The Analysis of the Application of Body Language in Nonverbal Communication

1、淺談身勢語在非語言交際中的應用the analysis of the application of body language in nonverbal communicationcontentsabstract.1key words.11. introduction.22. the necessity and importance of learning body language innonverbal communication.23. the concrete types and application of the body language 33.1 types of body l

2、anguage. 33.1.1 distance between people conversing . 43.1.2 physical contact. 43.1.3 eye contact.53.1.4 smiles and laughter.73.1.5 gestures .83.2 application of the body language. 73.2.1 greetings .83.2.2 signs of affection .83.2.3 physical contact .94. a comparative study of chinese and american bo

3、dy language.94.1 different body languages, same meanings.104.2 same body languages in two cultures but with different meanings.114.3 body languages and meanings in one culture; no equivalent in other cultures115. conclusion .12references.13 the analysis of the application of body language in nonverb

4、al communicationthe analysis of the application of body language in nonverbal communicationabstract: “body language” is a kind of nonverbal communication with the richest meanings and great functions. like verbal language, it is also a part of culture. but not all body languages mean the same thing

5、in different cultures. different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. 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. a comparative study of chinese and

6、 american body language shows a number of similarities and diversities of body language. observation shows that a truly bilingual person switches his body language at the same time he switches languages. this makes communication easier and better. so in this paper, the author will explore the functi

7、ons of nonverbal communication in cross-cultural communication, significance of nonverbal communication and puts forward some similarities and diversities of body language so that people can avoid and deal with the conflicts or misunderstanding when encountering people from different cultures.key wo

8、rds: nonverbal communication; body language; culture摘 要：“身勢語”同語言一樣，都是文化的一部分。在不同文化中，身勢語的意義并不完全相同。各民族有不同的非語言交際方式。因此，要用外語進行有效的交際，在說某種語言時就得了解說話人的手勢，動作，舉止等所表示的意思。而通過中美身勢語對比研究表明，兩者有相似的地方，也有差異的地方,可見，真正掌握兩種語言的人在換用另一種語言說話時也要換用另一種身勢語。這樣才能達到更好的交際效果。本文探討了不同文化中非語言交際手段的作用，在交際中的重要性，以及中美身勢語言的共性及個性，以此來幫助我們避免和解決跨文化交際

9、中的沖突和誤解。關(guān)鍵詞: 非語言交際;身勢語;文化 1. introduction when a chinese converses with a canadian or american friend of the opposite sex, would it be indecent to be looking at the other person? if two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each others shoulders or hold hands, would this be regar

10、ded by english-speaking people as proper? does nodding the head mean “yes”, and shaking the head mean “no” in all cultures? there are not questions about language, but about body language, about nonverbal communication. nonverbal communication, composed of pictures, dresses, eye contact, spatial sig

11、nals, gestures and so on, is as important as verbal communication. people communicate in many different ways. one of the most important ways, of course, is through language. moreover, when language is written it can be completely isolated from the context in which it occurs; it can be treated as if

12、it were an independent process. like all animals, people communicate by their actions as well as by the noises they make. it is a sort of biological anomaly of man, which is as important as verbal language. language is obviously essential for human beings, but it is not the whole story of human comm

13、unication. according to dr. alexander loven, “once people know how to interpret body languages, there would be no verbal language that can express more clearly than they can.” the study of nonverbal communication should be complementary to the study of language. the understanding of one should be he

14、lpful in the further understanding of the other. some authorities feel that the two are dependent on each other. this is certainly true in most situations. but it is also true that in certain situation body action contradicts what is being said, just as the spoken words may mean something quite diff

15、erent from what nonverbal communication communicates. when this occurs, one must try to get further information, or guess the meaning from the context of the situation. in a case, all nonverbal communication should be interpreted within a given context; to ignore the overall situation could be misle

16、ading.2. the necessity and importance of learning body language in nonverbal communicationalthough we may not realize it, when we converse with others we communicate by much more than words. by our expressions, gestures and other body movements, we send messages to these around us a smile and an out

17、stretched hand show welcome. nodding ones head means agreement“yes”. waving an outstretched hand with open palm is the gesture for “goodbye”. leaning back in ones seat and yawning at a talk or lecture show lack of interest, boredom. these gestures have come to be accepted in general as having the me

18、anings mentioned, at last to chinese and americans. there are parts of the way in which we communicate. this “body language”, like our verbal language, is also a part of our culture. but not all body language means the same thing in different cultures. different people have different ways of making

19、nonverbal communication. the answers to the questions at the beginning of this chapter 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,

20、 one should also know the gestures, body movements, mannerisms and etc. that accompany a particular language. body language is an important media through which people communicate with each other. it refers to the patterns of facial expressions and gestures that people use to express their feelings i

21、n communication. the specialist on body language researchfen. lafle. angles, once said: once it was lost, a baby couldnt have grown into a normal person. it s also true to the juveniles. in school education, body language plays a positive role in cultivating the students characters.3. the concrete t

22、ypes and application of the body languagefrom the above we have known the necessity and importance of body language in nonverbal communication, it is the best way for people to exchange their emotions and ideas. body language includes postures, eye contact, facial expressions, smiles and laughter, p

23、hysical contact, gestures and so on. but in different cultures, people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. so in order to reduce the cultural barriers and communicate effectively, we must learn some application and difference of body language. the following will focus on some cert

24、ain body languages as well as their application. 3.1 types of body languages3.1.1 distance between people conversingwatch 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. the arab wil

25、l then move forward to be closer; the englishman will keep moving backward. by the end of the conversation, the two may keep quite a distance from each other; the two may be quite a distance from the place where they were originally standing! here, distance between the two is the key factor. differe

26、nt people have different ideas about the proper distance between people conversing. according to dr. hall, it seems there are four main distances in american social and business relations: intimate, personal, social, and public. intimate distance ranges from direct physical contact to a distance of

27、about 45 centimeters; this is for peoples most private relations and activities, between man and wife, for example. personal distance is about 4580 centimeters and is most common when friends, acquaintances and relatives converse. social distance may be anywhere from about 1.30 meters to 3 meters; p

28、eople who work together, or people doing business, as well as most of those in conversation at social gatherings tend to keep a distance is farther than any of the above and is generally for speakers in public and for teachers in classrooms. the important thing to keep in mind is that most english-s

29、peaking people do not like people to be too close. being too far apart, of course, may be awkward, but being too close makes people uncomfortable, unless there is a reason, such as showing affection or encouraging intimacy. but that is another matter.3.1.2 physical contact the appropriateness of phy

30、sical contact varies with different cultures. figures from a study offer interesting insight into this matter. pairs of individuals sitting and chatting in college shops in different places were observed for at last one hour each. the number of times that either one touched the other in that one hou

31、r was recorded, as follows: london, 0; gainesville, florida, 2; pairs, 10; san juan, puerto rico, 180. these figures speak for themselves. (robinett, 1978) in english-speaking contries, physical contact is generally avoided in conversation among ordinary friends or acquaintances. merely touching som

32、eone may cause an unpleasant reaction. if one touches another person accidentally, he/she usually utters an apology such as “sorry, oh, im sorry, excuse me.” a common complaint of western mothers in china is that chinese often fondle their babies and very small children. such behaviorwhether touchin

33、g, patting, hugging or kissingcan be quite embarrassing and awkward for the mothers. they know that no harm is meant, and that such gestures are merely signs of friendliness or affection, therefore they cannot openly show their displeasure. on the other hand, such actions in their own culture would

34、be considered rude, intrusive and offensive and could arouse a strong dislike and even repugnance. so the mothers often stand by and watch in awkward silence, with mixed emotions, even when the fondling is by chinese friends or acquaintances. going beyond the milder forms of touching, we shall take

35、up the matter of hugging and embracing in public. this practice is fairly common among women in many countries. and in most of the more industrialized countries, it occurs frequently between husband and wife and close members of the family when meeting after a period of absence. hugging and embracin

36、g among men, however, is a different matter. among arabs, russians, french, and in several of the east european and mediterranean countries, a warm hug and a kiss on the cheeks are a standard way of welcome. the same is true with some latin americans. in east asia and in the english-speaking countri

37、es, though, the practice is seldom seen. a simple handshake is the custom. the story is told of what happened not long ago when the japanese prime minister at the time, mr. fukuda, went to the u.s. on a state visit. when he stepped out of his car in front of the white house, he was greeted by the am

38、erican president with a “bear hug”. the prime minister was flabbergasted; others of the japanese delegation were amazed; many americans were surprisedit was so unusual and so unexpected. if the president had bowed low in japanese fashion, it would have been less a surprise than to be greeted in a wa

39、y so uncommon in either country! the matter of physical contact between members of the same sex in english-speaking countries is a delicate one. once passed childhood, the holding of hands, or walking with an arm around anothers shoulder is not considered proper. the implication is homosexuality, an

40、d homosexuality generally arouses strong social disapproval in these countries.3.1.3 eye contact eye contact is an important aspect of body language. one could draw up quite a list of “rules” about eye contact: to look or not to look; when to look and how long to look; who and who not to look at. th

41、ese passages from the book body language (fast, 1971) are amusing as well as informative: “two strangers seated across from each other in a railway dining car have the option of introducing themselves and facing a meal of inconsequential and perhaps boring talk, or ignoring each other and desperatel

42、y trying to avoid each others glance. a writer, describing such a situation in an essay, wrote, theyre reading the menu, they fool with the cutlery, they inspect their own fingernails as if seeing them for the first time. comes the inevitable moment when glances meet, but they meet only to shoot ins

43、tantly away and out the window for an intent view of the passing scene. ” he points out that with people who are unfamiliar: “we must void staring at them, and yet we must also avoid ignoring them we look at them long enough to make it quite clear that we see them, and then we immediately look away”

44、. there are different formulas for the exchange of glances depending on where the meeting takes place. “if you pass someone in the street you may eye the oncoming person till you are about eight feet apart, then you must look away as you pass. before the eight-foot distance is reached, each will sig

45、nal in which direction he will pass. this is done with a brief look in that direction. each will veer slightly, and the passing is done smoothly.” (fast, julius. 1971.) “the language of the eyes”one of the most common and ancient ways of exchanging feelings between boys and girls, men and womenis es

46、pecially elaborate in the united states. much study has been made of this: how people of the opposite sex show interest or indifference, encouragement or discouragement, approval or disapproval, affection or aversion. however, there are many differences even within the united states. men use their e

47、yes in different ways than women; there are differences of age, class or social status and geographical region; there are differences of ethnic background. the story is told of a teenage puerto rican girl in a new york high school who was taken with a number of other girls to the principal for suspe

48、cted smoking. although there was no proof of any wrongdoing and although she had a good record, the principal decided she was guilty and suspended her. “there was something sly and suspicious about her,” he said in his report. “she just wouldnt meet my eye. she wouldnt look at me.” when she was ques

49、tioned by the principal it was true that she kept staring at the floor and refused to meet his eye. and in english there is a saying “dont trust anyone who wont look at you in the eye.” it so happened that one of the teachers had a latin american background and knew about puerto rican culture. after

50、 talking with the girls parents, he went to the principal and explained that according to puerto rican culture, a good girl “does not meet the eyes of an adult.” such behavior, he explained, “is a sign of respect and obedience.” fortunately, the principal accepted the explanation, admitted his mista

51、ke and the matter was settled properly. this difference in interpreting a simple eye gesture was a lesson in cultural diversity that he would not easily forget. rules about eye-language are numerous and complex. what has been mentioned gives a good idea of this; we shall not go further into detail.3

52、.1.4 smiles and laughter smiles and laughter usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and 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 w

53、esterners. to illustrate, here is an excerpt from a letter by an american to a chinese friend on nonverbal gestures that often cause cross-cultural misunderstanding: “one is the different meaning of laughter in china and american. when an american is parking his bicycle, for example, and the bicycle

54、 accidentally falls over, he feels embarrassed at his awkwardness, and is quite angered and humiliated when chinese onlookers laugh. i have seen the same thing happen in the dining room, when a foreigner drops a plate quite by accident and feels badly and chinese onlookers laugh, compounding his dis

55、comfort and causing anger and bad feeling.” such laughter, of course, is not at the person or his misfortunewhether he be 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. however, for people

56、unaware of this attitude, the reaction to such laughter is usually quite unpleasant and often generates ill feeling towards those laughing.3.1.5 gestures gestures can be particularly troublesome, for a slight difference in making the gesture itself can mean something quite different from that intend

57、ed. a wrong interpretation of a gesture can arouse quite unexpected reactions. a well-known case is a gesture made by winston churchill, the doughty prime minister who led britain through the second world war. as he appeared before a large crowd, he was greeted with cheers and applause. the occasion was a momentous one and churchill flashed the “v for victory” signwith the forefinger and middle finger raised to form a “v”. whether