The Meaning of Body Language in Different Culture 英语专业(毕业论文).docVIP

PAGE 8 PAGE 7 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 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. 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. Gestures 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 language, 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 body 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