Body Language and Intercultural CommunicationWord下载.docx

1、 Zheng SanliangForeign Language DepartmentJiaying UniversityMay 21, 2008AcknowledgementsI would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Zheng Sanliang, for her kind assistance and valuable and insightful suggestions and constructive comments during the pro

2、cess of my thesis writing. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much appreciated. My gratitude also extends to all the teachers who taught me during my undergraduate years for their kind encouragement and patient instructions. A special acknowledgement should be shown to Mr.

3、Tian Minggang who taught us how to do the reference last term. Moreover, I wish to extend my thanks to the Foreign Language Department for the reference room where I found the important information, and the library assistant who helped to supplied me with reference materials of great value. Last but

4、 not the least; I would like to offer my particular thanks to my friends and family, for their encouragement and support for the completion of this thesis.Abstract The paper makes a main study on body language, the most important part of nonverbal communication, from the perspective of intercultural

5、 communication. In human communication, people use body language to communicate as well as verbal language. Body language is also called Kinesics. It belongs to the scope of nonverbal communication. Body language plays an important role in repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating and contr

6、adicting. Body language, like verbal language, is also a part of culture. But in different cultures body language means the different things. Different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. In intercultural communication, understanding the different cultural implication of Ch

7、inese and English body language can promote peoples cross-cultural communication competence, reinforce the heart-to-heart understanding and in the end will benefit the communication between Chinese and English people. This paper mainly expounds the definition, classification and functions of body la

8、nguage in pragmatics, presents the meanings of body language in different cultures from the point of cultures, researches body languages cultural differences between Chinese and English, especially those in gesture, posture, facial expression, eye contact and physical distance, and discusses the imp

9、ortance of knowing cultural meanings. The research of Chinese and English body language in nonverbal communication is helpful for people to diminish or avoid misunderstandings caused by the cultural differences of body language.Key Words: body language function intercultural communication cultural d

10、ifferences摘 要本文从跨文化交际角度对非言语交际的主要方式-体态语进行可初步研究。 人们在进行交流的过程中，除了运用语言这种普遍的方式外，也经常运用身势语。身势语又称体态语，是人类交际中最常见的一种非语言交际手段。身势语对话语意义起着重复、补助、替代、调节、否定作用。身势语同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。在不同文化中，身势语的意义并不完全相同。各个民族有不同的非语言交际方式。在跨文化交际中，了解汉英身势语的不同文化内涵，有助于汉英国家的人民之间更好地交流，提高跨文化交际能力，增进感情与心态的理解，做到“入乡随俗”，传情达意。 本文重点论述了身势语的定义、类型和功能，并从文化角度对身势语

11、在不同的文化背景中的含义作了介绍，探讨了中国和英语国家在手势，姿态，面部表情，眼神与体距等方面的文化差异，论述了了解文化含义在非语言交际中的重要性。对跨文化交际中的英汉体态语进行探讨，有助于人们减少或避免在跨文化交际中因体态语的文化差异而引起的误解。关键词：身势语 功能 跨文化交际 文化差异ContentsAcknowledgements.iAbstract（English）.iiAbstract（Chinese）. iv1.Introduction.12. Body language.2 2.1 Definition .2 2.2 Classification of body languag

12、e.2 2.2.1. Facial expressions.2 2.2.2. Eye behavior.3 2.2.3. Gestures42.2.4. Posture.43. Pragmatic functions of body language.53.1 Repeating.63.2 Complementing.63.3 Substituting.73.4 Regulating.73.5 Contradicting.74. A comparative study of Chinese and English body language.84.1 Gestures.104.1.1 The

13、same gesture with different meanings in different cultures.10 4.1.2 Different gestures with same meaning.12 4.1.3 Gesture and meaning in one culture without equivalent in other cultures134.2 Posture.144.3 Facial expression.154.4 Eye contact.174.5 Physical distance.205. Conclusion.22References.251Int

14、roductionIntercultural communication is the process of communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. It can be divided into two types: verbal communication and non-verbal communication. People can communicate with one another not only through verbal communication but also through

15、 nonverbal communication; moreover, the latter plays an essential role and mainly expresses real emotion and attitude through facial expression, posture, eye behavior, clothes, sound, etc. Body language is an important part of nonverbal communication, and thus this paper intends to present its meani

16、ng and classification, pragmatic functions and cultural differences so that we can improve our communication skills and abilities by understanding it well.As the trend of globalization is strengthened step by step, international communication is frequent and important day by day. Thus, the significa

17、nce 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%）

18、and the tone of their voice （38%）.”（Zhang Jianqing，2004: 105）. Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person. As well as that, various body language signs can complement each other to make a particular meaning crystal clear or strengthen the mea

19、ning of what we communicate.Owing to cultural differences, the same body language has different meanings and communicative functions, which causes a lot of trouble in intercultural communication. Therefore, in intercultural communication, it is of great importance for us to understand the body langu

20、age. This paper focuses on the cultural comparison of the body language between Chinese and English.2. Body language2.1 DefinitionThere are different versions made by different researchers to the definitions of body language which are presented as in order to set a much clearer picture of it: a）. “B

21、ody language is not conveyed through words. It is a kind of mans social attributes and behavior. Which are issued by the deliverer, and received by the received purposely.” （Burgoon and saine, 1978: 89） b）. According to Birdwhistell, an American psychologist, who is the first person that created the

22、 definition of “body language”, “body language is also called kinesics, including eye contact, gestures, posture, facial expressions, and physical distance.” （Jia Yuxin，1997: 68） C）. Chinese famous scholar, Chen Wangdao once gave body language the following definition, “the action of striking a pose

23、 is body language, which is a tool for communication.” （Chen Wangdao, 1979: 21） Based on the preceding definitions above, it can be seen that different researchers view body language from different standpoints, each definition of body language is represented from levels of the language. However, the

24、y have one point in common that body language refers to those appearances and actions transmitting communication information. It is the reflecting or nonreflecting actions made by the whole body or just parts of the body, through which to communicative with the objective world. 2.2 Classification of

25、 body languageBody language is the richest kind in all kinds of nonverbal languages, it is estimated that human can do more than 270,000 kinds of postures and actions, which are more than all the sounds they can made. And each part of body languag acttion can convey different meaning as well as soun

26、ds. Therefore, people express their emotions and attitudes by using kinds of body languages. According to the different actions of humans body, body language can be classified into four categories: facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, posture.2.2.1 Facial expressionsThe face has been called a

27、n “organ of emotion” because it is a very common way that people use to communicate and constantly to understand what others are feeling everyday, such as, people make a big smile on their face when they feel very happy, whereas, they make a long face when they fell unhappy. Compared with words, fac

28、ial expression is a natural way to reveal persons emotion and it offers vital clues to peoples own feeling. In most cultures, in general, a smile is a sign of happiness or friendly affirmation, as in America and China. Its often found that others will return a smile to those who smile at them but wi

29、ll look away or stop speaking to the person whose lips are pursed in frown. This can well be used in business. For example, if the shopkeeper faces their customers with coldness and indifference, pulling a long face that hides mutual information of communication, its very likely that the customers will be kept away from their service. The manners of treating people with sincerity, of serving people with a big smile make people feel cordial and warm. 2.2.2 Eye behaviorEye behavior is an imp