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GenderdifferencesininterculturalbusinesscommunicationAbstract:AccordingtothelatestresearchintheUnitedStatesofAmerica,menandwomentalkinsuchdifferentwaysthatitislikepeoplefromtwodifferentculturestryingtocommunicateespeciallyinthebusinessworld.Thesedifferencesaremainlydividedintotwoparts:bodylanguageandverbalcommunication.Therearelotsofreasonsaswell.Keywords:communication，genderdifference，reasonAsasymbolsystemandsocialphenomena,languageisthecarrierofhumanthinkingaswellascommunicationtools,inevitablyreflectingeachsideofcommunitylife.Genderdifferencescommonlyexistineverylanguage,mostgenderdifferencesinlanguageoriginatedfromdifferentsocialrolestheyplayed.Mostpeopleknowthatgenderdifferencesexistinbodylanguageandnonverbalbehaviors.However,genderdifferencesinfluencecommunicationinthebusinessworld.Menandwomentendtohavedistinctvariationsinthesendingandreceivingofmessagesviabodylanguage.Someofthesedifferencesinclude:Womentypicallyaremoreskilledthanmenatbothsendingandreceivingnonverbalmessages.Theytendtousebodylanguagebothconsciouslyandunconsciouslytoestablishrapport,makejudgmentsabouttruthfulnessanddeceit,andinfluenceothersinbothovertandverysubtleways.Theyalsotendtobebetteratspottingcontradictionsbetweenverbalandnonverbalmessages.Mentypicallyarelessskilledthanwomenatbothsendingandreceivingnonverbalmessages.Thisdoesnotmean,however,thatbodylanguageissomethingmendonotuseorunderstand.Onthecontrary,menusenonverbalbehaviorsregularlytocommunicatethingslikestatus,dominance,protection,andaggression.Theytendtobebetteratsendingandreceivingnonverbalmessageswheninteractingwithothermen.Muchhasbeenwrittenaboutmenandwomenusingbodylanguageinsocialandromanticsituations,butthereisincreasingattentionbeingfocusedoninteractionsinthebusinessworld.Theinformationemergingfromthisfocusisquitefascinatingandcanbeveryusefulwhennavigatingthroughgendercommunicationdifferencesintheworkplace.Languagebehaviordifferencesbetweenmaleandfemaleexistindifferentsocialgroups,inspiteoflargerdifferencesinsomecommunities;therearesmallerdifferencesinothercommunities.Generallyspeaking,comparedwithfemininelanguage,malelanguagetendstobemorestraightforward,moreconfident,andmorecertainrudewhilefemininelanguagehascharacteristicssuchaspolite,euphemisticalandnon-arbitrary.Itisfoundthatmaleisalwaysindominationduringconversationbetweenmaleandfemale.Unlikemale,femaleisalwaysasubordinateduringconversationbetweenmaleandfemalegenerally[10].Forexample,duringconversationwewilloftenencounterthefollowingsituations:Menalwaystakeinitiativetointerruptothers’topicsduringconversationinordertogetthediscoursepowerinconversationwhilewomenaremorelikelytolistentootherswhointerruptthem;inaddition,womentakepartinthediscussionbymeansofaskingquestions.Menusuallygiveaccurateanswerstoquestionsothersraisedinconversation,ortheywillturndeafearstotheminordertostrengthentheirimportantroles.However,womenoftendarenottogivetheirownopinionsdirectly;instead,theygivetheirownideasundertheconditionofothers’approvalsandhopetogetothers’supportinordertocontinuetheirownopinions.Withthedeepeningdevelopmentofgenderdifferences,thefocusofgenderdifferencesgraduallyshiftedfromvocabularydifferencestogenderdifferencesindiscoursestyleswhichgreatlybroadenedthehorizonsofstudiesandallowedtheresearcherstounderstandandmastertherelationshipbetweentheuseoflanguageandgenderdifferencescomprehensivelyandaccuratelyatahigherlevel.Linguists’investigationofdiscoursesituationinsocialinteractionshowsthatthereexistdifferentdegreesofdifferencesinthechoiceoftopic,thevolumeofspeech,themodeandstrategyofdiscourse.Ingeneral,femalebehavesmorecooperativelyinconversation,usuallytheytaketurnsinspeechandeverybodyhaschancetospeak,individualsrarelytakesalongtimeinspeech.Whenstartingtheirspeech,femaletendstorefertopreviousthingswhichothershaveexpressedexplicitlyandtriestolinkwhatshewantsaytothem.Theypayattentiontomaintainingthecontinuityandsmoothoftalking.Therefore,theytendtospendmoretimeonthesametopic,thusthetopicschangemoreslowly.Femalepaysmoreattentiontothereactionandparticipationoflistenersduringconversationandmakesthisattentionreflectonspeech(forexample,moreuseofpersonalpronounssuchaswe,youwhichconcludelistenersorimperativesentencesandtagquestionsbeginwithlet’s).Bycomparison,maleoftenshowsstrongcompetitionduringconversation,tendingtocontrolthechoiceoftopicsandchancesofspeechinsteadoflettingotherssay,andtheresultmaybesomeonetalkingmuchmorethanothers.Whenstartingtheirconversation,malerarelyreferstopreviousthingswhichothersexpressed,insteadtheyonlypayattentiontotheirowntopic,thustherewillbemoreunexpectedtopics,jumpsandweakcontinuityintheirconversations.Astothelisteners,malepayslessattentionontheirreactionandparticipation.Malereactsslowlywhenothersexpresstheiropinions,usuallyafterothers’speeches,what’smore,theirreactionsarebrief,andmostarenoncommittalwithfewpositivecomments.Maleinterruptsothersmorethanfemaledoesduringotherpeople’sspeech,evenwithdirectandblunttoneandfewapologizes.Asspeakers,malewillsendaclearprotestagainstthosewhointerruptthemgenerallywh