Contrastive Study of Body Language between Chinese and English Speakers 英语专业毕业论文.docVIP

Contrastive Study of Body Language between Chinese and English Speakers Supervisor An Essay Submitted as a Partial Requirement For the Degree of B.A. in English School of Foreign Languages Southwest University May, 2011 CO CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 2. Pragmatic features of body language 1 2.1 Emblems 1 2.2 Illustrators 2 2.3 Regulators 2 2.4 Affect displays 2 2.5 Adaptors 2 3. Pragmatic functions of body language 3 3.1 Complement 3 3.2 Substitution 3 3.3 Emotional expression 3 3.4 Accentuation 3 3.5 Symbolization 3 4. Contrastive study of body language between Chinese and English speakers 4 4.1 Contrastive study of gestures 4 4.1.1 The same gesture has different meanings in different countries 4 4.1.2 Different gestures with same meaning 5 4.1.3 Gesture and meaning in one culture without equivalent in other cultures 6 4.2 Contrastive study of posture 7 4.3 Contrastive study of facial expression 8 4.4 Contrastive study of eye contact 8 5. Body Language in English teaching 9 6. Conclusion 11 Bibliography 12 Contrastive Study of Body Language between Chinese and English Speakers 1. Introduction Human communication consists of verbal communication and nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication plays a very important role in the whole communication. Some experts say more than 60 percent of communication comes from nonverbal behaviors, such as facial expression, posture and so on. These nonverbal behaviors always have many meanings. One expert estimated that verbal communication occupied about 30 percent of the whole communication behaviors. “American linguist Samovar affirms that in a face-to-face communication, only about 35 percent of messages are sent by verbal behaviors and others are sent by nonverbal behaviors.” (Cai Ziliang 2005) Verbal and nonverbal behaviors, which are both the important parts of human communication, can express feelings, interact ideas and send messages. They are the indispensable tools that c