大学生跨文化交际中的障碍和能力的培养
A brief analysis of the application of
body language in cross-cultural Communication
Specialty:
Name: Student ID: Advisor:
College of Foreign Languages
Nov , 2013
Acknowledgements
In writing this paper, I want to thank all my teachers ,for their teaching and kind support, their continuous encouragement and massive help during these years. To the my twenty six classmates who helped me with my research, for their enthusiastic participation;To my friends in shijiazhuang, beijing, Liverpool, Western Ontario encouragement and great support.
Second, I would like to express my heartfe lt gratitude to professors Fu Tianjun, my advisor who spent much of his precious time discussing with me and helping me to narrow the topic at the initial stages, as well as showing great concern for my progress. I am deeply indebted for his assistance in helping me to accomplish this study. Without his encouragement and specific guidance, the completion of this thesis would have been impossible. In addition, he has been very kind to me whenever I confronted problems during the project.
Also, I hereby express my sincere gratitude to my classmates and roommates, who helped me to do the data collection I needed for this project. They have generously offered their help at the preparatory stage during this study. Finally, I thank the subjects whose cooperation and participation contributed to the very basis for this research work.
Abstract
In the 21st century, as the economic and cultural exchanging of all countries becomes more and more frequent, there appear more obstacles 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 meaning of body language. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master because even the same body language has great differences in different culture background and have different social functions. This article devotes to a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of eye language, gestures, postures, facial expressions and touch. Using body languages wrongly makes you fail in interpersonal communications, which would cause conflict in international communication. So what are the differences of the same body language in different country? How to apply body language correctly? In this essay, after borrowing and studying the experience of the forefathers, the author analyzes the various usages and functions of body language in different culture background. It aims to illustrate the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding.
Key Words: intercultural communication; cultural difference;body language;
摘 要
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，行使着不同的社会功能。本文致力于从目光语，手势语，身体姿态，面部表情，体触语方面对不同文化的身势语进行对比。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，该篇论文中作者在借鉴前人成果的基础上分析了各种身势语在不同文化背景下的用法和功能。目的在于通过列举身势语的文化差异与共性，并提出交际中遵循的原则，从而促进有效交流,避免误解。
关键词：跨文化交际；文化差异；身体语言
Table of contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………… i Abstract in English ………………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract in Chinese ……………………………………………………………………………iii Chapter one Introduction……………………………………………………………………3
1.1 Significance of study
1.2 Structure of this paper
Chapter Two Literature Review………………………………………… 3
2.1. Concept of Body Language…………………………………………………………3
2.2. Classification and Functions of Body Language………………….4
2.3. Examples of Body Language………………………………………………………..6
2.4. Necessities of Body Language in Intercultural Communication………………….8 Chapter Three The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries.10
3.1. Eye Contact…………………………………………………………………........10
3.2. Smile………………………………………………………………………….....12
3.3. Body Distance…………………………………………………………………....13
3.4. Touch……………………………………………………………………………..14
3.5. Gestures…………………………………………………………………………..16
Chapter Four The Similarities of Body Language and Their Reasons..…19
4.1. The Similarities of Body Language………………………………………………..19
4.2. The Causes Resulting in the Similarities of Body Language ……………….........20
4.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication………………………….20
Chapter Five Conclusion…………………………………….......21 References………………………………………………………………………….. .21
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Significance of study
In modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country.
When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other‟s shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean „yes‟ and shaking means „no‟ in all cultures? I‟m afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004)
It is clear without body language we can‟t finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.
1.2
1.3 Purpose of study
Translation “means to reproduce the message in another language.”(Nida, 1999) But translation is not simply the act of transferring the meaning of a text from one language into another one, it is a complex and fascinating task that requires much effort. The author of the
paper believes that translation is not only the media of two languages, but also the bridge of two cultures. It is the culture reappearance.
Tourism text is an information type style or “vocative” style (Jia, 2004). It is full of
descriptions, exotic features and folk cultures of the country of destination. Tourism text deals with the concept of culture, history and geography (Zheng, 2007). Therefore, tourism translation has to transfer the meaning and culture in the language. This requires that the translator should read the text carefully and research the meaning of culture. The translator should not only have a very high attainment of culture, but also have the skills of English communication. In addition, various translation strategies are indispensable. As two important strategies in the fields of literature translation and classic translation, domestication and foreignization have aroused fierce discussion. But the author of this paper uses the two strategies in one of the pragmatic translation, that is, tourism translation.
Through the study in this paper, the author strives to find a good application of
domestication and foreignization in the tourism translation. By the proper and useful application of the two strategies, the tourism texts could be translated better, and the culture and customs could be transmitted better. As a result, it will further the progress of the tourism translation and enrich the pragmatic translation theories.
1.4 Structure of this paper
In this paper, the author discusses the features of tourism texts and puts forward the
principles of the application of domestication and foreignization in tourism translation.
Chapter one is a brief introduction of the study. In this chapter, the author explains the progress and importance of tourism, and further shows the significance of the tourism translation. The study in this paper will make contribution to the furtherance and progress of tourism translation; enrich the tourism translation theories as well as the development of the tourism. This is exactly the significance of the study.
In chapter two, the author of the paper makes a literature review. The author reviews the previous study of tourism translation. Many researchers have studied the tourism translation. Some study the definition, status and standard of tourism translation; some study the features of various styles of tourism texts; some deal with the culture factors. Jin Huikang even puts
forwards the nativation and alienation (domestication and foreignization) in IC, which especially deserves further study. Therefore, the author continued the study in this field.
Chapter three analyses the features of tourism texts. From four aspects, the author
summarizes the lexical features, syntactic features, stylistic features and culture features of the tourism texts. English tourism texts and Chinese tourism texts have their own characteristics, but the author discusses the general features of the tourism texts on the whole.
In chapter four, according to the features of tourism text, the author of the paper introduces
the strategies of domestication and foreignization firstly. The readers could have a general outline of the two strategies. Next, the author explains the situations where we could use the strategy of domestication in tourism translation. Third, the author discusses the situation where to use the strategy of foreignization in tourism translation.
Chapter five is the conclusion. In this chapter, the author puts forward the major findings
and suggestions of the study. We could use the strategy of domestication in terms of grammar, sentence structure and the expressing habits. But when we deal with cultural factors or customs in tourism translation, we could use the strategy of Foreignization to maintain the exotic features of the destination country, so as to achieve the goal of the translators. In addition, the author puts forward the limitations of the study.
1. Introduction
In modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country.
When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other‟s shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean „yes‟ and shaking means „no‟ in all cultures? I‟m afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004)
It is clear without body language we can‟t finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.
2. The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries
2.1. Eye Contact
As saying goes “The eyes are the windows of the soul”. That is to say, we can read one‟s mind through his/her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from English speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. According to American tradition, communicators must gaze at each other. “But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the other communicator or not; when it is the time to look at them, how long we can look at; who we can look at and who we can‟t; they all imply different meanings in communication.” In Juliet‟s Faster‟s book Body Language, there is a paragraph that can explain the problem. “Two strangers sit face to face in the dinning room in a train; they can introduce themselves to each other. When they are eating, they can talk anything else. They also can avoid eye contact and do not show interest in each other. A writer described this situation in an article “They look over the menu again and again, play with knives and look at their nails. It seems that they look at them for the first time. If their eyes meet, they will turn away immediately and look out of the window.”
(1) Americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. In common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will look away. If two Americans gaze at each other, which indicate they are intimate. In North America, the children there have learned to look at the other communicator directly. If they don‟t, they are regarded
lack of enthusiasm or confidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who can‟t look you in the eyes.”
(2) If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they think eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. But Swede use eye language more often than Englishmen. And the French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other communicator‟s neck when they are in conversation. They believe eye contact is impolite. And Chinese consider gazing people is an unfriendly behavior and it is a challenge. Some South American Indians used to look at different directions when they are talking. In the Middle East, it is considered extremely provocative for a woman to let a man catch her eyes, let alone, return his gaze.
(3) Another example, Americans have a trip to a village and the local people stare at them. They are annoyed and think the local people are rude. In fact, it is normal in the village. They are just curious. American social psychologist Michael Argyle found out: People who like each other have more eye contact than people who dislike each other. In communication, looking down frequently can indicate submissiveness or embarrassment. Looking away constantly may express dissatisfaction. Females are likely to communicate with more eye contact, especially among females. But too long eye contact will cause embarrassment. Most people feel uneasy and uncomfortable under the strong staring. When people always stare at us, we will feel we are threatened or suspect their sincerity. From what is mentioned above we can conclude that different cultural background has a great influence on body language. And eye language also reflects different cultures and believes. So we need to observe and compare and contrast carefully so as to improve cultural exchange and to blend well.
2.2. Smile
Smiles are an important facial expression. They show interest, excitement, empathy, concern; they create an upbeat, positive environment. Smiles can, however, be overused. Often, men smile when they are pleased; women smile to please. You know which is the most powerful! To gain and increase respect, first establish your presence in a room, then smile. It is far more professional than to enter a room giggling or all smiles.
Smile indicates pleasure, either that you are generally happy or are enjoying the other person‟s company or that you are amused by something in particular, such as a joke. A full smile engages the whole face, particularly including the eyes, which crease and twinkle. Smiling with lips only is often falsehood, where the person wants to convey pleasure or approval but is actually feeling something else. This false smile is known as the Duchene smile, after the scientists who first described it in 1862. False smiles also tend to last for longer. A genuine smile is often asymmetric and usually larger on the right side of the face. A false smile may be more symmetrical or larger on the left side of the face. Lowering the jaw to show a D-shaped mouth can be a false smile as it is easy to do. It may also be a deliberate signal of amusement and an invitation to laugh. Smiling without opening the mouth, and particularly with lips firmly pressed together, may indicate embarrassment about unsightly teeth. It may also be a suppression of words (I can see the funny side, but I'm not going to comment.).A half-smile, on one side of the face, may indicate cynicism, sarcasm or uncertainty (Sorry, I don't buy that idea.).Smiling is also a sign of submission as the person effectively says “I am nice and not a threat”. Smiling in some cultures indicates a question or that you want the other person to speak.
When people talk about smile it means friendliness and happiness in most situations, but a tribe of Saudi Arabia thinks smile is the expression of unfriendly. If a boy wants to fall in love with a girl there, don‟t smile; a smile can blow him off. In China and English-speaking country, smiles stand for friendliness and happiness. However, in some special occasions, especially when people feel embarrassed, Chinese the Western people can disgust people‟s smile. One story can
tell us the different cognition about smiles between Chinese and English-speaking countries. A Chinese couple held a party in their home and invited a foreign friend, but the foreign friends broke up a glass with a heavy hand, so he felt very sorry and embarrass, but the Chinese people broke out laughter voice, which made the foreign fiends flush and feel more embarrassed, Who thought they were laughed at, but actually the Chinese people just means that “take it easy”. In China, smiles have many kinds of different meanings, such as “appreciation”, “acceptance”, “disapproval”, “it doesn‟t matter” and so on.
2.3. Body Distance
Psychologists discover any person needs personal space, yet skins are not the boundary of personal space, bubbles encircle their personal spaces and other people can‟t break in at will.
Let‟s talk about the Culture Difference about Body Distance. Arab and Spanish try to stand close to show friendliness. In their culture standing closely is the manner of the people when they converge. They stand close as possible as they can as if they want to smell the smells of the partner; Englishman wants to keep their personal space when they talk with the others, so pay attention not to taking up the partners‟ space; Chinese people conform with the principle of non-touching culture during the conversation. They keep a moderate distance when talking with others. There is a very interesting picture when Englishmen talk with Arab. The Arab, showing amicable to Englishman, will walk close to the Englishman, but the latter continues moving back. The Arab moves forward to be closer again, but the Englishman keeps moving backward. By the end of the conversation, the two people may be quite a distance from the place where they were originally standing!
We have just talk about the personal space above. Everyone needs specific personal space, but it seem that the relationship of parents and children between China and American have great differences. Natural affection is most divine in Chinese people‟s eyes, and children are more important than any thing else, so Chinese parents are always busy for children all life. They are worried about children‟s eating, clothing, sleeping and try any way to pave rode for children‟s future; they hope their children stay with them and obey with all the arrangement of them. Completely contrary to Chinese parents, western mother would rather children earn their own life independently, they don‟t interfere with children‟s private affairs including marriage.
With the further deepening of culture exchange and corporation of the world, the opportunities of corporation with foreign people are keeping increasing. We will learn to be on the other‟s shoes to think about things. The important things to keep in mind is that most English-speaking people do not like people to be too close when doing communication, however, being too far apart, of course, may be impolite, being too close makes people uneasy, we should learn and distinguish how to use body distance according to different situation in intercultural communication.
2.4. Touch
Usually, physical contact can only happen in two cases: intimate distance and personal distance, people can only embrace, kiss, fondle and cuddle in the case of intimate distance, and can only touch, hold hands, gazes at each others facial behavior closely in the case of personal distance. Mentioned above, Arab prefer narrow body distance during conversation, so no matter at home or in public, they like staying together in a crowded room, even some people think touching nose is also a best manners to express one‟s affections according to their own custom. Although American often takes kissing each other as a manner of greeting, however, they will be quite repugnant about the above-mentioned two kinds of conventions. In their eyes, intimate distance can be only proper for the closest person. They will try to avoid body touch with common friends and acquaintances even in crowed elevator. If some one touch others slightly or not intentionally they will say, “I am sorry” quickly, or who will be thought of shamelessly. That phenomenon is obvious because America have a strong sense of personal space.
(1) In China, people greet with each other with head nodding, smile, hand shaking and so on. Even good friends just hold hands for a short time or hammer softly on the other friend‟s shoulder. As for hand shaking, people in North America shake hands when they greet with each other. As children, they have learnt to hold other people‟s hands tightly. East Asian people often shake hands slightly; because they think tight hand shaking means challenge. Nowadays, hand shaking has become a custom to show hospitality and friendliness in many countries. But the way of hand shaking is a little different. For example,
(2) The French will shake hands with his host when they come into and leave the host‟s house. But Germans only shake hands only with their host when they come into the house. Some Africans will make a sound by fingers after hand-shaking to show freedom. And Chinese shake hands for a short time and loose and then they stand away from each other. But Chinese shake hands tightly and keep closer to express politeness and respect.
(3) In English speaking countries, people used to hug or kiss each other in public between males and females, which is unacceptable and only exists between lovers and couples in private in China. In America, common friends and acquaintances will avoid body touch. Even in the elevator, body touch is not allowed. Touching the other people slightly or unconsciously, people will say “Sorry”, “Very Sorry”, “Excuse me” in a hurry to express apology. Or they will be abused. In western countries, people particularly mind their private space, which often represents people‟s privacy and intimacy. But Chinese pay less attention to their private space. It is crowded in China because of a large population. So Chinese have got used to it and they often show their understanding and tolerance. Though Japanese also pay less attention to private space, they have strict rules in body touching. Arabians like body touching. Whether at home or in public, they like to be together and often hug together when they meet. Even they often touch each other‟s nose and smell each other, which will frighten Englishmen and American. In English speaking countries, like America and Britain, females often hug males and kiss their faces to say goodbye. And in East Asian countries and western countries, males seldom hug but often shake hands to show welcome. Japanese often show welcome by bowing. In the countries like Arab, Russia, France, East Europe and some countries at the bank of the Mediterranean, males often hug tightly and kiss each other‟s cheeks to show welcome. People living in Latin America also do the same thing. It is common to see youth of the same sex hold hands and hug in China. But in English speaking countries, it will be regarded homosexuality. “Scientists have made a survey on “touch” for the people from different countries. They spent an hour observing the people in couples in café and counting their touching times: Englishmen-0; Americans-2; French-10; Puerto Rico-18.” In daily life, when teachers encourage their students or leaders appreciate their employees, they will pat their shoulders to express encouragement.
2.5. Gestures
Do we expect other cultures to adopt our customs or are we willing to adopt theirs? This might translate to how business or even foreign relations are to be conducted. Do we compromise or force others peoples to deal only on our terms? We may not have time to hear a language, but taking time to learn the “signals” is a powerful communicator.
As the global village continues to shrink and cultures collide, it is essential for all of us to become more sensitive, more aware, and more observant to the myriad motions, gestures, and body language that surround us each day. And as many of us cross over cultural borders, it would be fitting for us to respect, learn, and understand more about the effective, yet powerful “silent language” of gestures.
The world is a giddy montage of vivid gestures- traffic police, street vendors, expressway drivers, teachers, children on playground, athletes with their exuberant hugging, clenched fists and “high fives.” People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expressively.
Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless. The social anthropologists Edward T. Hall claim 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal. In that case, how can we possibly communicate with one another without gestures?
Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach to) a child.
Gestures are woven inextricably in to our social lives, but also that the “vocabulary” of gestures, can be at once informative and entertaining... but also dangerous. Gestures can be menacing (two drivers on a freeway), warm (an open-armed welcome).
Bear in mind that the following gestures are in general use, but there may always be exceptions. In recent years, Western and contemporary values and ideas have become more popular and has either influenced, altered, and even replaced, some of the more traditional gestures, understanding human behavior is tricky stuff. No two people behave in precisely the same way. Nor do people from the same culture all perform exactly the same gestures and body language uniformly. For almost any gestures there will probably be a minority within a given nationality who might say, “Well, some might attach that meaning to it, but to me it means...” and then they will provide a different interpretation.
Hand gesture is one of the most common body language. Owing to different custom and culture, even if the same gestures maybe have great differences. Most people know the gesture of “ok” – thumb circle with forefinger means ok, the gesture of raising the thumb means all things go well, raising forefinger means number „one‟ in general situation, but which may have different meanings even opposite meaning in some place of Latin America, the gesture of “thumb circle with forefinger” have the meaning of insulting. In 1950s, Richard Nixon, the vice president of America went to visit Latin America. He made gesture of “ok” to the crowd waiting at the airport after he took off airplanes, which of course ignite the local people, and they made a lot hiss at once. In fact Nixon‟s gesture just means “every well, thank you, I‟m very well”. But the Local people thought it means defiance, because some counties have attitude of antagonism to American, the gesture of the president became the top line of paper next day. The gesture of “ok” in France can mean unworthiness or be over; Japanese people think this kind of gesture as sign of money, so when a western entrepreneur deal with Japanese, don‟t use gesture “ok” to express agreement to sign contract, or Japanese man will think you want to get bribe.
Raising the big thumb also has different meaning in some countries in American and European, which means hitchhiking, but Nigeria think it means being rude, so if foreign visitor to Nigeria wants to take a taxi with the gesture of raising the big thumb, who would be hit, because the driver will think you are outraging him.
If somebody like using thumb to express number, he or she also should pay attention. People often think rising fore thumb as number one, but in Germany raising big thumb means “one”, fore thumb means “two”. So if someone wants to drink one glass of bear in Germany, don‟t forget the local custom of the finger and avoid making a fool.
In a very general sense, we all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to help describe something. When we say, “That‟s an English book”, at the same time we are pointing to the book. If someone asks us the way to the library, we point to the right, adding a little information about it, which will be more clear and concrete. We may literally roll up our sleeves when talking about cleaning up the room, It seems natural to clench our first or perhaps even proud the lectern to let everyone realize the importance of our message when trying to communicate a strong feeling, which emphasizes our words. In classroom, it is unnecessarily stand in front of the blackboard for the teacher at the whole time. The teacher may move from behind the lectern when they wait to be informed; move to the right or left when making a major point so that they
can communicate with students very well and enhance his or her teaching quality.
However, exaggerated body movement, we should say, can cause harm, too, just as a saying goes, Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. This teacher must avoid overdone movement because it can be so distracting, to the students that it loses track of what the teacher is saying. Some of us have such feeling, that is, in a class or speech, we become more interested in the speaker‟s motion than we do in the speaker‟s message when we see the speaker pace and forth in front of us. At last we just remember the movement of the speaker, but get nothing about the information. The same is true in any context. If a body movement distracts from the idea, it is damaging.
Of course, there are also many other gestures, for instance, head movement; shaking the head. Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach to) a child. (Samovar L. A., 1981)
3. The Similarities of Body Language and Their Reasons
3.1. The Similarities of Body Language
We have discussed different cultural meanings of body language and its cause. Though different cultures result in different body languages, they also have common features. For example, master of comedy, Chaplin was very popular with people all over the world because of his humorous behavior in the silent films during 1920s and 1930s. Now, let‟s go on the similarities of body language.
Charles Darwin mentioned in his book Emotional Expression of Human and Animal. This book discussed whether the same expressions and postures suggested the same meaning both for human and animals. And he asked people all around the world and collected their possible replies. Surprisingly, the answers were almost same, especially on facial expressions. Heading nodding often means agreement or greeting in most countries. And shaking one‟s head often means disagreement or “No”.
If a person is hurt, he/she will cry to express painfulness. And we smile when are happy. Waving one‟s hand means goodbye. Even some Chinese and English expressions and their meanings are totally same. For example, patting on the back means encouragement and appreciation. Pulling a long face indicates unhappiness and anger. Being all smile means happiness, standing with folded arms means indifference and so on.
3.2 The Causes Resulting in the Similarities of Body Language
We can analyze the reason why different cultures have the same meaning on body language from psychology, linguistics, anthropology, cult urology, and semi logy, philosophy and so on. From anthropology, body language is the symbols and a tool of human communication. Human beings have the same ancestor, which determines the similarities of body language. Nowadays, with the development of the world, people from different cultures communicate more and more often. We have more chance to exchange culture and economy. The expert, McLuhan compare the world to “global village” to describe the world, which means the world becoming smaller and smaller because of more and more communication. On the one hand, people from east world have accepted the body language from west world, such as thumbing a ride, shrugging, “OK” gesture, “V” gesture and so on. On the other hand, with rapid development of East Asia and Southeast Asia, the body language from east world has a great influence on that of the west world. In the communication of east and west people, many westerners have learned Chinese customs and etiquettes
3.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication
As an old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It is the main principle in communication. This principle refers that communicators should respect and understand the culture of the other nations and eliminate the interference of their own cultures. According to this principle, we should know the differences of their customs, believes and their connotations of body language. For example,
(1) In China, people will give chrysanthemum to the patient. But French people never do this. Because they think chrysanthemum is used in funerals.
But we should pay attention to two points, when we apply this principle. On the one hand, we should not worship and imitate the whole body language blindly. On the other hand, we should not be trapped in the fixed mode of cultures. For example,
(2) People think Americans behave informally in any situation and Englishmen are always conservative. In fact, all communicative modes change with the differences of time, situation and contents.
The other principle indicates that we should conclude the rules by comparison and contrasts of different cultures and excludes the interferences of cultures to avoid cultural confliction. In the application of this principle, we should keep a tolerant attitude towards the differences of cultures, believes, customs and so on to avoid prejudice and superiority.
So in the communication, we can make full use of these principles, exclude fixed mode of culture and keep open and understanding attitude towards cultural differences.
Conclusion
This essay mainly talks about the body language and introduce some kinds of commonly used body language and their different uses in different cultural background. From the study of body language above, we know how important of body language and how complicated it is. I believe which can help the readers succeed in intercultural communications.
The study of body language should be complementary to the study of language. The understanding about body language should be helpful in the further understanding of other foreign country‟s language, but during the process of studying body language, there are some difficult places people should pay more attention to. a specific kind of culture tradition, national spirit, cultural character deeply originate from a specific society and nation. So people can‟t ignore of the sanction and influence of the culture, and should know the meaning of body language in different countries and distinguish out the same body language‟s use in different culture background. Therefore, there are six principles to conform to, which can help people treat culture difference correctly, which are: Excluding the feeling of cultural superiority; excluding cultural prejudice; treating other people‟s custom correctly; treating themselves‟ custom correctly; respecting mutually; and equally communicating. If people can do well all above they would be quite successful in intercommunication.
In short, body language is a kind of magical tool in intercultural communication, even if two speakers coming from different countries can‟t speak each other‟s language, they can understand each other smoothly by hand gesture, facial behavior, eye contact and so on. There are still some disadvantages in this paper, I hope readers can point out and give valuable advice.
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大学生跨文化交际中的障碍和能力的培养
A brief analysis of the application of
body language in cross-cultural Communication
Specialty:
Name: Student ID: Advisor:
College of Foreign Languages
Nov , 2013
Acknowledgements
In writing this paper, I want to thank all my teachers ,for their teaching and kind support, their continuous encouragement and massive help during these years. To the my twenty six classmates who helped me with my research, for their enthusiastic participation;To my friends in shijiazhuang, beijing, Liverpool, Western Ontario encouragement and great support.
Second, I would like to express my heartfe lt gratitude to professors Fu Tianjun, my advisor who spent much of his precious time discussing with me and helping me to narrow the topic at the initial stages, as well as showing great concern for my progress. I am deeply indebted for his assistance in helping me to accomplish this study. Without his encouragement and specific guidance, the completion of this thesis would have been impossible. In addition, he has been very kind to me whenever I confronted problems during the project.
Also, I hereby express my sincere gratitude to my classmates and roommates, who helped me to do the data collection I needed for this project. They have generously offered their help at the preparatory stage during this study. Finally, I thank the subjects whose cooperation and participation contributed to the very basis for this research work.
Abstract
In the 21st century, as the economic and cultural exchanging of all countries becomes more and more frequent, there appear more obstacles 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 meaning of body language. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master because even the same body language has great differences in different culture background and have different social functions. This article devotes to a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of eye language, gestures, postures, facial expressions and touch. Using body languages wrongly makes you fail in interpersonal communications, which would cause conflict in international communication. So what are the differences of the same body language in different country? How to apply body language correctly? In this essay, after borrowing and studying the experience of the forefathers, the author analyzes the various usages and functions of body language in different culture background. It aims to illustrate the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding.
Key Words: intercultural communication; cultural difference;body language;
摘 要
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，行使着不同的社会功能。本文致力于从目光语，手势语，身体姿态，面部表情，体触语方面对不同文化的身势语进行对比。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，该篇论文中作者在借鉴前人成果的基础上分析了各种身势语在不同文化背景下的用法和功能。目的在于通过列举身势语的文化差异与共性，并提出交际中遵循的原则，从而促进有效交流,避免误解。
关键词：跨文化交际；文化差异；身体语言
Table of contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………… i Abstract in English ………………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract in Chinese ……………………………………………………………………………iii Chapter one Introduction……………………………………………………………………3
1.1 Significance of study
1.2 Structure of this paper
Chapter Two Literature Review………………………………………… 3
2.1. Concept of Body Language…………………………………………………………3
2.2. Classification and Functions of Body Language………………….4
2.3. Examples of Body Language………………………………………………………..6
2.4. Necessities of Body Language in Intercultural Communication………………….8 Chapter Three The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries.10
3.1. Eye Contact…………………………………………………………………........10
3.2. Smile………………………………………………………………………….....12
3.3. Body Distance…………………………………………………………………....13
3.4. Touch……………………………………………………………………………..14
3.5. Gestures…………………………………………………………………………..16
Chapter Four The Similarities of Body Language and Their Reasons..…19
4.1. The Similarities of Body Language………………………………………………..19
4.2. The Causes Resulting in the Similarities of Body Language ……………….........20
4.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication………………………….20
Chapter Five Conclusion…………………………………….......21 References………………………………………………………………………….. .21
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Significance of study
In modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country.
When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other‟s shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean „yes‟ and shaking means „no‟ in all cultures? I‟m afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004)
It is clear without body language we can‟t finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.
1.2
1.3 Purpose of study
Translation “means to reproduce the message in another language.”(Nida, 1999) But translation is not simply the act of transferring the meaning of a text from one language into another one, it is a complex and fascinating task that requires much effort. The author of the
paper believes that translation is not only the media of two languages, but also the bridge of two cultures. It is the culture reappearance.
Tourism text is an information type style or “vocative” style (Jia, 2004). It is full of
descriptions, exotic features and folk cultures of the country of destination. Tourism text deals with the concept of culture, history and geography (Zheng, 2007). Therefore, tourism translation has to transfer the meaning and culture in the language. This requires that the translator should read the text carefully and research the meaning of culture. The translator should not only have a very high attainment of culture, but also have the skills of English communication. In addition, various translation strategies are indispensable. As two important strategies in the fields of literature translation and classic translation, domestication and foreignization have aroused fierce discussion. But the author of this paper uses the two strategies in one of the pragmatic translation, that is, tourism translation.
Through the study in this paper, the author strives to find a good application of
domestication and foreignization in the tourism translation. By the proper and useful application of the two strategies, the tourism texts could be translated better, and the culture and customs could be transmitted better. As a result, it will further the progress of the tourism translation and enrich the pragmatic translation theories.
1.4 Structure of this paper
In this paper, the author discusses the features of tourism texts and puts forward the
principles of the application of domestication and foreignization in tourism translation.
Chapter one is a brief introduction of the study. In this chapter, the author explains the progress and importance of tourism, and further shows the significance of the tourism translation. The study in this paper will make contribution to the furtherance and progress of tourism translation; enrich the tourism translation theories as well as the development of the tourism. This is exactly the significance of the study.
In chapter two, the author of the paper makes a literature review. The author reviews the previous study of tourism translation. Many researchers have studied the tourism translation. Some study the definition, status and standard of tourism translation; some study the features of various styles of tourism texts; some deal with the culture factors. Jin Huikang even puts
forwards the nativation and alienation (domestication and foreignization) in IC, which especially deserves further study. Therefore, the author continued the study in this field.
Chapter three analyses the features of tourism texts. From four aspects, the author
summarizes the lexical features, syntactic features, stylistic features and culture features of the tourism texts. English tourism texts and Chinese tourism texts have their own characteristics, but the author discusses the general features of the tourism texts on the whole.
In chapter four, according to the features of tourism text, the author of the paper introduces
the strategies of domestication and foreignization firstly. The readers could have a general outline of the two strategies. Next, the author explains the situations where we could use the strategy of domestication in tourism translation. Third, the author discusses the situation where to use the strategy of foreignization in tourism translation.
Chapter five is the conclusion. In this chapter, the author puts forward the major findings
and suggestions of the study. We could use the strategy of domestication in terms of grammar, sentence structure and the expressing habits. But when we deal with cultural factors or customs in tourism translation, we could use the strategy of Foreignization to maintain the exotic features of the destination country, so as to achieve the goal of the translators. In addition, the author puts forward the limitations of the study.
1. Introduction
In modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country.
When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other‟s shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean „yes‟ and shaking means „no‟ in all cultures? I‟m afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004)
It is clear without body language we can‟t finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.
2. The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries
2.1. Eye Contact
As saying goes “The eyes are the windows of the soul”. That is to say, we can read one‟s mind through his/her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from English speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. According to American tradition, communicators must gaze at each other. “But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the other communicator or not; when it is the time to look at them, how long we can look at; who we can look at and who we can‟t; they all imply different meanings in communication.” In Juliet‟s Faster‟s book Body Language, there is a paragraph that can explain the problem. “Two strangers sit face to face in the dinning room in a train; they can introduce themselves to each other. When they are eating, they can talk anything else. They also can avoid eye contact and do not show interest in each other. A writer described this situation in an article “They look over the menu again and again, play with knives and look at their nails. It seems that they look at them for the first time. If their eyes meet, they will turn away immediately and look out of the window.”
(1) Americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. In common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will look away. If two Americans gaze at each other, which indicate they are intimate. In North America, the children there have learned to look at the other communicator directly. If they don‟t, they are regarded
lack of enthusiasm or confidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who can‟t look you in the eyes.”
(2) If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they think eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. But Swede use eye language more often than Englishmen. And the French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other communicator‟s neck when they are in conversation. They believe eye contact is impolite. And Chinese consider gazing people is an unfriendly behavior and it is a challenge. Some South American Indians used to look at different directions when they are talking. In the Middle East, it is considered extremely provocative for a woman to let a man catch her eyes, let alone, return his gaze.
(3) Another example, Americans have a trip to a village and the local people stare at them. They are annoyed and think the local people are rude. In fact, it is normal in the village. They are just curious. American social psychologist Michael Argyle found out: People who like each other have more eye contact than people who dislike each other. In communication, looking down frequently can indicate submissiveness or embarrassment. Looking away constantly may express dissatisfaction. Females are likely to communicate with more eye contact, especially among females. But too long eye contact will cause embarrassment. Most people feel uneasy and uncomfortable under the strong staring. When people always stare at us, we will feel we are threatened or suspect their sincerity. From what is mentioned above we can conclude that different cultural background has a great influence on body language. And eye language also reflects different cultures and believes. So we need to observe and compare and contrast carefully so as to improve cultural exchange and to blend well.
2.2. Smile
Smiles are an important facial expression. They show interest, excitement, empathy, concern; they create an upbeat, positive environment. Smiles can, however, be overused. Often, men smile when they are pleased; women smile to please. You know which is the most powerful! To gain and increase respect, first establish your presence in a room, then smile. It is far more professional than to enter a room giggling or all smiles.
Smile indicates pleasure, either that you are generally happy or are enjoying the other person‟s company or that you are amused by something in particular, such as a joke. A full smile engages the whole face, particularly including the eyes, which crease and twinkle. Smiling with lips only is often falsehood, where the person wants to convey pleasure or approval but is actually feeling something else. This false smile is known as the Duchene smile, after the scientists who first described it in 1862. False smiles also tend to last for longer. A genuine smile is often asymmetric and usually larger on the right side of the face. A false smile may be more symmetrical or larger on the left side of the face. Lowering the jaw to show a D-shaped mouth can be a false smile as it is easy to do. It may also be a deliberate signal of amusement and an invitation to laugh. Smiling without opening the mouth, and particularly with lips firmly pressed together, may indicate embarrassment about unsightly teeth. It may also be a suppression of words (I can see the funny side, but I'm not going to comment.).A half-smile, on one side of the face, may indicate cynicism, sarcasm or uncertainty (Sorry, I don't buy that idea.).Smiling is also a sign of submission as the person effectively says “I am nice and not a threat”. Smiling in some cultures indicates a question or that you want the other person to speak.
When people talk about smile it means friendliness and happiness in most situations, but a tribe of Saudi Arabia thinks smile is the expression of unfriendly. If a boy wants to fall in love with a girl there, don‟t smile; a smile can blow him off. In China and English-speaking country, smiles stand for friendliness and happiness. However, in some special occasions, especially when people feel embarrassed, Chinese the Western people can disgust people‟s smile. One story can
tell us the different cognition about smiles between Chinese and English-speaking countries. A Chinese couple held a party in their home and invited a foreign friend, but the foreign friends broke up a glass with a heavy hand, so he felt very sorry and embarrass, but the Chinese people broke out laughter voice, which made the foreign fiends flush and feel more embarrassed, Who thought they were laughed at, but actually the Chinese people just means that “take it easy”. In China, smiles have many kinds of different meanings, such as “appreciation”, “acceptance”, “disapproval”, “it doesn‟t matter” and so on.
2.3. Body Distance
Psychologists discover any person needs personal space, yet skins are not the boundary of personal space, bubbles encircle their personal spaces and other people can‟t break in at will.
Let‟s talk about the Culture Difference about Body Distance. Arab and Spanish try to stand close to show friendliness. In their culture standing closely is the manner of the people when they converge. They stand close as possible as they can as if they want to smell the smells of the partner; Englishman wants to keep their personal space when they talk with the others, so pay attention not to taking up the partners‟ space; Chinese people conform with the principle of non-touching culture during the conversation. They keep a moderate distance when talking with others. There is a very interesting picture when Englishmen talk with Arab. The Arab, showing amicable to Englishman, will walk close to the Englishman, but the latter continues moving back. The Arab moves forward to be closer again, but the Englishman keeps moving backward. By the end of the conversation, the two people may be quite a distance from the place where they were originally standing!
We have just talk about the personal space above. Everyone needs specific personal space, but it seem that the relationship of parents and children between China and American have great differences. Natural affection is most divine in Chinese people‟s eyes, and children are more important than any thing else, so Chinese parents are always busy for children all life. They are worried about children‟s eating, clothing, sleeping and try any way to pave rode for children‟s future; they hope their children stay with them and obey with all the arrangement of them. Completely contrary to Chinese parents, western mother would rather children earn their own life independently, they don‟t interfere with children‟s private affairs including marriage.
With the further deepening of culture exchange and corporation of the world, the opportunities of corporation with foreign people are keeping increasing. We will learn to be on the other‟s shoes to think about things. The important things to keep in mind is that most English-speaking people do not like people to be too close when doing communication, however, being too far apart, of course, may be impolite, being too close makes people uneasy, we should learn and distinguish how to use body distance according to different situation in intercultural communication.
2.4. Touch
Usually, physical contact can only happen in two cases: intimate distance and personal distance, people can only embrace, kiss, fondle and cuddle in the case of intimate distance, and can only touch, hold hands, gazes at each others facial behavior closely in the case of personal distance. Mentioned above, Arab prefer narrow body distance during conversation, so no matter at home or in public, they like staying together in a crowded room, even some people think touching nose is also a best manners to express one‟s affections according to their own custom. Although American often takes kissing each other as a manner of greeting, however, they will be quite repugnant about the above-mentioned two kinds of conventions. In their eyes, intimate distance can be only proper for the closest person. They will try to avoid body touch with common friends and acquaintances even in crowed elevator. If some one touch others slightly or not intentionally they will say, “I am sorry” quickly, or who will be thought of shamelessly. That phenomenon is obvious because America have a strong sense of personal space.
(1) In China, people greet with each other with head nodding, smile, hand shaking and so on. Even good friends just hold hands for a short time or hammer softly on the other friend‟s shoulder. As for hand shaking, people in North America shake hands when they greet with each other. As children, they have learnt to hold other people‟s hands tightly. East Asian people often shake hands slightly; because they think tight hand shaking means challenge. Nowadays, hand shaking has become a custom to show hospitality and friendliness in many countries. But the way of hand shaking is a little different. For example,
(2) The French will shake hands with his host when they come into and leave the host‟s house. But Germans only shake hands only with their host when they come into the house. Some Africans will make a sound by fingers after hand-shaking to show freedom. And Chinese shake hands for a short time and loose and then they stand away from each other. But Chinese shake hands tightly and keep closer to express politeness and respect.
(3) In English speaking countries, people used to hug or kiss each other in public between males and females, which is unacceptable and only exists between lovers and couples in private in China. In America, common friends and acquaintances will avoid body touch. Even in the elevator, body touch is not allowed. Touching the other people slightly or unconsciously, people will say “Sorry”, “Very Sorry”, “Excuse me” in a hurry to express apology. Or they will be abused. In western countries, people particularly mind their private space, which often represents people‟s privacy and intimacy. But Chinese pay less attention to their private space. It is crowded in China because of a large population. So Chinese have got used to it and they often show their understanding and tolerance. Though Japanese also pay less attention to private space, they have strict rules in body touching. Arabians like body touching. Whether at home or in public, they like to be together and often hug together when they meet. Even they often touch each other‟s nose and smell each other, which will frighten Englishmen and American. In English speaking countries, like America and Britain, females often hug males and kiss their faces to say goodbye. And in East Asian countries and western countries, males seldom hug but often shake hands to show welcome. Japanese often show welcome by bowing. In the countries like Arab, Russia, France, East Europe and some countries at the bank of the Mediterranean, males often hug tightly and kiss each other‟s cheeks to show welcome. People living in Latin America also do the same thing. It is common to see youth of the same sex hold hands and hug in China. But in English speaking countries, it will be regarded homosexuality. “Scientists have made a survey on “touch” for the people from different countries. They spent an hour observing the people in couples in café and counting their touching times: Englishmen-0; Americans-2; French-10; Puerto Rico-18.” In daily life, when teachers encourage their students or leaders appreciate their employees, they will pat their shoulders to express encouragement.
2.5. Gestures
Do we expect other cultures to adopt our customs or are we willing to adopt theirs? This might translate to how business or even foreign relations are to be conducted. Do we compromise or force others peoples to deal only on our terms? We may not have time to hear a language, but taking time to learn the “signals” is a powerful communicator.
As the global village continues to shrink and cultures collide, it is essential for all of us to become more sensitive, more aware, and more observant to the myriad motions, gestures, and body language that surround us each day. And as many of us cross over cultural borders, it would be fitting for us to respect, learn, and understand more about the effective, yet powerful “silent language” of gestures.
The world is a giddy montage of vivid gestures- traffic police, street vendors, expressway drivers, teachers, children on playground, athletes with their exuberant hugging, clenched fists and “high fives.” People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expressively.
Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless. The social anthropologists Edward T. Hall claim 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal. In that case, how can we possibly communicate with one another without gestures?
Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach to) a child.
Gestures are woven inextricably in to our social lives, but also that the “vocabulary” of gestures, can be at once informative and entertaining... but also dangerous. Gestures can be menacing (two drivers on a freeway), warm (an open-armed welcome).
Bear in mind that the following gestures are in general use, but there may always be exceptions. In recent years, Western and contemporary values and ideas have become more popular and has either influenced, altered, and even replaced, some of the more traditional gestures, understanding human behavior is tricky stuff. No two people behave in precisely the same way. Nor do people from the same culture all perform exactly the same gestures and body language uniformly. For almost any gestures there will probably be a minority within a given nationality who might say, “Well, some might attach that meaning to it, but to me it means...” and then they will provide a different interpretation.
Hand gesture is one of the most common body language. Owing to different custom and culture, even if the same gestures maybe have great differences. Most people know the gesture of “ok” – thumb circle with forefinger means ok, the gesture of raising the thumb means all things go well, raising forefinger means number „one‟ in general situation, but which may have different meanings even opposite meaning in some place of Latin America, the gesture of “thumb circle with forefinger” have the meaning of insulting. In 1950s, Richard Nixon, the vice president of America went to visit Latin America. He made gesture of “ok” to the crowd waiting at the airport after he took off airplanes, which of course ignite the local people, and they made a lot hiss at once. In fact Nixon‟s gesture just means “every well, thank you, I‟m very well”. But the Local people thought it means defiance, because some counties have attitude of antagonism to American, the gesture of the president became the top line of paper next day. The gesture of “ok” in France can mean unworthiness or be over; Japanese people think this kind of gesture as sign of money, so when a western entrepreneur deal with Japanese, don‟t use gesture “ok” to express agreement to sign contract, or Japanese man will think you want to get bribe.
Raising the big thumb also has different meaning in some countries in American and European, which means hitchhiking, but Nigeria think it means being rude, so if foreign visitor to Nigeria wants to take a taxi with the gesture of raising the big thumb, who would be hit, because the driver will think you are outraging him.
If somebody like using thumb to express number, he or she also should pay attention. People often think rising fore thumb as number one, but in Germany raising big thumb means “one”, fore thumb means “two”. So if someone wants to drink one glass of bear in Germany, don‟t forget the local custom of the finger and avoid making a fool.
In a very general sense, we all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to help describe something. When we say, “That‟s an English book”, at the same time we are pointing to the book. If someone asks us the way to the library, we point to the right, adding a little information about it, which will be more clear and concrete. We may literally roll up our sleeves when talking about cleaning up the room, It seems natural to clench our first or perhaps even proud the lectern to let everyone realize the importance of our message when trying to communicate a strong feeling, which emphasizes our words. In classroom, it is unnecessarily stand in front of the blackboard for the teacher at the whole time. The teacher may move from behind the lectern when they wait to be informed; move to the right or left when making a major point so that they
can communicate with students very well and enhance his or her teaching quality.
However, exaggerated body movement, we should say, can cause harm, too, just as a saying goes, Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. This teacher must avoid overdone movement because it can be so distracting, to the students that it loses track of what the teacher is saying. Some of us have such feeling, that is, in a class or speech, we become more interested in the speaker‟s motion than we do in the speaker‟s message when we see the speaker pace and forth in front of us. At last we just remember the movement of the speaker, but get nothing about the information. The same is true in any context. If a body movement distracts from the idea, it is damaging.
Of course, there are also many other gestures, for instance, head movement; shaking the head. Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach to) a child. (Samovar L. A., 1981)
3. The Similarities of Body Language and Their Reasons
3.1. The Similarities of Body Language
We have discussed different cultural meanings of body language and its cause. Though different cultures result in different body languages, they also have common features. For example, master of comedy, Chaplin was very popular with people all over the world because of his humorous behavior in the silent films during 1920s and 1930s. Now, let‟s go on the similarities of body language.
Charles Darwin mentioned in his book Emotional Expression of Human and Animal. This book discussed whether the same expressions and postures suggested the same meaning both for human and animals. And he asked people all around the world and collected their possible replies. Surprisingly, the answers were almost same, especially on facial expressions. Heading nodding often means agreement or greeting in most countries. And shaking one‟s head often means disagreement or “No”.
If a person is hurt, he/she will cry to express painfulness. And we smile when are happy. Waving one‟s hand means goodbye. Even some Chinese and English expressions and their meanings are totally same. For example, patting on the back means encouragement and appreciation. Pulling a long face indicates unhappiness and anger. Being all smile means happiness, standing with folded arms means indifference and so on.
3.2 The Causes Resulting in the Similarities of Body Language
We can analyze the reason why different cultures have the same meaning on body language from psychology, linguistics, anthropology, cult urology, and semi logy, philosophy and so on. From anthropology, body language is the symbols and a tool of human communication. Human beings have the same ancestor, which determines the similarities of body language. Nowadays, with the development of the world, people from different cultures communicate more and more often. We have more chance to exchange culture and economy. The expert, McLuhan compare the world to “global village” to describe the world, which means the world becoming smaller and smaller because of more and more communication. On the one hand, people from east world have accepted the body language from west world, such as thumbing a ride, shrugging, “OK” gesture, “V” gesture and so on. On the other hand, with rapid development of East Asia and Southeast Asia, the body language from east world has a great influence on that of the west world. In the communication of east and west people, many westerners have learned Chinese customs and etiquettes
3.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication
As an old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It is the main principle in communication. This principle refers that communicators should respect and understand the culture of the other nations and eliminate the interference of their own cultures. According to this principle, we should know the differences of their customs, believes and their connotations of body language. For example,
(1) In China, people will give chrysanthemum to the patient. But French people never do this. Because they think chrysanthemum is used in funerals.
But we should pay attention to two points, when we apply this principle. On the one hand, we should not worship and imitate the whole body language blindly. On the other hand, we should not be trapped in the fixed mode of cultures. For example,
(2) People think Americans behave informally in any situation and Englishmen are always conservative. In fact, all communicative modes change with the differences of time, situation and contents.
The other principle indicates that we should conclude the rules by comparison and contrasts of different cultures and excludes the interferences of cultures to avoid cultural confliction. In the application of this principle, we should keep a tolerant attitude towards the differences of cultures, believes, customs and so on to avoid prejudice and superiority.
So in the communication, we can make full use of these principles, exclude fixed mode of culture and keep open and understanding attitude towards cultural differences.
Conclusion
This essay mainly talks about the body language and introduce some kinds of commonly used body language and their different uses in different cultural background. From the study of body language above, we know how important of body language and how complicated it is. I believe which can help the readers succeed in intercultural communications.
The study of body language should be complementary to the study of language. The understanding about body language should be helpful in the further understanding of other foreign country‟s language, but during the process of studying body language, there are some difficult places people should pay more attention to. a specific kind of culture tradition, national spirit, cultural character deeply originate from a specific society and nation. So people can‟t ignore of the sanction and influence of the culture, and should know the meaning of body language in different countries and distinguish out the same body language‟s use in different culture background. Therefore, there are six principles to conform to, which can help people treat culture difference correctly, which are: Excluding the feeling of cultural superiority; excluding cultural prejudice; treating other people‟s custom correctly; treating themselves‟ custom correctly; respecting mutually; and equally communicating. If people can do well all above they would be quite successful in intercommunication.
In short, body language is a kind of magical tool in intercultural communication, even if two speakers coming from different countries can‟t speak each other‟s language, they can understand each other smoothly by hand gesture, facial behavior, eye contact and so on. There are still some disadvantages in this paper, I hope readers can point out and give valuable advice.
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