The Culture Features of Body Language

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【Abstract】body language is an important part of nonverbal communication and it is connected with culture. body language from different cultures has many differences because of different regions, races and cultural customs.This article devotes to a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of eye language, gestures, postures, facial expressions and touch. It aims to illustrate the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding.

【Key Words】nonverbal communication body language cultural differences and similarities principles

1. Some Information about Body Language

When talking about body language, people often think about standing, sitting, and lying. In fact people can make over 1000 kinds of gestures. The commonly used body languages include eye contact, physical contact, sound, facial behavior and so on. Western scholars have made a lot of definitions about it, the most vivid and specific definition is that body language is the non-verbal language which can express information that language cannot express and the actions most people can understand. Body language is the complementary of language, and it cooperates with language to express information more accurately.

2. Analysis on Some commonly used Body Language in Intercultural Communication

There are many body languages with various meanings, and some of them are common in people's daily life, but which are useful and meaningful to help us to communicate.

2.1. Eye Contact

Eyes are important aspects of body language. People often compare eyes to the window of mind, and eye contact plays important part in interpersonal communication, However, There is much knowledge and question during communication about eye contact. For example, could speakers look at their partner directly when talking? How to look? How long could be looked at? Which part could be looked at? And which part couldn't to be looked at?

2.2 Body Distance

Psychologists discover any person needs personal space, yet skins are not the boundary of personal space, their personal spaces are encircled by bubbles and other people can't break in at will.

2.3 Physical Contact

Just like eyes contact, physical contact, as one kind of body language, also plays important role in transferring information and emotions during social communication. For instance, infant cradled and patted in mother's arms can get information of maternal love, moreover, which can rusticate baby's cerebella and accelerate enuresis. Foreign schools call it touch education. Anthropologists classify culture as two kinds: touch culture and non-touch culture, Arab, Southern European, Western European, and Judean belong to first the kind and American, western European, Eastern people belong to the second kind.

3. On the Term―Body Language

3.1 Concept and Classification of Body Language

Body language is known as nonverbal behavior which transmits information through gestures, actions and facial expressions. People communicate with each other by their body language in the ways of nodding, waving, eye contacting, shrugging and so on. According to the research results of psychologists, these ways can express what the verbal language cannot directly. Body language can be divided into sight language, body touches language, posture and gesture, manner, facial expression, flavor language, proteomics and clothes language.

3.2 General Characteristics of Body Language

Some body languages are not only innate but also unconscious and subconscious. Take excited people for example, their pupil will dilate automatically; eyebrows move when greeting; frown when discontented; yawn when fatigued; bite teeth when anger and usually people smile when happy, cry when sad and blush when shame.

4. Cultural Differences of Body Language

Different believes are the causes of the differences of body language. According to the theories proposed by American anthologists Barnett Pearce, Version Cornet, people's behavior, the way of thinking and so on are affected by their believes. And every culture has its distinctive belief system. A normal action in this culture will be abnormal in another one. A positive behavior in one culture will be negative in another. People from eastern world advocate modesty, tolerance, mutual-support and responsibility for the group.

5. Classification of Body Language

We have discussed the importance of no-verbal communication. And we also know body language reflects a certain cultural background. On the one hand, in a certain tradition, body language is determined by its customs and traditions. Violating them will cause communicative disconnection and misunderstanding. On the other hand, the meanings of body language in a certain culture are developing and changing. With the development of technology, traffic and contact all over the world, the meanings of body language are renewing every day. In this essay, we intend to make a comparison and contrast of the similarities and differences on body language in order to avoid misunderstanding and make efficient communication.

In short, body language is a kind of magical tool in intercultural communication, even if two speakers coming from different countries can't speak each other's language, they can understand each other smoothly by hand gesture, facial behavior, eye contact and so on.

Bibliography:

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