A Contrastive Study of English and ChineseBody Language’s Cultural Connotations英語畢業(yè)論文

1、a contrastive study of english and chinese body languages cultural connotationsabstractpeople usually rely on languages to communicate, to express their thought or to transmit the information, but just using the languages or words are not vivid enough to communicate in our life. so, we always need t

2、he help of body language. body language, including hand gestures, eye contact, facial expression, body distance, body touch and so on. body language differs from culture to culture, therefore it is necessary to understand the different meanings of body language in different countries. this thesis, f

3、irst discusses the definition, importance and function of body language in the communication through the elaboration of some examples; moreover, this thesis majorly focuses on the differences of english and chinese body languages cultural connotations, especially those in hand gesture, eye contact,

4、facial expression, body distance and body touch; at last, this thesis discusses the reasons for the differences of english and chinese body languages cultural connotations. the research of english and chinese body language in cross-cultural communication is helpful for people to diminish or avoid mi

5、sunderstandings caused by the cultural connotations of body language in different countries. key words: communication; body language; cultural connotations; difference; reason摘 要人們在傳遞信息，表達(dá)思想，交流感情時，主要借助于語言交際，然而僅僅使用文字或言語，有時不夠生動形象，因而這時就需要非語言交際。人們利用身體各部分來傳遞信息，交流思想。它包括手勢，目光接觸，面部表情，交談?wù)咧g的距離等等。身勢語是隨文化的改變而改

6、變，因而不同國家的身勢語所表達(dá)的意思不一定都相同，所以，在跨文化交際中，要清楚地認(rèn)識非語言交際在不同國家中表示的意思。本文首先介紹身勢語的含義，重要性以及身勢語在交際中的功能，然后從文化角度對身勢語在不同的文化背景中的含義作了介紹，探討了中國和英語國家在手勢，眼神，面部表情，體距與身體接觸等方面的文化差異，最后指出中國和說英語的國家之間身勢語文化差異的原因。對跨文化交際中的身勢語進(jìn)行探討，有助于人們減少或避免在跨文化交際中因身勢語的文化差異而引起的誤解。關(guān)鍵詞：交流；身勢語；文化內(nèi)涵；不同；原因 contentschapter 1 introduction1chapter 2 body lan

7、guage22.1 definition of body language22.2 importance of body language22.3 functions of body language3chapter 3 differences of english and chinese body languages cultural connotations63.1 hand gesture63.2 eye contact73.3 facial expressions83.4 body distance93.5 body touch10chapter4 reasons for the di

8、fferences of english and chinese body languages cultural connotations114.1 religious beliefs114.2 values and ways of thinking114.3 morals and social regulations124.4 disciplines of organization12chapter 5 conclusion13notes14bibliography15acknowledgements16chapter 1 introductionhuman communication co

9、nsists of verbal communication and nonverbal communication. nonverbal communication plays a very important role in the whole communication. body language is a means of non-verbal communication. some experts say more than 60 percent of communication comes from nonverbal behaviors, such as facial expr

10、ession, hand gestures, eye contact and so on. one expert estimated that verbal communication occupied about 30 percent of the whole communication behaviors. “american linguist samovar affirms that in a face-to-face communication, only about 35 percent of messages are sent by verbal behaviors and oth

11、ers are sent by nonverbal behaviors.” 1 body language is just like mans shadow that is always together with us. even it is cloudy or rainy, we cant observe the shadow visibly, but it always works in our actual communications. body language is an important medium through which people communicate with

12、 each other. it is a part of the culture and takes a complementary role to help people transfer information to improve communication. owing to cultural differences, the same body language has different meanings and communicative functions, which causes a lot of trouble in intercultural communication

13、. with the development of intercultural communication, the contacts between the chinese and the western people are on the increase, and the differences between body languages have been the major barriers to efficient communication.in order to meet the international communication tendency, one of the

14、 most useful way to deal with the barriers is to know the different meaning of body language in chinese and western cultures, and to avoid the misunderstanding of body language and improve communication between people from these two cultures. therefore, it is necessary and important to have an under

15、standing of the uses and functions of body language in communication. this paper discusses the difference of body language between china and english-speaking countries and the reasons for it. the aim of this thesis is to help foreign language learners and communicators “hear” the silent message and

16、“read” the invisible action in intercultural communication.chapter 2 body language2.1 definition of body languagebody language is an important nonverbal form of communication. there are many definitions of body language in different dictionaries.birdwhistell, an american psychologist, is the first p

17、erson who created the definition of “body language” and he called it “optics” which means the system of motive power. birdwhstell indicates that “all parts of human body can express and exchange information, emotion and attitude; moreover, these can make efforts that words cannot obtain.”2 in oxford

18、 advanced learners english-chinese dictionary its definition is: the process of communicating what you are feeling or thinking by the way you place or move your body rather than by words. in business dictionary it is defined as: nonverbal and other unintended communication on the part of one individ

19、ual to another. nonverbal communication takes place by means of facial expressions, head movements, eye contact, hand gestures, body positions and acts, tones of voice and so on. in general, body language expresses individual emotions, feelings and attitudes. in veterinary dictionary it says: the ex

20、pression of feelings by means of postures or gestures. it is characteristic of primates, but most animal species use gestures to demonstrate their attitudes to other animals and to environment generally. and body language is also described as thought that is not conveyed through words. it is a kind

21、of mans social attributes and behavior, which are issued by the deliverer, and received by the received purposely. so in general , body language refers to communication without the use of words, also called nonverbal communication .it includes communication through the use of facial expressions, ges

22、tures and postures, eye contact, touch, clothing, silence, time and space.2.2 importance of body languagehuman societys long historical evolution confirms that labor plays a decisive role in the course of humans evolution. at beginning, human ancestors rely on all sorts of gestures and postures for

23、mutual coordination and communication. so body language is actually the most primitive instrument of communication. the phonic language is gradually developed with the continuous deepening of communication. humans gradually learn verbal communication after a far-flung nonverbal communication. this s

24、hows that the non-verbal communication come into being earlier than verbal communication, and it is the origin and base of verbal communication. body language is the earliest communication tool of human. an investigation into the functions of the factors of verbal and nonverbal communications shows:

25、 35% information is transferred by language; the other 65% are by nonverbal patterns. other study indicates: only 7% emotions in peoples communication are passed by language; the other 93% are by nonverbal patterns. american scholars pointed out that “humans communication consists of writing, speaki

26、ng and body three parts. because of culture prejudices, a great majority of educated people often think that written language is the most important; the oral language is the second. the body language is ranked last.”3 however, whether from the continuously evolution of whole humanity or from a perso

27、nal point of view, it shows the necessity and importance of body language.2.3 functions of body languageactions are more powerful than words. successful communications are closely related to skillful use of signs, gestures and actions, etc. namely body language can help carry out smoother, more succ

28、essful and efficient communications. when carrying a conversation, deliberately or accidentally, people are always accompanied with changes of their facial expressions, gestures and other body languages. in english, there is a famous saying: do not trust those who dare not look at your eyes directly

29、. this expression indicates the importance of eye contacts in communications. according to the displaying and transferring functions of body language, ekman and friesen classify the functions of body language into five aspects.4this thesis will explain them one by one.2.3.1 symbolic functionbody lan

30、guage as a symbol, has clear and definite implications, and on this occasion it can replace speech acts, and usually has strong cultural properties. it can replace verbal behaviors to convey certain meaning.symbolizing gestures have usually different forms. they are conventional ones. for example, t

31、o act the committing suicide, in china people use the hand imitating the form of dagger penetrating into his or her own belly, while in the united states, people use the index finger at the temples to indicate the meaning of suicide.2.3.2 complementing functionbody language can be used to complement

32、, describe, or accent verbal cues. body language adds some information to the verbal message and can explain conversational implications. use of body language in this way must be accompanied with the use of verbal language. for example， while delivering a speech, the lecturer has to employ different

33、 gestures to support the speech, and make the speech stronger, otherwise the lecture will be a dull one, and fails to attract the interest of the audience .when talking about the big house one bought, he/she indicates how big it is with his/her hands.2.3.3 indicating functionbody language can indica

34、te signals of feelings and emotions, which can modify, exaggerate and negate the verbal language. for example, there is a cause of “the sampler” in the college english, which says: with a quick decision he turned to the shop girl and said in a loud voice, “kindly pack me up this one here. i will tak

35、e it with me.” he pointed at one of the largest and most expensive of the puddings. from it, we can know that there are three movement of body language were used in it“turned to”, “said in a loud voice”, “pointed at one of the largest and most expensive of the puddings”. although the old man doesnt

36、say a word about the one which he wants to buy, his body language “pointed at” indicates the meaning.2.3.4 regulating functionbody language can regulate conversations, especially in face to face ones. some specific forms for this function of body language occur in turn-takings of a conversation, and

37、 self-regularity. for example, if one participant is interested in the conversation, he might nod approvingly at times and smile from time to time to hint the speaker to continue the conversation. that is the regularity of turn-taking, which regulates the turns in conversations. self- regularity mea

38、ns the speaking might use some body language actions to regulate himself or herself. for example, when we are nervous, we often feel uneasy whether sitting or standing. if we feel awkward, the usual action is to touch the back of the head or just curl the lip unconsciously to regulate ourselves to o

39、vercome the embarrassing situations. maybe in different cultures different body language will be used to indicate this meaning, but in spite of the various forms, there is a fundamental truth under this, that is, proper use of body language can regulate participants to get accustomed to conversation

40、s. 2.3.5 negative functionin this sense body language can negate the truth-value of verbal language, and this function is usually called negative function. here is an example for this. if a says to b, “i hate you”, without the corresponding facial expressions of hatred, a smiles and says gently. thi

41、s is an apparent case, a doesnt really hate b, because his/her body language betrays him/her. another example is also can be noticed in our daily life, if a says to b, “i love you “, with the indifferent expression and no actions of lover. as body language shows that a is lying to b, he/she doesnt r

42、eally love her/him. so, we can say body language publicly can negate the meaning of verbal language. some scholars reckon that being the reflection of psychological conditions is the foundation on which body language functions in harmony with words and expressions in conversations. that is to say, b

43、ody language always closely concerts the true meanings from our hearts, and transfers different kinds of information to the other speakers in conversations. birdwhistle has more specific description. he says, “body language and oral language supplement each other. if we attempt to communicate withou

44、t the cooperation of body language, such as hand, the changes of forehead and other forms of facial expressions, we will soon learn that communications are hard to proceed on.” 5chapter 3 differences of english and chinese body languages cultural connotationsaccording to the study of anthropology, b

45、ody language is the signal and tool of human communication and human being has the same ancestors, so the signal they express through their body language may be the same. we called it “innate”, so some body language belongs to all nations in the world: for example, people laugh when they feel happy;

46、 people cry when feel sad; people faces turn red when they feel shy.as globalization of the world, people from different countries communicate with each other more and more closely and frequently. at the same time, economy and culture become mingled. the world becomes smaller and smaller. we often c

47、alled it “global village” in which the cultural meaning of body language tends to be similar. however, the differences in body language have been the major barriers to efficient communication. this thesis will detail the differences of chinese and english body languages cultural connotations in the

48、following parts: 3.1 hand gesture gestures refer to specific body movements that carry meanings. gestures are both innate and learned. they are used in all cultures, tend to be tied to speech processes, and are usually automatic. gestures include those made by both hands and other parts of the body,

49、 such as arm gestures and leg movements.everyone has hands and everyone uses them to communicate everyday. in fact, hand gesture is the core of body language. instead of words, people can convey ideas, information and message by using the movement and style of hands and fingers. hands are the earlie

50、st communicative tools in human communication, because our ancestors depend on hands to communicate before language comes forth. however, people in some countries do not understand a single hand gesture in the same way. we can call these hand gestures “folk gestures” which are passed down from gener

51、ation to generation as a cultural product, so they are provided with cultural feature. here are some examples:1. raising forefinger and middle finger to form a “v”-in china, it means the figure of two, while in english-speaking countries, it is the “v” for “victory” sign.2. making a circle with thum

52、b and index finger while extending others-in china, it represents the figure of zero, while in english-speaking countries, it means ok.3. moving the index finger in a circle in front of the ear-in china, it means thinking about, while in english-speaking countries, it means “thats crazy! or he/she i

53、s crazy!”4. hand extended toward person, palm open and down, with all fingers crooked in a beckoning motion- in china, it means “come here”, while in english-speaking countries, it indicates goodbye.5. to use the middle finger to point something-in china, it is impolite, but in mexico, it is used to

54、 describe the height of people.6. thumb against the tip of the nose, other four fingers wave from side to side together-in china, it seldom can be seen, while in english-speaking countries it indicates challenge and defiance.from above examples, people can come to a conclusion, that is, if they want

55、 to learn a language well, they must not only learn the verbal language, but also study the gestures of that country.3. 2 eye contactthe eyes are extremely important communication tool. people often say that eyes are indeed “the window of soul”, because eyes can give us a lot of real information. ey

56、e behavior happens between two persons. “the sender uses them to convey information and the receiver uses them to get information.” in drama, fiction, poetry and music, eyes have always been a fascinating topic.we can know whether people like us or not from the way they look at us. when we are talki

57、ng with someone, if the person stares at us, we can infer that he is attracted by us and he is interested in what we say or what we do; however, if the person looks around, glancing at his watch time to time, we often infer that he is absent-minded. in different nations and districts, the meaning of

58、 body language is different. it is known to all that china is a nation with a long and feudal history. the feudal society controls the nation with human power. the authority counts the final, so people in china seldom look at others so as to show their respect when a talk begins between the young and the old.but for american, they believe that “dont trust anybody who dare not look at you straightly.” they think that those people are impolite. people from america think that this eye-gazing is a kind of imperil, but they can not accept people who dont look at each other when they are talk