviors embroider on these speech acts by eye contacts, facial expressions, gestures, physical contacts, etc

19、. “These silent body languages gain a start by remedy the powerlessness and inadequacies” （Devote, 2004: 78. Suppose you are on a phone call, a foreign friend comes to visit you. Younod your head or give a gesture or cast him a glance to ask him to sit down and wait for you. We see sometimes informa

20、tion conveyed by nonverbal acts have no relation with oral words. But these nonverbal acts complement what you want. Thanks to these nonverbal behaviors, language becomes more symbolic, emotional and lively.2.2.3RegulatingA period of conversation can be described as a series of listening and speakin

21、g. They are coordinated with each other in some communication, such as starting chatting, changing topics and giving an end to it. “Nonverbal behaviors are usually used to regulate such kinds of cooperation”（Coester and Smith, 1988: 69.When there is a conversation, one shows another about his emotio

22、n response and attitude with the help of nonverbal behaviors. Regulating is usually used to keep talking in a face-to-face conversation. It implies the speaker that he can go on talking, repeat again, give a further explanation, speak faster, speak more lively, and invite others to give a speech, et

23、c. 2.2.4ContradictingCompared with language communicative functions, body language is more authentic and accurate to convey information and record the meaning in some language environment, because languages sometimes are insincere in ones words and nonverbal behaviors are the authentic feeling from

24、ones heart。 （Hu Wenzhong, 1988. For example, you have received a present from your friend that you do not like. Though you will say, “I like it very much” happily, your facial expression will show you are unhappy. That is to say, your facial expression contradicted with what you said.To communicate

25、with foreigner, people should especially pay attention to this point that one cant lie with foreigners, because his body language will leak his secret.2.3Important Role of Body Language in Intercultural CommunicationAlthough language is a chief tool to help people communicate, yet body language cant

26、 be replaced by verbal language, especially in interpersonal communication. “Nobody can keep secret completely, if his lip keep silent hewill talk by his finger, every gesture of his body will betray him” （Hu Wenzhong, 1988: 12. His words mainly explain the important function of body language during

27、 conversation. In addition, a famous psychologist has ever proposed a formula: emotion expression = 7% language + 39%voice +83%expression behavior。 （Cao Hejian, 1997, which also illustrated the important role of body language in interpersonal communication.Charles Darwinonce said, “Humanwould gradua

28、lly obtain communication capacity through body information” （Darwin, 1872. All in all, body language is indispensable in intercultural communication. Greeting, introductions, farewell, visiting and etc have different body language in every countries. If one merchant does not know these, he will sure

29、ly fail in his business. Therefore, if somebody wants to succeed in international business, if he wants to have a good personal relationship with the foreign friends, and if he wants to go out of mistaking zone, he must learn and master body languages of different countries because it is one of the

30、most useful ways to lead to successful communication.3 Questionnaire SurveyThe previous chapter has shown some information of body language. This chapterwill illustrate an experiment which is designed to testify the difference of body language. It will include the research problems, methodologies, such as participants, testing materials, and the procedures, etc.3.1 Research QuestionsBased on testing materials chosen from the r