跨文化交际 论文

Nonverbal communication

班级：

英语

094

学号：

2

姓名：

郑

琴

老师：

王宏军

日期：

2011

年

6

月

7

日

Nonverbal communication

―Body

language‖,

like

our

verbal

language,

is

al

so

a

part

of

our

culture.

But

not

all

body

language means the same thing in different cultures. Different people have different ways of making

nonverbal

communication.

For

example:

different

people

have

different

ideas

about

the

proper

distance

between

people

conversing;

the

appropriateness

of

physical

contact

varies

with

different

cultures; 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;

smiles

and

laughter

usually

convey

friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and merriment, and, 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; gestures can be particularly troublesome, for a slight

difference in making the gesture itself can mean something quite different from that intended, and, a

wrong

interpretation

of

a

gesture

can

arouse

quite

unexpected

reactions

and

so

on.

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.

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

situations body action contradicts what is being said, just as the spoken words may mean something

quite different from what body language communicates. When this occurs, one must try to get further

information,

or

guess

the

meaning

from

the

context

of

the

situation.

In

a

sense,

all

body

language

should be interpreted within a given context; to ignore

the overall situation could be misleading. A

comparative

study

of

Chinese

and

American

body

language

shows

a

number

of

similarities

and

diversities of body language. It shows the importance of knowing the specific gestures that go with a

language. Observation shows that a truly bilingual person switches his body language at the same time

he

switches

languages.

This

makes

communication

easier

and

words:

nonverbal

communication body language different culture different ways.

Although 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 outstretched hand show welcome. A form is a sign of displeasure. Nodding

one’s head means agreement—―Yes‖. Waving an outstretched hand with open palm is the gesture for

―goodbye‖.

Leaning

back

in

one’s

seat

and

yawning

at

a

talk

or

lecture

shows

lack

of

interest,

boredom. These gestures have come to be accepted in general as having the meanings mentioned, at

last

to

Chinese

and

Americans.

There

are

parts

of

the

way

in

which

we

communicate.

This

―body