1、分类号： 学号：分析跨文化交际中的身势语中国哈尔滨2013 年 6 月Classification Number： Student Number：A13090200Thesis for Bachelors DegreeAn Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural CommunicationHarbin ChinaJune 2013An Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural Communication -AbstractSince language has been created, it plays
2、a commanding role as a means of communication, but it is not the only means of communication. Body language also takes an important role to help people transfer information and improve human communication, which is an indispensable power to break up language obstacles in intercultural communication.
3、 Body language, as a non-verbal symbol system and a collection of facial expressions, gestures, body movements and posture changes, is an important part of the non-verbal communication and connects with culture. With the deepening of international economic and cultural exchanges, there appear more o
4、bstacles caused by the differences of language and culture. In intercultural communication, the most effective way to deal with the obstacles is to master the meaning of body language. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to maste
5、r it thoroughly. Because even the same body language have different meanings in different cultural backgrounds. This article makes a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of facial expressions, physical contact, eye language, gestures, and etc. It aims to illustrate
6、 the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in intercultural communication so that people can achieve efficient communication and avoid misunderstanding.Keywords: nonverbal communication, body language, cultural differences and similarities,
7、 communicative principlesAn Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural Communication -I-摘 要自从语言产生以来，言语交际便在人类交际中扮演最主要的角色，但它并非是交际的唯一手段。起辅助作用的身势语在人类交流中也起着不可忽视的作用。在跨文化交际中它帮助人们传情达意，突破语言障碍，促进交流。身势语，作为一种非语言符号系统，面部表情，姿势，身体动作和姿势变化的集合，是非语言交际的重要组成部分，并和文化紧密联系在一起。随着国际经济文化交流的加深，由于语言和文化差异而产生的障碍随时都可能存在，在跨文化交际中，消除这些
8、障碍最有效的方法就是了解身势语的含义。然而即使我们对常用的身势语有所了解，我们仍然面临着一些困难，即使同一身势语在不同的文化背景也会有不同的含义。本文通过从面部表情，身体姿态，目光语，手势语等方面对不同文化的身势语进行对比，目的在于通过列举身势语的文化差异与共性，提出交际中应当遵循的原则，从而促使人们有效地进行跨文化交际，避免出现误解。关键词：非语言交际；身势语；文化异同；交际原则 An Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural Communication -II-ContentsAbstract in EnglishAbstract in Chin
9、esePreface 11 Introduction .21.1 Research Background and Necessities of Studying Body Language.21.2 Organization of the Present Thesis.32 Body Language and Culture32.1 Review of Body Language .32.1.1 Definition of Body Language32.1.2General Characteristics of Body Language32.2 Cultural Differences a
10、nd Similarities of Body Language 42.3 The Relationship between Body Language and Culture 53 The Characteristics and Classification of Body Language53.1 The Characteristics of Body Language 53.1.1 Synonymy53.1.2 Obscurity .63.1.3 Symbolic63.1.4 Cultural Difference63.2 Classification of Body Language
11、.63.2.1 Innate acquired and conscious body language 73.2.2 Social environment effects on body language.73.2.3 The control of some body language 74 Cultural Differences and Similarities of Body Language and Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication 74.1 Cultural Differences and Similarities of
12、 Body Language 74.1.1 Cultural Differences of Body Language74.1.2 Similarities of Body Language104.2 Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication.104.2.1 Knowing More about Different Countries Body Language.104.2.2 Being Tolerant and Avoiding Prejudices 114.2.3 Appreciating Similarities and Acce
13、pting Differences.115 Conclusion.12References 13Acknowledgements 14An Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural Communication -0-PrefaceAs a communicative tool, language is very important in many situations. However, body language also takes a complementary role to help people transfer information
14、to improve communication, which will be an indispensable power to break up language obstacles in intercultural communication. In the 21st century,as the economic and cultural exchanging of all countries becomes more and more frequent, there appear more obstacles caused by the differences of language
15、 and culture. In intercultural communication, one of the most useful ways to deal with the obstacles is to master the meaning of body language. The traditional culture and national spirit of every nation come out from specific culture environment, we cant copy simply. We must understand the specific
16、 meaning under their background of culture firstly, and then we can understand the meaning of body language under different culture background. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master. Because even the same body language ha
17、ve great differences in different couture background. Using body languages wrongly not only makes you fail in interpersonal communications, which would cause conflict in international communication. So what are the differences of the same body language in different country? How to apply body languag
18、e correctly? In this essay, after borrowing and studying the experience of the forefathers, we analyze the various usages and functions of body language in different culture background.1 Introduction1.1 Research Background and Necessities of Studying Body An Analysis of Body Language in Intercultura
19、l Communication -1-LanguageWhen people speak of the communication, first they will think of the language, which is the verbal behavior. The verbal behavior is a process relying on the language instrument, including text (written languages) and verbal (oral language) to carry through communion delive
20、ring idea and transferring information. Language is an important tool of human communication, but it is not the only tool of communication. In fact, in addition to language, there is a more abundant content of the means of communication that is non-verbal. The non-verbal communication is the languag
21、e of all the acts of communication; it is very frequent in the frequency of daily life. A smile, a look, and a gesture belong to non-verbal behavior. It is difficult to fancy and cannot be processed that the communication between the people just depend on words without any accompanying gestures or p
22、ostures. That, at least, is not a sufficient communication. It is impossibility not to have the verbal behavior in humans communication, but the non-verbal communication goes with the verbal communication. Both of them formed the complete process of communication and also have their own features and
23、 functions. Non-verbal communication can represent peoples psychological activities richly and accurately1. As the main component of non-verbal communication, body language has its own trait, effect, and function. It must comply with the “principles of cooperation” just as verbal communication.In mo
24、dern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from
25、 different country.When a Chinese meet an American friend, would the kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each others shoulders would this be regarded as being proper by English-speaking people? Does nodding head mean yes a
26、nd shaking means no in all cultures? Im afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions .because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is an important tool in intercultural communication, but not the only communicating means, when peop
27、le talk with each other, there always accompany with some gestures and poses, which we call body language, which is composed of body distance, facial behavior, eyes contact and so on. So the study of body language should not only be the complementary to the study of language but also can help us go
28、out of misunderstanding zone in intercultural communication.The traditional culture and national spirit of every nation come out from specific culture environment, we cant copy simply. We must understand the specific meaning under their background of culture firstly, and then we can understand the m
29、eaning of body language under different culture background2.1.2 Organization of the Present ThesisThe thesis is mainly composed of six chapters. The first chapter serves as the research background and the necessities of studying body language in cross-cultural communication. The An Analysis of Body
30、Language in Intercultural Communication -2-second chapter presents the definition and the characteristics of body language. The third chapter focuses on the cultural differences of body language, including eye language, facial expression, gestures and touch. The fourth chapter clarifies similarities
31、 of body language and their causes. The fifth chapter introduces the principles of reducing communicative barriers in application of body language and the last part summarizes the whole content of this paper and restates the importance of body language in cross-cultural communication.2 Body Language
32、 and Culture2.1 Review of Body Language 2.1.1 Definition of Body LanguageBody language is a term for forms of communication by using body movements or gestures instead of uttering sounds, or other forms of oral communication ( Ekman P 1999:23). It is often called kinesics, composed not only of gestu
33、res and posture, but also facial expressions and eye contacts (Fowler H W 1951:65) 3,4. Gestures refer to the movement of hands or arms to express the meaning of a verbal message which is regarded as the central part of our body language. Posture is the general way of carrying out ones body, especia
34、lly the head, shoulders and back when walking, standing, squatting, sitting or lying. Eye contact is a very important part in body language which refers to the study of messages expressed by eyes, including eye contact, eye movements, staring, gaze, blinks and pupil dilation. The face serves as the
35、most expressive function in our body and it can give us some information about ones character. It should be mentioned that since diverse and complex factors are involved in the study of body language, a considerable amount of academic arguments exist concerning which definition of body language is t
36、he most valid and workable. Some scholars claim that body language is the language without words; others give a similar statement that body language indicates all communicative symbols except oral speech. Besides the above mentioned definitions, Samovar and Porter have made some attempts on a more s
37、pecific and vivid definition of body language like: Body language is the socially, biologically, psychologically or culturally framed exchange of valuable messages which are not verbally spoken out but conveyed by the body movements, body gestures, symbols or relevant context and surrounding environ
38、ment etc (Fowler H W 1951:87).Also, there is definition written in dictionary: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines body language as the process of communicating through conscious or unconscious gestures and poses5. 2.1.2General Characteristics of Body LanguageSome body languages
39、 are not only innate but also unconscious and subconscious. Take excited people for example, their pupil will dilate automatically; eyebrows move when greeting; frown when discontented; yawn when fatigued; bite teeth when anger and usually people smile when happy, cry when sad and blush when shame.H
40、owever, other body languages are postnatal. Various peoples form unique body languages An Analysis of Body Language in Intercultural Communication -3-due to the language backgrounds of their living. The gesture of Britain and American man is totally different when they sit with their legs crossed6.
41、American likes shrugging, and they often do a forward body gesture when they speak in future tense. Cupped-hand salute is peculiar only in China, we use it in such cases: congratulate when happy get-together; extend ones heartfelt respects when spend festivals; express heartfelt thanks and entrust i
42、n some special situations.(1)Differences of Nonverbal Communication in Different AreasDuring the communication, people will find out that even they are of the same nation; they still have some different nonverbal behaviors. This is true for different ages, different jobs in an area, let it alone in
43、different countries. They share the great difference on nonverbal behaviors. In China, there are 56 nations; each of them possesses its own tradition. Such as the Hui nation, they don t eat pork, if there is some pork put in front of them; they will keep silent and do not touch it at all. In some co
44、untries, smiling, laughing, making gestures are different. Each people is culture-bound, they behave unconsciously by their culture. For example, when we want to say goodbye to others, we often move our hand from left to right for several times, by contrast, in America, they put out their hand with
45、a kiss. (2)Universal of Nonverbal CommunicationAlthough nonverbal communication differs in different cultures, some basic actions are the same. Such as frowning, making faces, crying and looking at the watch to show ones anxiety. All of them have the same emotional meaning in intercultural communica
46、tion. For example, when someone is frowning, we know that this person has something unhappy. When he is looking at the watch, we know that he is anxious for something. In addition the people around the world accept some other nonverbal behaviors. For example, shrugging shoulder to show that there is
47、 nothing or I have no idea; shaking hands to show our friendship or to welcome someone. Besides, we depart index finger and middle finger to make the “V” action to show a victory. It is these colorful actions that complement our culture.2.2 Cultural Differences and Similarities of Body LanguageDiffe
48、rent believes are the causes of the differences of body language. According to the theories proposed by American anthologists Barnettt Pearce, Verrion Cronent, peoples behavior, the way of thinking and so on are affected by their believes. And every culture has its distinctive belief system. A norma
49、l action in this culture will be abnormal in another one. A positive behavior in one culture will be negative in another. People from eastern world advocate modesty, tolerance, mutual-support and responsibility for the group. But western people admire independence, self-respect, free development, and requiring individual space and so on. Next, we will go to the differences of body language from four parts.2.3 The Relationship between Body Language and CultureLike verbal language, body language is also a part of culture, which has great influence on the mea
