体态语和跨文化交际—体态语在国际商务中的重要作用-文学学士毕业论文.doc

AbstractBody language plays an important role in intercultural communication. Each movement of a person can express ones emotions and attitudes. Body language is different in different countries with intercultural view, however, it has the same purpose that it helps people communicate in an effective way. People from different cultures always use different nonverbal means of communication, conveying non-verbal information which plays a necessary role in international business. In intercultural communication, if both parts cant be deeply in the same cultural background, it will be more likely to create misunderstandings which cause failure in communication. Therefore, the negotiators should have strong cultural consciousness and get familiar with many different forms of non-verbal communication so as to understand each other well, observe negotiation opponent, and use nonverbal expression more effectively.This paper discusses the types of body language , its important functions, and the important role body language plays in international business negotiations. Different countries have difference in posture, facial expressions, gestures and body space (distance). This paper also expounds the importance of non-verbal communication. The discussion on body language in intercultural communication helps people reduce or avoid misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication because of the differences of body language under different culture background. Key words: body language; intercultural communication;international business; negotiation中文摘要体态语在跨文化交际中起着不可或缺的作用。一个人不同的行为动作表达着不同的情感和观点。在不同的文化背景下以及在不同的国家里，体态语不尽相同。然而，体态语都有一个共同的目标，那就是帮助人们有效地交际。不同文化的人会用不同的非语言交际，非语言交际传递着不同的信息，这些信息在国际商务中起着非常重要的作用。在跨文化交际中，交际双方若不能进入同一文化背景之中，就容易产生不解或误解，从而是交际失败。因此，谈判人员应该要有较强的文化意识以及熟悉多学不同的非语言交际形式，以便尽可能地观察对手，领会对方的非语言信息，同时更好地运用自己的非语言表达。本文重点论述了体态语的类型和重要功能，并且论述了体态语在国际商务谈判中的重要作用。不同国家在手势，姿态，面部表情，眼神与体距等方面的文化差异，论述了非语言交际的重要性。对跨文化交际中的体态语进行探讨，有助于人们减少或避免在跨文化交际中因体态语的文化差异而引起的误解。关键词：体态语,跨文化交际,国际商务,谈判1. IntroductionBody language is an important part of non-verbal communication. Intercultural communication is the process of communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. Body language (non-verbal communication) which is not carried out in words, but through ones voice qualities, facial expressions, gestures, body movement, or attitudes towards space and time and so on. People can communicate with one another not only through verbal communication but also through non-verbal communication; moreover, the latter plays more essential role and mainly expresses real emotion and attitude through gesture, posture, facial expression, eye behavior, and body contact . This paper intends to present different forms of body language under different culture and its functions so that we can improve our communication skills and abilities by understanding it well and put it into effective use.“ Research shows that when people meet someone for the first time, only 6% of their initial impact on others is determined by the content of what they say; the other 94% of their message is made up of body language (55%) and the tone of their voice （39%）.”（Zhang Jianqing，2004: 105）. Body language used to be neglected by many people, simply because of its non-verbal nature. But things are different now: business people are paying more and more attention to non-verbal ways in their communications. As the trend of globalization is strengthened step by step, international communication is frequent and important day by day. Thus, the significance of body language in intercultural communication has been greatly realized. Body language is also interlinked with spoken language and a whole pattern of behavior from a person. In addition to that, various body language signs can complement each other to make a particular meaning clear and strengthen the meaning of what we communicate.Owing to cultural differences, the same body language has different meanings and communicative functions, because each culture has some social norms that govern the conduct of peoples social behaviors, which causes a lot of trouble in intercultural communication. Therefore, in intercultural communication, it is of great importance for us to understand the body language. This paper focuses on the cultural comparison of the body language, so that business person can put it into practice appropriately especially in business negotiation.As a business person, if you want to communicate with your partner sucessfully, you should get familiar with different body language in different country so as to make the trade much closer and further. At the same time, you had better make full preparations for body language communication before going to make deal with people from different culture. In this way, people are likely to avoid misunderstanding body language.2. Different Forms of Body Language under Different Culture2.1Gesture2.1.1 Same gesture, different meanings under different culture Owing to the existance of cultural differences in the world, the same gesture may convey different meanings to others. One persons positive gesture may be another persons insult. Hands on hips signals hostility in Mexico, anger in Malaysia, impatience in the United States, and in Argentina it indicates a challenge. In China, it is a sign that there is a need for relaxing or a pause as one has been tired or a sign of relief after hard work; it is sometimes adopted to display ones strength in quarreling with other people. Making a circle with ones index finger at the temple is normally used when talking privately about a third person, which means that person is crazy,often in a joking way. But in China,it means thinking. In Russia, receiving a very slow applause indicates great appreciation, but in many countries this would show lack of appreciation. Chinese people may express their agreement, approval and praise by nodding the head, smiling, while Italians show their satisfaction in this way. The “V” for victory sign is accepted in both China and English speaking countries. However, this sign previously means the number2 in China.People of English speaking countries keep their middle finger crossed index finger to mean that the person is hoping for good luck.While in China, it means the number 10.2.1.2 Different gestures , same meanings under different culture Different cultures have different non-verbal signals to convey some subtle information.When it comes to counting 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Enlish speaking countries are different from Chinese. They point index finger or crook middle finger, ring finger and pinkie to indicate 1; they use index finger, crooking middle finger and ring finger with the thumb pressing the pinkie to indicate 3; they stretch out the closing five fingers plus the index finger of the other hand to indicate 6; they primarily stretch out the hand, then successively add the middle, ring finger, pinkie and thumb of the other hand to indicate 7, 8, 9, 10. In China, if one wants to express “shame on you”, he or she will extend the forefinger and touch his or her own face with the tip of the finger several times. While English-speaking people extend both forefingers with palms down in front of his or her body, and then one finger makes several burshing movements over the back of the other.In China, people put the thumb or forefinger on the nose to confirm if he or she is mentioned or called. While many people of Enlish speaking countries always get this meaning by pointing at himself or herself with the palm inside.2.2 PosturePosture is a functional source of cultural understanding. The same posture may cause serious conflicts when in different cultural region.Greeting, nodding and shaking heads, sitting and standing, which movements of the head, arms, hands, legs communicate ones emotion and feelings, as well as ones self-image and energy level.Posture, whatever type it belongs to, sends different messages to other people. When you stand in an upright position, you impress others as being energetic;when you are sitting with a hand supporting your chin,you give others the impression that you are either deep in thinking or in the blues; when you lean forward while listening, it will strike the speaker that you are attentive and interested in what he is saying; but if you look away from time to time while listening, it will be interpreted as being either absent-minded or lacking interest and so forth.Surely the signal for “No!” , shaking ones head from side to side, is shared among people all around the world?False!In Creece, Turkey and Iran, swaying head from side to side means, “yes”.Taking greeting for example, in some countries, people would like to shake hands with others when meeting, while in some eastern countries, such as Japan, people bend to show their greetings. In some countries, people embrace and kiss each other.In English speaking countries, like America and Britain, females often hug males and kiss their faces to say goodbye. And in East Asian countries and western countries, males seldom hug but often shake hands to show welcome. Japanese often show welcome by bowing. In the countries like Arab, Russia, France, East Europe and some countries at the bank of the Mediterranean, males often hug tightly and kiss each others cheeks to show welcome. People living in Latin America also do the same thing. It is common to see youth of the same sex hold hands and hug in China. But in English speaking countries, it will be regarded homosexuality.While taking nodding and shaking heads for example, on most occasions, people nod their heads to show the emotion of agreement, while shaking heads conveys disagreement. Nevertheless, Celongese uses two different forms to means “yes”. When facing the fact, they will nod to agree. However, when they agree with the opinion of others, they will shake heads to show their agreement.According to Chinese tradition, people who are sitting have right to take charge of others: Monarch sits and officer stands; father sits and son stands; leader sits and employee stands and so on. So the young give the old a seat to show respect. But in America and Britain, people who are in charge of others have tendency to stand. They will make use of the height of space to indicate the high status. People who have high status choose to sit when they are conversing with you, which mean they want to create harmonious and equal atmosphere and lessen space. So adults will bend down when they are talking to children. “Froyd once said: No one can really keep secret. If he does not talk and keep silent, he will talk with his fingers. In a whole, part of his body will sell him out.” (Shi Dingle,Peng Chunping,2004:104)2.3 Facial ExpressionThe rapid facial signals are the primary system for expression of emotion. It is the face that you search to know whether someone is angry, disgusted, afraid, sad, etc. Words cannot always describe our feelings. Words are not adequate to express what we see in the book on someone s face at an emotional moment.The movement of eyebrows carries messages like greeting, surprise, fear and so on. Generally speaking, westerners use more eyebrow movements to convey messages than Easterners do. It is reported that westerners can send up to 28 different messages through eyebrow movements. However, some eyebrow movements are regarded as shared ones, like a locked eyebrow, which indicates anxiety; or a raised one, which often indicates ones surprise.The meaning of smile varies from person to person who is in different culture. For instance, when a foreigner pours all his drink out at the seat of a bus and feels very embarrassed. The Chinese conductor smiled at him, which would make him angry. As a matter of fact, the smile means “Never mind”. However, the smile expresses an emotion of avoiding answering a question.Smile is a very common and effective way of nonverbal communication. Quite a number of businesses have started training their employees to learn to smile, especially in the service industry.2.4 Eye ContactAs the saying goes, eyes are the window of soul. Eye contact is a very important way to judge the intimacy of the communicators. But what is considered appropriate eye contact varies from situation to situation and from one culture to another. How can we distinguish someone is sad or happy when he is smiling?Eye contact is one of the essential non-verbal abilities to communicate. Actually, we are least aware of our non-verbal communication skills like body language and especially eye contact, yet these non-verbal skills often speak louder than our words. When you maintain eye contact, you will present confidence in yourself and what you are communicating. Listeners will take you more seriously, and will take what you say into consideration. If you lose eye contact or focus on everything else but the person you are speaking to, the truth in your points may be lost. Arabs have warned their countrymen never to do business with those who do not look you straight in the eye. In the United States, one cannot expect to find a good job if he forgets to look directly at the interviewers eyes. Canadians, Australians and many other westerners hold that direct eye contact in communication carries the message of honesty, sincerity and frankness.In Britain, you must avoid staring at the strangers but at the same time avoid ignoring them. When communicating with one another, if you are not looking at the person you are talking to, your behavior could imply fear, contempt, uneasiness, guilt or indifference. In making a speech, the lecturer should exchange eye contact with the audience from time to time, but not bury his or her nose in the manuscript.2.5 SpaceSpace here refers to the physical distance between two communicators. Different arrangement in the space carries different messages of distance in different country.Space is generally divided into four kinds with reference to spatial differences: Space within 50cm is considered an “intimate distance”, as such a space permits not only intimate conversations but also physical contacts. Besides, such a distance is best fit for exchanging important information. Space ranging from 50 cm to about 1.2m is regarded as “personal distance”, as within such a distance people may have casual conversations with friends or acquaintances. Space from 1.2m to 3.7m is considered “social distance”, which is the distance for an interview, a business talk and so on. Such a distance is not fit for sharing anything personal. Space ranging from 3.7m to the limitation of our sight and hearing is called “public distance”, which is often used for public speeches and for meeting strangers. ( Xu Xianzhong ,2001:60-66)The significance of studying the difference in space