跨文化交际

NonverbalcommunicationAbstract:Incross-culturalcommunicationstudies,peopletendtofocusonlanguagecontent,butignoredthecommunicationprocessnonverbalbehavior.Infact,themeaningnotonlythroughwordsandlanguage,butalsothroughnon-verbalcommunicationsystemtopass.Thenon-verbalcommunicationsystemincludingtheperson'sbodylanguage,eyecontact,physicaldistance,clothing,touchandbodyodor,etc.,theyarefacetofacecommunicationwithpeoplewithlanguagetohelpconveythemessageoftheirimportanceinthesuccessfulcommunicationhascausedmanyscholars.CommandmentsasDavidAbercrombiesaid:Wespeakwiththevocalorgans,butwetalkedthewholebody.People'sbehaviorconstitutesanon-verbalpartsofcommunication.KeyWord:nonverbalcommunication;culturaldifference;functionIntroductionSincelanguagehasbeencomeintobeing,itbecomesthemostimportantcommunicativetoolforhumanbeing,butnottheonlyone.Whenweareinvolvedincommunicating,weneedtomobilizeourfacialexpression,time,spaceandmanyotherwaystocommunicatingwitheachother,besidesusinglanguagetotransmitinformation.Thesemeansforcommunicationwithoutwordsareso-callednonverbalcommunication.Recentlynonverbalcommunicationhasreceivedmoreandmoreattention.1.TheImportanceofNonverbalCommunicationNonverbalcommunicationissosubtlethatashiftingofbodyzonescanalsosendmessage.Thefirsttimeyoumovefromholdinghandswithyourpartnertotouchinghisorherface,youaresendingamassage.Nonverbalcommunicationisalsoimportantbecauseweusetheactionsofotherstolearnabouttheiraffectiveoremotionalstates.Ouremotionsarereflectedinourposture,faceandeyes—beitfear,joy,anger,orsadness—sowecanexpressthemwithouteverutteringaword.Forthisreason,mostofusrelyheavilyonwhatwelearnthroughoureyes.Nonverbalcommunicationissignificantinhumaninteractionbecauseitisusuallyresponsibleforfirstimpressions.Thinkforamomentofhowoftenyourfirstjudgmentsarebasedonnonverbalmessages.Moreimportantly,thoseinitialmessagesusuallycolortheperceptionofeverythingelsethatfollows.Themagnitudeofnonverbalbehaviorisapparentifwerealizethatinoneformoranotherallofouractionsconveyinformationaboutourpsychologicalandphysicalstates.Andjustassignificant,theseactionsreflectthemoment,beitturningawayfromsomeonewithwhomwefeeluncomfortableoraimlesslyshiftingfromlegtoleg.Becauseofthis,itbecomescrucialforustointerpretaccuratelythemovementsofpeopleofothercultures.2.DefinitionofnonverbalcommunicationWeproposethatnonverbalcommunicationinvolvesallthosenonverbalstimuliinacommunicationsettingthataregeneratedbyboththesourceandhisorheruseoftheenvironmentandthathavepotentialmessagevalueforthesourceorreceiver.Itisnotbychancethatourdefinitionissomewhatlengthy:wewantedtoofferadefinitionthatwouldnotonlymarkboundariesofnonverbalcommunication,butalsoreflecthowtheprocessactuallyworks.Ourdefinitionalsopermitsustoincludeunintentionalaswellasintentionalbehaviorinthetotalcommunicationevent.Thisapproachisrealisticbecausewesendthepreponderanceofnonverbalmessageswithouteverbeingawarethattheyhavemeaningforotherpeople.3.FunctionsofnonverbalbehaviorincommunicationNonverbalcommunicationencompassesmorethanoneactivity,anditisnotlimitedtoonesetofmessages.Thismultidimensionalaspectofournonverbalbehavioralsocarriesovertothemanyusesandfunctionsofthisformofcommunication.1)RepeatingAmericansoftenusenonverbalmessagetorepeat,clarify,andemphasizethepointtheyaretryingtomake.Theymightholduptheirhandinthegesturethatsignifiesapersontostopatthesametimetheyactuallyusetheword“stop”.Ortheymightpointinacertaindirectionaftertheyhavejustsaid,“Thenewlibraryissouthofthatbuilding.”Thegesturesandwordshaveasimilarmeaningandreinforceoneanother.2)ComplementingCloselyrelatedtorepeatingiscomplementing.Althoughmessagesthatrepeatcanstandalone,complementinggenerallyaddsmoreinformationtomessages.Forexample,youcantellsomeonethatyouarepleasedwithhisorherperformance,butthismessagetakesonextrameaningifyoupatthepersonontheshoulderatthesametime.3)SubstitutingAmericansusesubstitutionwhentheyperformsomeactionsinsteadofspeak.Iftheyseeaveryspecialfriend,theyareapttothrowopentheirarmstogreethimorher,whichisasubstituteforallthewordsitwouldtaketoconveythesamefeeling.Ifagroupofpeopleisboisterous,onemightplaceone’sindexfingertoone’slipsasanalternativetosaying,pleasecalmdownsothatIcanspeak.4)RegulatingWeoftenregulateandmanagecommunicationbyusingsomeformofnonverbalbehavior:wenodourheadinagreementtoindicatetoourcommunicationpartnerthatweagreeandthatheorsheshouldcontinuetalking;orweremainsilentforamomentandletthesilencesendthemessagethatwearereadytobeginourspeech.Ournonverbalbehaviorthushelpsuscontrolthesituation.4.VerbalandNonverbalsymbolSystemsTobetterunderstandtheworkingsofnonverbalcodes,wewillreviewsomeofthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenverbalandnonverbalsystems.Themostobvioussimilaritybetweenverbalandnonverbalcommunicationisthatbothuseaculturallyagreeduponsetofsymbols.Thewordsweuseorthemarksweputdownonpaperareintendedtostandforsomething.Asecondbetweenverbalandnonverbalsystemsisthattheyarebothproducesofindividuals.Whetherwespeak,laugh,point,touchorremainsilent,wearestillgeneratingamessagethatsomeoneelseusest