1、Body Language on Nonverbal Communication“Body language”, like our verbal language, is also a part of our 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
2、 ideas about the proper distance between people conversing; 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; smiles and laughter
3、usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy and merriment, and, this is generally true in China as well as the English-speaking countries, however, there are situations when some Chinese will laugh that will cause negative reactions by westerners; gestures can be particularly
4、troublesome, for a slight difference in making the gesture itself can mean something quite different from that intended, and, a wrong interpretation of a gesture can arouse quite unexpected reactions and so on. So in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language, one should know also the ge
5、stures, body movements, mannerisms and etc. that accompany a particular language. Some authorities feel that the two are dependent on each other. This is certainly true in most situations. But it is also true that in certain situations body action contradicts what is being said, just as the spoken w
6、ords may mean something quite different from what body language communicates. When this occurs, one must try to get further information, or guess the meaning from the context of the situation. In a sense, all body language should be interpreted; within a given context; to ignore the overall situatio
7、n could be misleading. A comparative study of Chinese and American body language shows a number of similarities and diversities of body language. It shows the importance of knowing the specific gestures that go with a language. Observation shows that a truly bilingual person switches his body langua
8、ge at the same time he switches languages. This makes communication easier and better.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，但是在某些场合，中国人的笑会引起西方人的反感；打手势时动作稍有不同，就会与原来的意图有所区别，对某种手势理解错了，也会引起意外的反应等等。因此，要用外语进行有效的交际，在说某种语言时就得了解说话人的手势，动作，举止等所表示的意思。而有些权威人士认为两者相互依存。在大多数情况下这是对的。在某些情况下，人体动作与所说的话不一致，口头说的与身势语表达的意思不一样。这时要借助其他信息或从整个情况中猜测说话人的意思，从某种意义上说，一切身势语都要放在一定的情景下去理解；忽视了整个情景就会发生误解。而通过中美身势语对比研究表明，两者有相似的地方，也有差异的地方，说明了解另一种语言中身势语的重要性。
