A Comparative Study of the Body Language in Chineseand Western Countries.doc

a comparative study of the body language in chineseand western countries中西方身势语对比研究a comparative study of the body language in chinese and western countriesabstract: as a communicative tool, language is very important in many situations. however, body language also takes a complementary role to help people transfer information 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 exchange of all countries becomes more and more frequent, more obstacles have been caused by the differences of language and culture. in intercultural communication, one of the most useful ways to deal with the obstacles is to master the meanings of body language. however, even if people understand the meanings of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master. because even the same body language has great differences in different cultural background. using body language wrongly can make people fail in interpersonal communications, which would also cause conflict in international communication. it is important to know the differences of the same body language in different countries and how to apply body language correctly. in this paper, after studying the experience of the forefathers, the various usages and functions of body language in different cultural background have been analyzed. key words: body language; non-verbal communication; intercultural communication; cultural difference摘要：语言是一种交流工具，在很多情况下是非常重要的。但是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，消除语言障碍，促进交流。21世纪， 随着国际经济文化交流的加深，由于语言，文化的差异而产生的障碍随时都可能存在，在跨文化交际中，消除障碍的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，身势语含义千变万化，即使同一身势语在不同的文化背景都有不同的含义。错误地用身势语不仅会使我们在跨文化交际中失败，而且会造成和外国朋友之间的冲突，所以怎样正确地使用身势语，怎样理解身势语的差异都非常重要，该篇论文中作者在学习前人成果的基础上分析了各种身势语在中西方不同文化背景下的用法和功能。关键词：身势语；非语言交际；跨文化交际；文化差异contents.introduction.1ii. the functions of body language.2a. improve peoples communicative skills and abilities. .2b. make peoples communication more effectively.3iii. body language in intercultural communication. .3a. types of body language.31. proper distance during the conversation.32. physical contact.43. eye contact54. facial expressions.65. gestures7b. application of the body language in chinese and western countries.71. greeting.72. affection displays.83. cultural difference in touch.8c. a comparative study of chinese and american body language.91. the same body language in two cultures, but with different meanings92. different body language, with the same meaning.103. body language and meaning in one culture, no equivalent in other cultures.10. conclusion.11work cited13i. introductionpeople can communicate with one another not only by verbal communication but also by nonverbal communication. moreover, the latter plays an essential role. body language is one of the most important parts of the nonverbal communication, and thus this paper intends to present its meaning and talks about it briefly so that people can improve their communicative skills and abilities by understanding it well. “body language is known as nonverbal behavior which transmits information through gestures, actions and facial expressions. its characteristics are implication, haziness and humor. people communicate with each other by their body language in the ways of nodding, waving, eye contacting, shrugging and so on. according to the research result of psychologists, these ways can express what the verbal language cannot directly. body language is the unspoken communication that goes on in every face-to-face encounter with another human being. it tells their true feelings to you and how well your words are being received.” (guan 68) if people wish to communicate well, then it makes sense to understand how people can use their body to say what they mean. to know more knowledge about the body language is very important. “it is often said that human communication consists of 93% body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves.” (john 128) others assert that “research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior.” (engleberg and isa n. 139).usually body language occurs unconsciously. yet the body language people used decide to a large extent the quality of their communication. it is significant to note that body language has different meanings in different cultures. culture influences communication and different countries have different cultures. so the way people in different countries communicate is different too. in most situations, intercultural communicators do not share the same mother tongue or the second language. besides, there are many communicative problems in the nonverbal reality. so the study of the differences of body language between chinese and english has become more and more important. this paper will make a study of the functions and cultural differences of body language between chinese and english in an attempt to make people understand each other better and communicate more effectively. ii. the functions of body languagebody language is a part of culture and carrier of a certain culture. the functions of body language in the whole communication cant be overlooked. in the daily communication, we can see people cant communicate efficiently by verbal language alone. often words are inadequate. “for instance we do not tell each other that easily how we feel about each other, or how the words of a message need to be interpreted. to make the meaning of our words clear we use body language. and a certain body language should be connected with verbal language or the other body language to provide correct information.” (li 78) so in communicative activities, body language plays a great role. of course, people should pay close attention to the functions of body language. “in any case, when verbal language conflicts with body language, people are willing to accept the information that the body language delivers. because body language looks more natural, more instinctive and it is hard to pretend.” (xu 149)a. improve peoples communicative skills and abilitiespeople may not realize that when they talk with others they make themselves understood not only by words. they send messages to others around them also by expressions and body movements. many people send and receive nonverbal signals all the time. these signals may indicate what they are truly feeling. “body language, like our verbal language, is a part of our culture. but not all body language means the same thing in different cultures. different people have different ways of using body language.” (deng and liu 128) for example, does nodding the head mean “yes”, and shaking the head mean “no” in all cultures? the answers to the questions are all “no”. even nodding the head may have a different meaning. “to nepalese, sri. lankans, some indians and some eskimos it means not “yes”, but “no”. so in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language, one should know also the gestures, body movements, mannerisms and etc. that accompany a particular language.” (deng and liu 128) so, to know more knowledge of body language can help people to avoid embarrassments in intercultural communication effectively and help them to improve their communicative skills and abilities.b. make peoples communication more effectivelyit means that people do the related behaviors while they speak, which is to illustrate and emphasize the meaning the speaker likes to express and reflect some kinds of psychological state. for example, when someone asks us the way to the library, we naturally stretch out our hand and point to the right direction, adding a little information about it. when reading some excellent works and wonderful sentences, people will strike the table and shout “bravo”. striking the table is a complementary behavior, expressing excitements and pleasure. so using body language with speaking can help people to express their ideas more effectively. body language in intercultural communication as a communicative tool, language is very important in many situations. “however, body language also takes a complementary role to help people transfer information to improve communication, which will be a necessary power to break up language impediments in intercultural communication.” (jia 203) in the 21st century, as the economic and cultural exchange of all countries becomes more and more frequent, more impediments caused by the differences of language and culture. in intercultural communication, one of the most useful ways to deal with the impediments is to master the meanings of body language. however, even if people understand the meanings of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master, because even the same body language has great differences in different countries. using body languages wrongly not only makes people fail in interpersonal communications, but also causes conflict in international communication. a. types of body language 1. proper distance during the conversationdistance between the two communicators is a key factor. “the conversion of distance between you and the people with whom you communicate is as much a part of communication experiences as the words you exchange. notice that you might allow one person to stand very close to you while you keep another at a distance. different people have different ideas about the proper distance between peoples conversation. according to dr. hall, there are four kinds of boundaries of distance for americans as follows:a. intimate distance, 0-45 cm. it is fit for married couples and lovers;b. personal distance, 45-120cm. this is only fit for the communication between friends, acquaintances or relatives;c. social distance. 120-360 cm. it is used in the situation of dealing with impersonal affairs.d. public distance, 360-750cm. it is available in informal parties.”（jules 31）from the four divisions by dr. hall, people could note that not only in america, in other countries people would also alter their distance according to their relation. different people and cultures compose of different range of space. after studying, there are four main distances in american social and business relations: intimate, personal, social, and public. “the important thing to keep in mind is that most english-speaking people like the english, americans and australians do not like people to be too close unless there is a reason, such as showing affection or encouraging intimacy.” (deng and liu 128) there is a typical example. watch an arab and an englishman in conversation. the arab, showing friendliness in the manner of his people, will stand close to the englishman. the latter will move back, wanting to keep a certain distance considered proper by the english custom. the arab will then move forward to be closer；the englishman will keep moving backward. by the end of the conversation, the two men may be quite a distance from the place where they were originally standing! 2. physical contactthe degree of physical contact varies with different cultures. in english-speaking countries, such as the united states, any physical contact is avoided among ordinary friends and acquaintances. even in a crowded lift, any touch between each other is not allowed. if a person touches someone slightly or unconsciously, he has to apologize immediately by saying “sorry”, “very sorry”, “excuse me” and so on, or else he will be treated with disdain or even more intense response. the culture of these countries particularly stresses the private space. it is not allowed to be invaded. in china, the sense of private space is comparatively weak. for with the large population, crowd is quite ordinary. people may feel uncomfortable with the physical contact in crowd, but in most of times, they would forgive and endure this kind of behavior rather than get angry. “however, arabs would be more in favor of physical contact. they like to stand close, no matter at home or in public area. when encountering friends, they would embrace, caress and touch the noses. western people would be terrified by the sight of these kinds of greeting.” (jules 32-33) in english-speaking countries, such as america, england, females often hug their male friends gently and kiss their cheeks to say goodbye. meanwhile, males in most east asian and non-english-speaking countries only shake hands but not hug to express welcome.in china, it is often to see some young people of the same sex walking hand in hand, shoulder by shoulder or hugging. dancing with the same sex friends is also quite usual, however, in english-speaking countries, physical contact between the same sex may be regarded as a subtle signal. they should not walk hand in hand with their friends of the same sex. and it is rare to find two same sex persons embracing together and dancing, which would often mean that they are homosexual couple.3. eye contactthe eyes are extremely important communication tools, and eye contact is also an important aspect of body language. “patterns of eye contact vary from culture to culture. the main difference between chinese and english eye contact focus on the eye etiquette. on man-to-man occasion, americans are required to look at the other man in their eyes to show their honesty, or they will be regarded as treated, disdained, scared, indifferent or absent-minded.”（yang 117-118）thus there is a saying in american english: “never try to believe those who dare not look squarely at your eyes.” “when they communicate, americans are used to staring at their counterparts eyes, look at him or her carefully and treat it as confidence. while looking away politely will be consider as disrespect. however, in chinese culture, people who are engaged in interpersonal communication will not look directly into others eyes, especially when the youth talk to the old or the subordinate talk to his superior. they are asked to lower their head and nod in order to show their modesty and respect.”（yang 117-118）staring at people or holding a glance too long is considered improper in english-spoken countries. even when the look may be one of appreciationas of beautyit may make people uneasy and embarrassed. however, it was interesting that chinese people stared at the strange foreigners curiously in the open time. in fact, the behavior had violated the taboo of the communication. but for chinese culture, the behavior is quite common and is nothing more than curiosity. 4. facial expressionsmany people and scholars have claimed that facial expressions are probably the most significant areas of the body for nonverbal communication, especially, attitudes and emotion. because people constantly read facial expressions to understand what others are feeling. “the face provides vital clues to our own feelings and those of the people around us. we may be able to hide our hand, and may choose to be silent; however, we cant hide our face without making people feel we are attempting to deceive them. since we cannot put the face away, we control the expressions we reveal to others. and it is apparently true that when conversing with each other, people tend to look at their interlocutors face, often ignoring other parts of the body.”（wang 402）facial expressions carry meaning determined by contexts and relationships. many facial expressions have been identified as having an innate basis in humans. for instance, the smile, which is typically an expression of pleasure, has many functions. a womans smile at a policeman who is about to give her a ticket does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. “a smile may show affection, convey politeness and so on. pain is conveyed by a grimace, which also signifies disgust or disapproval. surprise, shock, or disbelief can be shown by raising the eyebrows. a wink given to a friend may mean “you and i have a secret.” or “im just kidding.” between a man and woman, a wink can be flirtatious. our faces easily reveal emotions and attitudes.”（wang 403） smile and laughter usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy, merriment. this is generally true in china as well as the english-speaking countries. however, there are situations when some chinese will laugh that will cause negative reactions by westerners. for example, when a foreigner drops a plate quite by accident and feels badly and chinese onlookers laugh, compounding his discomfort and causing anger and bed feeling. “such laughter, of course, is not at the person or his misfortune whether he is a foreigner or a chinese. it can convey a number of feelings：dont take it so seriously, laugh it off, its nothing, such things can happen to any of us, etc.” (deng and liu 135) however, for people are unaware of this attitude, the reaction to such laughter is usually quite unpleasant and often generates ill feeling towards those laughing.5. gesturesgestures are an important component of nonverbal communication. without gestures, the world would be static and colorless. in a broad sense, they refer to specific body movements that carry meanings. in a narrow sense, gestures are hand movements that are closely related to speech and illustrate it. here we study on the narrow sense. “the hands are able to communicate a great deal. some gestures may indicate general emotional ar