A Cultural Analysis on Chinese and English Body Languages 英语专业毕业论文.doc

A Cultural Analysis on Chinese and English Body Languages Abstract: In different cultures, body language has different meanings and different expressions. A positive behavior in China will be negative in Western countries. People from China advocate modesty, tolerance, mutual-support and responsibility for the group. But Western people admire independence, self-respect, free development, and requiring individual space and so on. Sometimes they will make themselves or others embarrassed in cross-cultural communication. comparing the body languages in the Western countries and China. It aims to illustrate the differences body language in different cultures and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding. As the global village continues to shrink and cultures blending, countries have more and more communications with each other. In order to meet the international communication tendency, then promote people’s cross-cultural communication competence, reinforce the heart-to-heart understanding and in the end will benefit the communication between Western people and Chinese people. Many body languages are the result of cultural acquisition; the shaping and the effect of people’s body language are always determined by a certain cultural environment. Therefore, understanding the body languages is essential. Key Words：Body language; intercultural communication; cultural differences Cultural Differences of Body Language Different believes are the causes of the differences of body language. According to the theories proposed by American anthologists Barnettt Pearce, people’s behavior, the way of thinking and so on are affected by their believes. And every culture has its distinctive belief system. A normal action in this culture will be abnormal in another one. A positive behavior in one culture will be negative in another. People from eastern world advocate modesty, tolerance, mutual-s