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1、The Meaning of Body Language in Different Culture Abstract“Body language”, like our verbal language, is a part of 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
2、different ideas about the proper distance between people who is conversing; and 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.
3、Smile and laughter usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and merriment, and, this is generally true in China as well as in other English-speaking countries. However, there are situations when a smile of Chinese people will rise a negative reaction of the westerners. Gest
4、ures can also be particularly troublesome, for a slight difference in making the gesture can mean something quite different from that intended, besides, a wrong interpretation of a gesture can arouse quite unexpected reactions and so on. Therefore in order to communicate effectively in a foreign lan
5、guage, one should also know space domination, eye contact, body contact, gestures, the facial expression and etc. that accompany a particular language. In a sense, all body language should be interpreted in a given culture, and to ignore the overall situation could be misleading. A comparison of bod
6、y language of Chinese and English speaking Country shows a number of diversities of body language. It shows the importance of studying the specific gestures that go with a language.Key Words: nonverbal communication; body language; meaning; different culture 摘 要“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
7、同。各民族有不同的非语言交际方式。例如：不同的民族在谈话时，对双方保持多大距离才合适有不同的看法。谈话双方身体接触的次数多少因文化不同而各异；在目光接触这一方面也有许多规定：看不看对方，什么时候看，看多久，什么人可以看，什么人不可以看。在某些场合下，在中国和其他在讲英语的国家无论微笑还是大笑，通常表示友好赞同满意高兴愉快，但是在某些场合，中国人的笑会引起西方人的反感。打手势时动作稍有不同，就会与原来的意图有所区别，对某种手势理解错了，也会引起意外的反应等等。因此，要用外语进行有效的交际，在说某种语言时就得了解说话人的空间支配、目光接触、身体接触、手势、面部表情等所表示的意思。从某种意义上说，一
8、切身势语都要放在一定的文化中理解；忽视这点就会发生误解。而通过对不同文化下身势语不同含义的对比研究显示了身势语得多样性,表明了了解另一种语言中身势语的重要性.关键词：非语言交际；身势语；含义；不同文化 ContentsIntroduction11. A comparison of body language in different cultures11.1 Eye contact11.2 Holding hands31.3 Other touches31.4 Gestures31.5 The facial expression52. The necessity and importance
9、of learning body language5 Conclusion7References8IntroductionEverybody knows that words can carry messages. People communicate with words. Books, magazines, TV，radio and films all help us to communicate with others. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thi
10、nking about. Do you think you can communicate without words? A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you put up your hand in class, the teacher knows you want to say something or ask a question. You shake your head, and people know
11、you are saying “No”. You nod and people know you are saying “Yes”. There are a lot of other things which can also carry messages. What we call that is “body language”. Like verbal language, “Body language”, expresses the silent and real feeling in ones inner world. Is also a part of culture? It conc
12、ludes space domination, eye contact, body contact, gesture action and the facial expression. It plays an important role in the nonverbal communication. With the popularization of intercultural communication, the nonverbal communication also becomes more and more important. Therefore, we should pay m
13、ore attention to “body language”. On the other hand, not all body language means the same meaning in different culture, and all body language should be interpreted in a given culture, otherwise the overall situation could be misleading. Therefore, a comparison of the different meaning of body langua
14、ge in different culture is necessary.1 A comparison of body language in different cultures1.1Eye contactThe modern Spanish philosopher Autauga said “the speakers eyes can tell you their inner world”. Man and woman exchange their love by eyes. From “The whole soul is hidden in his eyes” to “Dont say,
15、 your eyes have already told me what you want to say”, we can see the important function of eye contact in communication.Eye contact is an essential part of any communication. Without it people are unlikely to relate to the message in a meaningful way. Not many people realize how important eye conta
16、ct is, or how sensitive people are to it. Eye contact should be a positive form of body language communication, but if it is not used correctly it can easily become negative.The doctor Faster said, once his friend and he came downstairs in the elevator, his friend looked up and down at a beautiful g
17、irl, when the door of elevator opened, the girl caressed out of the elevator and returned to roar to his friend: “Didnt you see a woman? You are an old lady-killer!” His friend asked Doctor. Faster “whats wrong did I do?” awkwardly. In fact, his fault was too greedy to see staring at people, which m
18、eans touching the body of others. It obeys the most important ruler of nonverbal contacting. In English speaking country, it is improper to staring at the others or too long. It is even inappropriate to see people with the appreciative sight that the other side looks beautiful, which will make peopl
19、e to get angry too. A lot of foreigners take a trip to other countries, and sometimes they feel very angry and awkward because the locals are staring at them, thinking that the people are impolite, and hardly realizing that it is an ordinary affair to see others because of curiosity in this country.
20、 A lot of foreigners who speak English in China have revealed discontented mood to this problem. A good friend of the authors is a young woman from U.S.A., and she decides to come back home because people often stare at her. She likes teaching in Beijing very much, having deep emotions to China and
21、Chinese people, but she really can not stand by the impolite scene that she is often surrounded and watched everywhere. In fact, her stature is very tall and big, and is apt to cause the passerbys curiosity. But this can not be taken as the reason to impolitely surround and watch foreigners. She is
22、reluctant to part with us when leaving China, but she has still come back home ahead of time. What a strong disgust caused by being seen and surrounded! Avoiding shifting eyes and head quickly during conversation when someone asks you a question. Do not look down or look to the side. Look directly a
23、t the person with a sense of confidence but not overbearingly threatening in nature.In different countries, the eye contact has different meanings. For example, two Arabs will look at each other enthusiastically when they talk with each other. Because they think eyes are the key of existence of life
24、. But if two men stare at each other for a long time, they may be thought as gays. The gentle English will look at your eyes, and the French like the appreciated contact with eyes. The eyes show that although I dont know you, I appreciate you heart from heart. So French man is gazing at woman in pub
25、lic is the public cultural criterion. The Japanese will look at your neck when they talk with you. They dont look at your eyes, for they think look at the others eyes is not polite. While when you stare at the Chinese, they will feel that you are on evil or it is an obvious challenge.1.2 Holding han
26、dsToday, in many countries, holding hands has become a common amenity of showing affection and politeness. But different country has different habits. The French hold hands with honesty when they come into and leave the house, but the German only hold hands when they come into the house. Some Africa
27、ns will make the silvery noise after they hold hands to show liking. In the west, the politician will use their right hand to hold the others right hand and put their left hand on their back of hand. They attempt to let the accepter feel their enthusiasm and honest, so it was called “holding hands o
28、f politician”. In Pakistan, men cant hold the womans hands actively. The concepts of holding hands are different for different culture. In the intercourse of human beings, the messages sent by eyes are subtle; the signs sent out by holding hands are direct.1.3 Other touches.For the worship of religi
29、on, the Buddhist thinks it is holy when the Buddhist touches their head. But in Thailand you cant touch others head, for touching head is thought as evil. Meanwhile, the Buddhist of Thailand is taboo of being touched by women. They believe that they would fail in work if they were touched by women.
30、The Chinese will touch the head of child if they like him. While in American, the mother will feel disgusted if you touch her babys head. Although she knows you have no bad meaning, it is also the expression of impoliteness. In Moslem countries, people regard the knowledge of touch as one part of th
31、eir whole culture. They think touching others by left hand is an insult. Because left hands are used when they go to toilet .Touching can be friendly or it can be aggressive. The way a person stands reflects their level of confidence and comfort level.1.4 GesturesThere are different meanings of gest
32、ures in different countries. The gestures have different function of communication under different cultural background. So the use of gesture is a very tough thing. While playing the gesture, slightly different movements will obey the original intention to some extent; to wrongly understand a certai
33、n gesture will cause the unexpected response too. In World War II, the prime minister, Winston Churchill warring in Britain had done a gesture, which caused the sensation at that time. He attended one grand and important meeting, and when he appeared, the masses are hailing to applaud to him. Church
34、ill had made a V gesture to express victory (victory) - using the forefinger and middle finger to make a V gesture. While making this gesture, the palm should be facing toward the audience. Maybe Churchill did not know or falls for the moment, and he made the back of the hand to face toward the audi
35、ence. Among the masses, someone applauded and made catcalls, someone was in a daze, and someone could not to bear laugh, because the gesture made by the prime minister is an obscene movement, but not the victory movement. Another example is connected with Nicky tower Hertz, the leader of U.S.S.R. fr
36、om late 1950s to early 1960s. During the period he visiting U.S.A., his speech and bearing cause some disputes. One of the controversial gestures was that he held both hands tight, lifted it beyond the top of the head, and rocked in the sky. His meaning was obviously to express the greeting and frie
37、ndship. However, the person and televiewer present did not appreciate this. Americans are very familiar with this movement -This is the posture that a boxer expresses the victory after defeating the rival. Before this, hertz had said that the capitalism of U.S.A. would be buried. A lot of Americans
38、thought that this kind of gesture shows he has seemed to already win the victory and feel jaunty, so there is no wonder that a lot of people feel bad toward this gesture.In china, raising thumb means “good, great”, and raising the smallest finger means “bad”. In America, people put thumb up when the
39、y want to take car, they put thumb down to show “bad”. While Japanese use spreading their smallest finger express “lover”. In America, waving hands means goodbye, but in South Africa, people will run toward you if you wave your hands to them. The “OK” means money in America, and hate indeed in Japan
40、, however it means comparing with cling ones teeth in Arab. Spin your figure near head, in china, it means think over, but means “you are crazy” in America and Brazil. The Russian put fingers on the throat to express they are full, and the Japanese use this gesture to show “be fired by boss”. Its po
41、lite to close your mouth when you are eating food in American and Japan, while it is polite to open your mouth and chew in India. If an American put the chopstick into the bowl straightly, and give the rice to Chinese, the Chinese will feel uncomfortable because in the folk of Chinese, they put the
42、chopstick into the bowl when they sacrificed. The range and speck of gesture can reflect the different culture background and mentality. The white young people walked more slowly. This is connected with their social environment. In the eyes of the east, the American woman was bold and piquant, for t
43、hey walk faster and stand straighter than the east woman. In the eyes of the west, the small foot of Japan woman reflects their malleable and complicate character.The American are at will, they often sit down idly, so its easy to understand the surprise of Chinese student when they see the American
44、teacher sit down to the desk in class. While in many European countries, like Germany, people pay more attention on ceremony, the idle gestures are thought as crude and impolite.1.5 The facial expression The importance of facial expression in communication is public .Only we have learned the culture
45、 background of one country, can we understand how to use the right expression.In China, host use smile to welcome their guests, while the Indian of American use cry to welcome their guest. In some cultures, slurping lips express agreement, in Chinese culture, it means delicious. But in English, it m
46、eans “not delicious”, in some countries of Mediterranean; it is the sign of exaggeration of sadness. Smile is not only the expression of happiness and friendship, but also can send the message of apology and forgiveness.The eastern often cloak their feelings, but not express on the face. In Chinese
47、folklore, “to read ones face” is the very important tool to communicate with others.There are about 50 different types of human smiles. By analyzing the movements of facial muscles involved in smiling, researches can tell when a smile is true. Look for the crinkles in the skin and if there is no cri
48、nkle, the smile is probably unnatural. Authentic smiles are smiles that “crest” or change rapidly from a small facial movement to a broad open expression.2 The necessity and importance of learning body languageIn my opinion, “body language” plays an important role in peoples life. To begin with, usi
49、ng positive body language can reinforce the opinions you wish to express in a meeting and avoiding negative or intrusive non-verbal communication will ensure that you do not undermine your message. You need to be aware of your body language from the moment you begin to make your contribution to the
