跨文化交际中的肢体语言分析_英文_刘艳男

中山大学研究生学刊（社会科学版）

第34卷第1期JOUＲNAL OF THE GＲADUATES VOL.34ɴ1

2013SUN YAT-SEN UNIVEＲSITY（SOCIAL SCIENCES）2013

An Analysis of Body Language in

Intercultural Communication*

LIU Yan-nan

（School of Foreign Languages，Sun Yat-sen University，Guangzhou510275）【Abstract】Body language，the most important part of nonverbal communication，plays an essential role

in human communication，especially in intercultural communication．Ｒesearch results have shown that

the words a person speaks may be far less important than the body language used when delivering the

verbal message．It is estimated that less than10percent of the whole message understood by an audience

is the actual content，some30percent is attributed to the pitch and tenor of a person's voice and60

percent to other forms of nonverbal communication from body language to facial expressions to hand

gestures．However，different people have different ways of making nonverbal communication and body

language in different cultures means different things．This thesis aims to discuss the different types of

body language employed in different cultures such as eye contact，facial expression，touch，and gestures，

and the possible causes behind，for example，culture，tradition，beliefs，value，ethnic characters，

social customs，etc．．Some suggestions will be given at the end as to how to make use of body language

to achieve efficient intercultural communication and avoid misunderstandings．

【Keywords】body language；intercultural communication；difference；causes；suggestions

1．1Definition of Body Language

Intercultural communication refers to the process of communication among people from different cultural backgrounds．It can be categorized into two types：non-verbal communication and verbal communication．As a matter of fact，people can communicate with others not only through verbal communication but also through nonverbal communication．Furthermore，the former sometimes may count more than the latter in expressing real feeling，emotion and attitude by means of such types of body language as eye contact，facial expression，touch，gestures and postures etc．Thus body language，according to Wikipedia，as an expression of both mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication，may provide clues to the attitude or state of mind of a person．For example，it may indicate aggression，attentiveness，boredom，relaxed state，pleasure，amusement，and intoxication，among many other cues．

*收稿日期：2012－09－27

作者简介：刘艳男，男，1990年生人，河北唐山人，中山大学外国语言学及应用语言学硕士研究生，主要研究方向，语言学，应用语言学，外语教学;E-mail:liu mengfei1990@。