人教新课标必修4 Unit4 Body language[背景文章]Body Language on Nonverbal Communication.docVIP

Body Language on Nonverbal Communication “Body language”, like our verbal language, is also a part of our culture. But not all body language means the same thing in different cultures. Different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication. For example: different people have different ideas about the proper distance between people conversing; the appropriateness of physical contact varies with different cultures; one could draw up quite a list of “rules” about eye contact: to look or not to look; when to look and how long to look; who and who not to look at; smiles and laughter usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and merriment, and, this is generally true in China as well as the English-speaking countries, however, there are situations when some Chinese will laugh that will cause negative reactions by westerners; gestures can be particularly troublesome, for a slight difference in making the gesture itself can mean something quite different from that intended, and, a wrong interpretation of a gesture can arouse quite unexpected reactions and so on. So in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language, one should know also the gestures, body movements, mannerisms and etc. that accompany a particular language. Some authorities feel that the two are dependent on each other. This is certainly true in most situations. But it is also true that in certain situations body action contradicts what is being said, just as the spoken words may mean something quite different from what body language communicates. When this occurs, one must try to get further information, or guess the meaning from the context of the situation. In a sense, all body language should be interpreted; within a given context; to ignore the overall situation could be misleading. A comparative study of Chinese and American body language shows a number of similarities and diversities of body language. It shows the importance of knowing the specific gestu