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1、B.A. ThesisBody Language and Intercultural CommunicationB.A. Candidate: Li YuxianAdvisor: Zheng SanliangForeign Language DepartmentJiaying UniversityMay 21, 2008AcknowledgementsI would like to take this opportunity to express mysincere gratitudeto my supervisor,Ms. Zheng Sanliang,forherkindassistanc
2、eandvaluableandinsightfulsuggestions and constructive comments during the processof my thesis writing. Her willingness to give her time sogenerously has been very much appreciated.Mygratitudealso extendstoalltheteacherswhotaught me during my undergraduate years for their kindencouragementandpatienti
3、nstructions.Aspecialacknowledgement should be shown to Mr. Tian Minggang whotaught us how to do the reference last term. Moreover, Iwish to extend my thanks to the ForeignLanguage Departmentforthereferenceroom whereIfoundtheimportantinformation,andthelibraryassistantwhohelpedtosupplied me with refer
4、ence materials of great value.Lastbutnottheleast;Iwouldliketooffermyparticularthankstomy friendsandfamily,fortheirencouragementand supportforthe completionofthisthesis.AbstractThe paper makes a main study on body language, the most importantpart of nonverbal communication, from the perspective of in
5、terculturalcommunication.In human communication,peopleusebody language tocommunicate as well as verbal language. Body language is also calledKinesics.It belongstothescopeofnonverbalcommunication.Bodylanguageplaysanimportantroleinrepeating,complementing,substituting, regulating and contradicting. Bod
6、y language, like verballanguage, is also a part of culture. But in different cultures bodylanguage meansthe differentthings.Differentpeople have differentwaysof makingnonverbalcommunication.Ininterculturalcommunication,understanding the different cultural implication of Chinese and Englishbody langu
7、agecanpromotepeople scross -culturalcommunicationcompetence, reinforce the heart-to-heart understanding and in the endwill benefit the communication between Chinese and English people.Thispapermainlyexpoundsthedefinition,classificationandfunctions of body language in pragmatics, presents the meaning
8、s of bodylanguage in differentculturesfrom thepointof cultures,researchesbodylanguage s culturaldifferencesbetween Chinese and English,especiallythose in gesture, posture, facial expression, eye contact and physicaldistance,and discussesthe importanceof knowing culturalmeanings. Theresearchof Chines
9、e and Englishbody language in nonverbalcommunicationis helpful for people to diminish or avoid misunderstandings caused bythe cultural differences of body language.Key Words:body languagefunctionintercultural communicationcultural differences摘 要本文从跨文化交际角度对非言语交际的主要方式- 体态语进行可初步研究。 人们在进行交流的过程中，除了运用语言这种
10、普遍的方式外，也经常运用身势语。身势语又称体态语， 是人类交际中最常见的一种非语言交际手段。身势语对话语意义起着重复、补助、替代、调节、否定作用。身势语同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。 在不同文化中， 身势语的意义并不完全相同。各个民族有不同的非语言交际方式。 在跨文化交际中， 了解汉英身势语的不同文化内涵，有助于汉英国家的人民之间更好地交流， 提高跨文化交际能力， 增进感情与心态的理解，做到“入乡随俗”，传情达意。本文重点论述了身势语的定义、类型和功能，并从文化角度对身势语在不同的文化背景中的含义作了介绍， 探讨了中国和英语国家在手势， 姿态，面部表情，眼神与体距等方面的文化差异，论述了了解文
11、化含义在非语言交际中的重要性。对跨文化交际中的英汉体态语进行探讨，有助于人们减少或避免在跨文化交际中因体态语的文化差异而引起的误解。关键词： 身势语功能跨文化交际文化差异ContentsAcknowledgements. iAbstract(English).iiAbstract(Chinese). .iv1.Introduction.12.Bodylanguage.22.1Definition.22.2Classificationofbodylanguage.22.2.1.Facialexpressions .22.2.2.Eyebehavior.32.2.3.Gestures42.2.4.
12、Posture.43.Pragmaticfunctionsofbodylanguage.53.1Repeating.63.2 Complementing.63.3Substituting.73.4Regulating.73.5Contradicting.74.AcomparativestudyofChineseandEnglishbodylanguage.84.1Gestures.104.1.1 The same gesture with different meanings in differentcultures.104.1.2 Different gestures with sameme
13、aning.124.1.3Gesture and meaning inone culturewithout equivalentin othercultures134.2Posture.144.3 Facialexpression.154.4 Eyecontact.174.5 Physicaldistance.205.Conclusion .22 References . 2 5Body Language and Intercultural Communication1IntroductionInterculturalcommunication is the process ofcommuni
14、cation betweenpeople from different cultural backgrounds. It can be divided into twotypes: verbal communication and non-verbal communication. People cancommunicate with one another not only through verbal communication butalsothroughnonverbalcommunication;moreover,thelatterplaysanessential role and
15、mainly expresses real emotion and attitude throughfacialexpression,posture,eye behavior,clothes,sound,etc.Bodylanguage is an important part of nonverbal communication, and thus thispaperintendstopresent itsmeaningandclassification,pragmaticfunctionsandculturaldifferencessothatwecan improveourcommuni
16、cation skills and abilities by understanding it well.Asthetrendofglobalizationisstrengthenedstepby step,international communication is frequent and important day by day. Thus,thesignificanceofbody language in interculturalcommunication has beengreatlyrealized.“ Research shows thatwhen people meet so
17、meoneforthefirst time, only 7% of their initial impact on others is determined bythe content of what they say; the other 93% of their message is made upof body language (55%) and the tone of their voice（ 38%） . ”（ ZhangJianqing ， 2004: 105 ） . Body language is also interlinked with spokenlanguage an
18、d a whole pattern of behavior from a person. As well as that,variousbody language signs can complement each other to makea particularmeaning crystal clear or strengthen the meaning of what we communicate.Owing to cultural differences, the same body language has differentmeanings and communicative fu
19、nctions, which causes a lot of trouble ininterculturalcommunication.Therefore,in interculturalcommunication,it is of great importance for us to understand the body language. Thispaper focuses on the cultural comparison of the body language betweenChinese and English.2. Body language 2.1 DefinitionTh
20、ere are different versions made by different researchers to thedefinitionsof body language which are presentedas in order toseta muchclearerpictureofit:a). “Body language isnotconveyed throughwords.It is a kind of mans social attributes and behavior. Which are issuedby thedeliverer,and receivedby th
21、e receivedpurposely. ” (Burgoon andsaine,1978: 89)b).Accordingto Birdwhistell,an American psychologist,who isthe firstpersonthatcreated thedefinitionof “body language ”,“ body language is alsocalledkinesics,includingeye contact,gestures,posture,facialexpressions,and physicaldistance. ” （Jia Yuxin ，1
22、997:68） C).Chinese famous scholar,Chen Wangdaoonce gave body language thefollowing definition,“the action of striking a pose is body language,which is a tool for communication.” (Chen Wangdao, 1979: 21)Based ontheprecedingdefinitionsabove,itcan beseenthatdifferentresearchersview body language from d
23、ifferentstandpoints,eachdefinition of body language is represented from levels of the language.However, they have one pointin commonthatbody language referstothoseappearances and actionstransmittingcommunication information.Itisthereflectingor nonreflectingactionsmade by the whole body orjustpartsof
24、 the body, through which to communicative with the objective world.2.2 Classification of body languageBody language isthe richestkindin allkindsof nonverballanguages,it is estimatedthathumancan do more than270,000 kinds of posturesandactions, which are more than all the sounds they can made. And eac
25、h partof body languag acttion can convey different meaning as well as sounds.Therefore,peopleexpresstheiremotions and attitudesby usingkinds ofbody languages.Accordingtothedifferentactionsof humans body,bodylanguagecan be classifiedintofourcategories:facialexpressions,eyebehavior, gestures, posture.
26、2.2.1 Facial expressionsThe face has been calledan “organ ofemotion ” because itisa verycommon way that people use to communicate and constantly to understandwhat others are feelingeveryday,such as, people make a big smileon theirface when they feel very happy, whereas, they make a long face when th
27、eyfellunhappy. Compared with words, facialexpressionis a naturalway toreveal personsemotion and it offers vital clues to peoples ownfeeling.In most cultures, in general, a smile is a sign of happiness orfriendly affirmation, as in America and China. Its often found thatothers will return a smile to
28、those who smile at them but will look awayor stop speaking to the person whose lips are pursed in frown. This canwell be used in business. For example, if the shopkeeper faces theircustomers with coldness and indifference,pulling a long facethat hidesmutual information of communication,it s very lik
29、elythatthecustomerswill be kept away from their service.The manners oftreatingpeople withsincerity, of serving people with a big smile make people feel cordialand warm.2.2.2 Eye behaviorEye behaviorisan importantpartof facialexpression.People oftensay t hat eyes are indeed“the window of soul”, becau
30、se eyes can givepeople a lotof realinformation.Eye contacthappens between two persons.“The sender uses them to convey information and the receiver uses themto get information. ” In drama, movies, fiction,poetry,or in reallife,eyes have always been accepted as a major source of communication.“FromSha
31、kespeares “Thou tellst me there is murder in mine eye,” to themusical balled“your lips tell me no, no, but theres yes, yes in youreyes, ” theeyeshavehelda strangefascinationforpeople. ” (XuLisheng ，2004: 205)For one thing,people can use eye contacttomonitorfeedback,to checkthe others response tothe
32、conversation.People can know whether otherslikethem ornot from the way theylookat them. Iftheyare beingstaredat when theyare talkingwithsomeoneelse,theycan inferthatthepersonthey are talking with is attracted by them and he/she is interested inwhat they say or what they do,however, if he/she looks a
33、round,glancingat his/her watch time to time, they will often wonder whether he islisteningto them or absent-minded.Withouteye contact,peoplegenerallyinferthatthe person isinsincere,lackconfidenceand istryingtoavoidthem or is lying.For another thing, eyes can express the six common emotions. Fear,for
34、instance,is expressed by eyebrows thatare raisedand drawn together,upper eyelidsthatare raised,and lowereyelidsthatare tensedand drawup.2.2.3 GesturesGestures includethose madeby both hands and other partsof the body,such as arm gestures and leg movements. For example if people intend toletthe other
35、 keep silent,people usuallyput the index fingeron the lips,and at the same time utter the sound of hushes to work together with it.Withoutgestures,theworldwouldbe staticand colorless.Themovements of people s arms, hands, eyes, and feet constitute anotherimportant way in which people broadcast interp
36、ersonal data. In a verygeneral sense, people all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to helpdescribesomething.Whenpeople say,“That s an Englishbook” , at thesame time people are pointingto the book. Ifsomeoneasks people the wayto the library, people point to the right, adding a little informationab
37、out it, which will be more clear and concrete. Using gestures, it isobvious to see the size or shape of something which is described.2.2.4 PosturePosture is a matterof how people sit,walk,stand and move. Howmanytimes have people heard the following admonitions?“Hey, stand up straight and tall!”“Don
38、t slouch!”“Why are you hunched over thedesk?”Each of people expects others to display postures as well as them,for their posture can give others all sorts of messages. People canconclude something from othersposture when they listento others;peoplebelieve they are more energetic, confident and compe
39、tent if they standerect.Onthe other hand, when people see a person slouchingover a lecternor standing lazily, they make negative interpretations. People say theperson is not very interested in that they are discussing.Being a branch of meansof nonverbalcommunication,body language canhelp people to solve a lotof problems they meet. By knowing itand applyingit properly, people from different cultures can understand each otherbetter and thus communication with each other more successfully.3. Pragmati