1、唐 山 学 院课 程 论 文论文题目：从跨文化角度看中美商务谈判中的身势语系 别： 外语系 班 级： 08 英本（2）班 姓 名： 刘连连 指 导 教 师： 路仙伟 2011 年 12 月Body Language in Sino-US Business Negotiation from Cross-cultural PerspectiveStudent: Liu LianlianSupervisor: Lu XianweiDepartment of Foreign LanguagesTangshan CollegeDecember, 2011从跨文化角度看中美商务谈判中的身势语摘 要随着经济
2、全球化的不断发展，商务谈判对于促进各国之间的经济交流与合作发挥着越来越重要的作用。中美两国之间的经济往来也变得越来越频繁。但中美之间由于存在很大文化差异，身势语也不同。在中美跨文化商务谈判中非语言交际身势语起着非常重要的作用。本文从跨文化角度对中美商务谈判中非语言交际中身势语进行了简单的对比分析, 希望能有助于中美两国经济合作。关键词：跨文化；中美商务谈判；非语言交际；身势语Body Language in Sino-US Business Negotiation from Cross-cultural PerspectiveAbstractWith the continuous develo
3、pment of economic globalization, business negotiation is playing a more and more important role in promoting economic communication and cooperation of all countries. Sino-US economic interaction is also becoming more frequent. However, there exists great difference in cultures of the two countries,
4、resulting in differences in body language. Body language, one kind of nonverbal communication, plays a very important role in Sino-US business negotiation. Therefore, it is necessary to make a brief comparison and analysis of body language in Sino-US business negotiation from cross-cultural perspect
5、ive, with the hope to help promote the economic cooperation between China and USA.Key words: cross-cultural；Sino-US business negotiation；nonverbal communication； body language ContentsIntroduction.1Part I A Brief Introduction to Body Language21.1Definition .21.2 Classification.21.3 Functions.3Part I
6、I A Brief Introduction to Business Negotiation42.1 Concept of business negotiation .42.2 The business negotiation process4Part III An Overview of Cross-cultural Communication.63.1 Halls high-context vs low-context63.2 Hofstedes value dimensions7Part IV Diversities of Body Language in Sino-US Busines
7、s Negotiation94.1Same body language with different meanings94.2 Different body language with the same meaning10Conclusion. 11Acknowledgements. 12Notes 13Bibliography.14唐 山 学 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文1IntroductionSince China entered into WTO in 2001, the communication between China and other countries has beco
8、me more and more frequent economically and politically. With the deepening of Chinas reform and opening-up, the standing of China is more and more important in world economy. The international trade by turns is one of the most important sources of China government revenue. The influence of Sino-US e
9、conomic relationship is worth attention. It is anything but an easy thing to conduct Sino-US business negotiation due to the great cultural differences between China and American. So it is very important to have a good master of the cultural differences in order to promote the trade exchange .In add
10、ition, body language also plays a key role in the cross-cultural business negotiation. So as to improve economic cooperation and trade exchange, it is necessary to make a brief comparison and analysis of nonverbal communication body language in Sino-US business negotiation.唐 山 学 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文2Part
11、 A Brief Introduction to Body LanguageAs the world is becoming closely integrated, economic communication between different countries has become more and more frequent. With the development of economy and the prosperity of trade, business negotiation has become very important. The role of nonverbal
12、communication, above all, body language can not be neglected. So it is necessary to have a better understanding of body language from intercultural perspective. Now the thesis will introduce the definition, classification and functions of body language in detail.1.1 Definition Body language belongs
13、to nonverbal communication. It is also called body movement, body behavior and so on, which refers to all expressions and movements that send messages to help us communicate with each other. Body language is a process in which we use our physical behavior to deliver information and express specific
14、meaning subconsciously which is unable to be conveyed by verbal language.It is not easy to define body language. According to Knapp nonverbal communication refers to communication affected by meaning rather than words. Some scholars also claim that body language can be used without words. Some lingu
15、ists take social conventions into account. Of course, there are numerous factors influencing how to make a definition of body language. It is easy to see that body language is the most important part of all nonverbal communication. It consists of facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, posture an
16、d so on. Body language, like verbal language, is also a part of culture. But in different cultures body language may have different interpretations. Different people have different ways of conducting nonverbal communication. In cross-cultural communication, understanding the different cultural impli
17、cation of Chinese and American body language can promote peoples cross-cultural communication competence, reinforce the heart-to-heart understanding and in the end will make it easier to conduct business negotiation smoothly and effectively.1.2 Classification There is no unified standard for classif
18、ying the body language. According to He Daokuan, body language refers to posture, stance, gestures, facial expressions, eye behavior, any other movement of any part of the body and appearances (including clothing, cosmetics, hair style and smell).Bi Jiwan thinks body language includes posture, 唐 山 学
19、 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文3etiquette (handshaking, kissing, smiling and touching), and body movements (head gesture, face gestures, eye movement, arm gesture, hand gesture and leg movement). Although we can not classify body language exactly, we can see gestures, postures and touch are important part of it.1.
20、3 Functions of Body LanguageBody language is also part of culture and the carrier of a certain culture. The functions of it should not be overlooked. 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 s
21、ay; the other 93% of their message is made up of body language (55%) and the tone of their voice（38%）.We tend to accept what our body delivers in our daily life, because nonverbal communication sounds more natural, more real. So, it is obvious that we need to pay close attention to the functions of
22、body language. Next lets discuss the functions of body language.Body language often can give a hand to our communication. Its functions are great benefit for us to conduct a smooth and efficient communication. There are five major functions: repetition, contradiction, substitution, supplementation,
23、and regulation.Repetition refers to the process to reinforce verbal communication through redundancy. For example, when we tell people how to go somewhere, we not only tell them the direction, but also point to the direction with hand at the same time. Generally speaking, gestures have the similar m
24、eaning with words and can repeat what is said.Contradiction is what you body language conveys is opposite what you are saying. On some occasions, our body can betray us .For instance, you tell someone you are relaxed, but your hands are shaking.Substitution is when we use body language to convey som
25、e message rather than speak it out. When we are having a meeting, we will put our finger on our mouth to tell others to be quiet.Supplement refers to body language help to convey some subconscious meaning, such as smile functioning as a supplement to pleasure.Regulation occurs when body language hel
26、p to control the flow of verbal messages. We often use some body language to regulate and manage our communication such as eye contact showing interesting and nodding as a form of agreement.Body language can play each function separately, and sometimes can work at the same time. It is necessary to h
27、ave a better understanding of these functions to communicate effectively and smoothly.唐 山 学 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文4Part II A Brief Introduction to Business NegotiationAt the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is definitely shrinking and trade is helping to shrink it. Experts estimate that ove
28、r fifty percent of an international managers time is spent negotiating. In effect, cross-cultural negotiations have begun to take on increasing importance to the multinational companies. Since international negotiations play a more and more important role in todays business relations, a general unde
29、rstanding of negotiation is a must. 2.1 Concept of business negotiationNegotiation is a basic human activity that most people do at some point every day, to sort out differences with other people, or to get what they want. A housewife with a salesperson over the counter for the price of fruits, a gi
30、rl with her parent for lifting the night curfew, a driver with a policeman for removing ticket over a traffic violation, a purchasing agent with a supplier for the quality of a product, so on and so forth, all of which involve negotiation. As a matter of fact, negotiation plays an important role in
31、our daily life.A modern definition of negotiation is two or more parties with common and conflicting interests who enter into a process of interaction with the goal of reaching an agreement (preferably of mutual benefit). 1Negotiation is a decision-making process that provides opportunities for the
32、parties to exchange commitments or promises through which they will resolve their disagreements and reach a settlement. In brief, a negotiation is two or more parties striving to agree when their objectives do not coincide. Business negotiation can be conducted in the form of verbal and nonverbal co
33、mmunication, which is closely interdependent. Verbal and nonverbal communications both have a direct influence on the results and effectiveness of negotiations.In order to carry on the business negotiation smoothly, the both parties shall conform to some principles such as Politeness Principle, Coop
34、eration Principle, Principle of Trust, Principle of Interest Distribution.2.2 The business negotiation processNegotiations, when taking place in an international context, consist of four major stages: non-task sounding; task-related exchange of information; persuasion, compromise; concession and agr
35、eement. Non-task sounding focuses on establishing a relationship among the negotiating parties. During this stage, the main aim of the parties is to get to know each other. Parties try to gather as much general information as possible on each other, such as the operating 唐 山 学 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文5enviro
36、nment, the infrastructure, the involvement of other third parties, competitors, etc. Non-task sounding is often more important in international business negotiations. Social, informal relationships developed between negotiators at this stage can be very helpful. Trust and confidence gained from thes
37、e relationships increase the chances of agreement.Task-related exchange of information focuses on providing information directly related to the issues under negotiation. During this stage, each party explains its needs and expectations. They not only have different perception of the process but also
38、 have different expectations for the outcome. It is, therefore, important that each party come to the negotiating table with an open mind and several alternatives. Parties evaluate the alternatives presented by the other party and select those that are compatible with their own expectations. Faced w
39、ith the issues on which they are at odds, they enter the next stage of the negotiation: persuasion.Persuasion focuses on trying to modify the other partys views and expectations and make them closer to ones own. A balance between firmness and flexibility is important at this stage. This stage of neg
40、otiation is often intertwined with other stages (i.e. persuasion goes on while exchanging information and making concession).Concessions and agreement are the culmination of the negotiation process. To reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable, each side must give up some things. At this stage
41、each party revises its former position and expectations to reach a settlement acceptable to both. All terms having been agreed upon, the contract is being drawn up and is ready to be signed.It is worth mentioning that although all negotiations include these four stages, duration and sequence of the
42、stages, emphasis put on the different stages, and strategies formed at these stages differ across cultures.When business deals take place across the borders, negotiations will be beyond question influenced by the different cultures. Therefore, negotiations can easily break down because of a lack of
43、understanding of the cultural components of the negotiation process. When Negotiators spend time understanding the approach that the other parties are likely to use, and then adapt their own styles to that one, they are likely to be more effective negotiators. Accordingly, it is worth the time to kn
44、ow the intercultural communication prior to entering into a negotiation situation. 唐 山 学 院 外 语 系 课 程 论 文6Part III An Overview of Cross-cultural CommunicationIn this part the paper will introduce some basic theories about cross-cultural communication.3.1 Halls high-context vs. low-contextHigh and low
45、 context refers to the amount of information that a person can comfortably manage. This can vary from a high context culture where background information is implicit to low context culture where much of the background information must be made explicit in an interaction. A high-context communication
46、or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low-context communication is just the opposite; i.e., the mass of the information is vested in the expli
47、cit code. Most cultures are context-oriented. According to Anthropologist Edward T. Halls theory of High-context and Low-context culture, we can better understand the powerful effect cultures have on negotiations. In his theory, context is the key factor which relates to the framework, background，an
48、d surrounding circumstances in which communication or an event takes place. High-context cultures (including much of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America) are relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. People in these cultures are less governed by reason than by intuition or feelings. Words are not so important as context, which include facial expressions, postures, gestures and the like. High-context communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Low-context cultures are quite different from it. Low-context cultures (including
