身體語言畢業(yè)論文（英語專業(yè)）

1、<p><b>　　本科生畢業(yè)論文</b></p><p>　　題 目: 身體語言的簡要學(xué)習(xí)</p><p>　　Title: A Brief Study on Body Language</p><p>　　Abstract: In the 21st century, as the economic and cultural

2、exchanging of all countries becomes more and more frequent, there appear more obstacles caused by the differences of language and culture. In intercultural communication, one of the most useful ways to deal with the obst

3、acles is to master the meaning of body language. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master because even the same body language has great differen

4、</p><p>　　Key words: body language; intercultural communication; cultural difference</p><p>　　題目：身體語言的簡要學(xué)習(xí)</p><p>　　摘要：21世紀(jì)， 隨著國際經(jīng)濟(jì)文化交流的加深，由于語言，文化的差異而產(chǎn)生的障礙隨時(shí)都可能存在，在跨文化交際中，消除障礙的最有效的方

5、法就是了解身勢語的含義。然而即使我們對(duì)常用的身勢語有所了解，我們?nèi)匀幻媾R著一些困難，身勢語含義千變?nèi)f化，即使同一身勢語在不同的文化背景都有不同的含義，行使著不同的社會(huì)功能。本文致力于從目光語，手勢語，身體姿態(tài)，面部表情，體觸語方面對(duì)不同文化的身勢語進(jìn)行對(duì)比。錯(cuò)誤地用身勢語不僅會(huì)使我們?cè)诳缥幕浑H中失敗，而且會(huì)造成和外國朋友之間的沖突，所以怎樣正確地使用身勢語，怎樣理解身勢語的差異都非常重要，該篇論文中作者在借鑒前人成果的基礎(chǔ)上分析了各種

6、身勢語在不同文化背景下的用法和功能。目的在于通過列舉身勢語的文化差異與共性，并提出交際中遵循的原則，從而促進(jìn)有效交流,避免誤解</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵字：身勢語;跨文化交際;文化差異</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract………………………………………………………………...….1</

7、p><p>　　Key Words………………………………………………………………...1</p><p>　　摘 要…………………………………………………….…………….....1</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞……………………………………………………………………..2</p><p>　　1. Introduction…………………………………

8、…………………………..2</p><p>　　2. Theoretical Framework of Body Language………………………………3</p><p>　　2.1. Concept of Body Language…………………………………………………………3</p><p>　　2.2. Classification and Function

9、s of Body Language…………………………………….4</p><p>　　2.3. Examples of Body Language………………………………………………………..6</p><p>　　2.4. Necessities of Body Language in Intercultural Communication………………….8</p>&

10、lt;p>　　3. The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries………......9</p><p>　　3.1. Eye Contact…………………………………………………………………........10</p><p>　　3.2. Smile………………………………………………………………………….....11&l

11、t;/p><p>　　3.3. Body Distance…………………………………………………………………....12</p><p>　　Conclusion…………………………………………………………...............13</p><p>　　Bibliography………………………………………………………………….. …………….….14</

12、p><p>　　Acknowledgements</p><p>　　My sincere gratitude first goes to Ms. Gao Hongrui, my supervisor, for her constructive suggestions, valuable ideas, great patience and encouragement. Without her

13、help, the completion of this thesis would have been impossible.</p><p>　　I owe great gratitude to all the teachers in the English Department. Their lectures and instructions have been of great help to my stu

14、dy.</p><p>　　I would also like to express my thanks to my friends for their constant concern, generous help, and meaningful comments on the study.</p><p>　　Finally, I must say I owe gratitude to

15、 my parents. Their love and encouragement have supported me to overcome difficulties and achieve the final success.</p><p>　　I. Introduction</p><p>　　In modern society, most countries in the wor

16、ld communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion,  personal values and so on, which take i

17、ntervene to the communication of people coming from different country. </p><p>　　When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of th

18、e same sex walk with their arms around each other’s shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean ‘yes’ and shaking means ‘no’ in all cultures? I’m afraid nobody can give a p

19、ositive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of hu</p><p>　　It is clear without body language we c

20、an’t finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences

21、 of body language to achieve efficient communication.</p><p>　　2. The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries</p><p>　　2.1. Eye Contact</p><p>　　As saying goes “The eyes a

22、re the windows of the soul”. That is to say, we can read one’s mind through his/her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from Engli

23、sh speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. According to American tradition, communicators must gaze at each other. “But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the othe

24、r communicator or not; when it is </p><p>　　(1) Americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. In common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will

25、look away. If two Americans gaze at each other, which indicate they are intimate. In North America, the children there have learned to look at the other communicator directly. If they don’t, they are regarded lack of ent

26、husiasm or confidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who can’t look you in the eyes.” </p><p>　　(2) If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they thin

27、k eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. But

28、Swede use eye language more often than Englishmen. And the French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other commun</p><p>　　(3) Another

29、example, Americans have a trip to a village and the local people stare at them. They are annoyed and think the local people are rude. In fact, it is normal in the village. They are just curious. American social psycholog

30、ist Michael Argyle found out: People who like each other have more eye contact than people who dislike each other. In communication, looking down frequently can indicate submissiveness or embarrassment. Looking away cons

31、tantly may express dissatisfaction. Females are </p><p>　　2.2. Smile</p><p>　　Smiles are an important facial expression. They show interest, excitement, empathy, concern; they create an upbeat,

32、positive environment. Smiles can, however, be overused. Often, men smile when they are pleased; women smile to please. You know which is the most powerful! To gain and increase respect, first establish your presence in a

33、 room, then smile. It is far more professional than to enter a room giggling or all smiles. </p><p>　　Smile indicates pleasure, either that you are generally happy or are enjoying the other person’s company

34、or that you are amused by something in particular, such as a joke. A full smile engages the whole face, particularly including the eyes, which crease and twinkle. Smiling with lips only is often falsehood, where the pers

35、on wants to convey pleasure or approval but is actually feeling something else. This false smile is known as the Duchene smile, after the scientists who first described it in </p><p>　　When people talk about

36、 smile it means friendliness and happiness in most situations, but a tribe of Saudi Arabia thinks smile is the expression of unfriendly. If a boy wants to fall in love with a girl there, don’t smile; a smile can blow him

37、 off. In China and English-speaking country, smiles stand for friendliness and happiness. However, in some special occasions, especially when people feel embarrassed, Chinese the Western people can disgust people’s smile

38、. One story can tell us the different </p><p>　　2.3. Body Distance</p><p>　　Psychologists discover any person needs personal space, yet skins are not the boundary of personal space, bubbles enci

39、rcle their personal spaces and other people can’t break in at will.</p><p>　　Let’s talk about the Culture Difference about Body Distance. Arab and Spanish try to stand close to show friendliness. In their cu

40、lture standing closely is the manner of the people when they converge. They stand close as possible as they can as if they want to smell the smells of the partner; Englishman wants to keep their personal space when they

41、talk with the others, so pay attention not to taking up the partners’ space; Chinese people conform with the principle of non-touching culture during </p><p>　　We have just talk about the personal space abov

42、e. Everyone needs specific personal space, but it seem that the relationship of parents and children between China and American have great differences. Natural affection is most divine in Chinese people’s eyes, and child

43、ren are more important than any thing else, so Chinese parents are always busy for children all life. They are worried about children’s eating, clothing, sleeping and try any way to pave rode for children’s future; they

44、hope their ch</p><p>　　With the further deepening of culture exchange and corporation of the world, the opportunities of corporation with foreign people are keeping increasing. We will learn to be on the oth

45、er’s shoes to think about things. The important things to keep in mind is that most English-speaking people do not like people to be too close when doing communication, however, being too far apart, of course, may be imp

46、olite, being too close makes people uneasy, we should learn and distinguish how to use body dist</p><p>　　2.4. Touch</p><p>　　Usually, physical contact can only happen in two cases: intimate dis

47、tance and personal distance, people can only embrace, kiss, fondle and cuddle in the case of intimate distance, and can only touch, hold hands, gazes at each others facial behavior closely in the case of personal di

48、stance. Mentioned above, Arab prefer narrow body distance during conversation, so no matter at home or in public, they like staying together in a crowded room, even some people think touching nose is also a best manne<

49、;/p><p>　　(1) In China, people greet with each other with head nodding, smile, hand shaking and so on. Even good friends just hold hands for a short time or hammer softly on the other friend’s shoulder. As for

50、hand shaking, people in North America shake hands when they greet with each other. As children, they have learnt to hold other people’s hands tightly. East Asian people often shake hands slightly; because they think tigh

51、t hand shaking means challenge. Nowadays, hand shaking has become a custom to sh</p><p>　　(2) The French will shake hands with his host when they come into and leave the host’s house. But Germans only shake

52、hands only with their host when they come into the house. Some Africans will make a sound by fingers after hand-shaking to show freedom. And Chinese shake hands for a short time and loose and then they stand away from ea

53、ch other. But Chinese shake hands tightly and keep closer to express politeness and respect. </p><p>　　(3) In English speaking countries, people used to hug or kiss each other in public between males and fem

54、ales, which is unacceptable and only exists between lovers and couples in private in China. In America, common friends and acquaintances will avoid body touch. Even in the elevator, body touch is not allowed. Touching th

55、e other people slightly or unconsciously, people will say “Sorry”, “Very Sorry”, “Excuse me” in a hurry to express apology. Or they will be abused. In western countries, people</p><p>　　2.5. Gestures </p

56、><p>　　Do we expect other cultures to adopt our customs or are we willing to adopt theirs? This might translate to how business or even foreign relations are to be conducted. Do we compromise or force others pe

57、oples to deal only on our terms? We may not have time to hear a language, but taking time to learn the “signals” is a powerful communicator. </p><p>　　As the global village continues to shrink and cultures c

58、ollide, it is essential for all of us to become more sensitive, more aware, and more observant to the myriad motions, gestures, and body language that surround us each day. And as many of us cross over cultural borders,

59、it would be fitting for us to respect, learn, and understand more about the effective, yet powerful “silent language” of gestures. </p><p>　　The world is a giddy montage of vivid gestures- traffic police, st

60、reet vendors, expressway drivers, teachers, children on playground, athletes with their exuberant hugging, clenched fists and “high fives.” People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expr

61、essively. </p><p>　　Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless. The social anthropologists Edward T. Hall claim 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal. In that case, how can we possi

62、bly communicate with one another without gestures? </p><p>　　Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from bec

63、koning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach t

64、o) a child. </p><p>　　Gestures are woven inextricably in to our social lives, but also that the “vocabulary” of gestures, can be at once informative and entertaining... but also dangerous. Gestures can be me

65、nacing (two drivers on a freeway), warm (an open-armed welcome). </p><p>　　Bear in mind that the following gestures are in general use, but there may always be exceptions. In recent years, Western and contem

66、porary values and ideas have become more popular and has either influenced, altered, and even replaced, some of the more traditional gestures, understanding human behavior is tricky stuff. No two people behave in precise

67、ly the same way. Nor do people from the same culture all perform exactly the same gestures and body language uniformly. For almost any gestures ther</p><p>　　Hand gesture is one of the most common body langu

68、age. Owing to different custom and culture, even if the same gestures maybe have great differences. Most people know the gesture of “ok” – thumb circle with forefinger means ok, the gesture of raising the thumb mean

69、s all things go well, raising forefinger means number ‘one’ in general situation, but which may have different meanings even opposite meaning in some place of Latin America, the gesture of “thumb circle with forefinger”

70、have the meaning</p><p>　　Raising the big thumb also has different meaning in some countries in American and European, which means hitchhiking, but Nigeria think it means being rude, so if foreign visitor to

71、 Nigeria wants to take a taxi with the gesture of raising the big thumb, who would be hit, because the driver will think you are outraging him.</p><p>　　If somebody like using thumb to express number, he or

72、she also should pay attention. People often think rising fore thumb as number one, but in Germany raising big thumb means “one”, fore thumb means “two”. So if someone wants to drink one glass of bear in Germany, don’t fo

73、rget the local custom of the finger and avoid making a fool.</p><p>　　In a very general sense, we all use gestures to reinforce an idea or to help describe something. When we say, “That’s an English book”, a

74、t the same time we are pointing to the book. If someone asks us the way to the library, we point to the right, adding a little information about it, which will be more clear and concrete. We may literally roll up our sle

75、eves when talking about cleaning up the room, It seems natural to clench our first or perhaps even proud the lectern to let everyone realize th</p><p>　　However, exaggerated body movement, we should say, can

76、 cause harm, too, just as a saying goes, Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. This teacher must avoid overdone movement because it can be so distracting, to the students that it loses track of what the teache

77、r is saying. Some of us have such feeling, that is, in a class or speech, we become more interested in the speaker’s motion than we do in the speaker’s message when we see the speaker pace and forth in front of us. At la

78、st we </p><p>　　Of course, there are also many other gestures, for instance, head movement; shaking the head. Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We u

79、se gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet way or a parent using a w

80、hole dictionary of gestures to teach (or preach to) a child. (Samovar L. A., 1981)</p><p>　　3.1. The Similarities of Body Language</p><p>　　We have discussed different cultural meanings of body

81、language and its cause. Though different cultures result in different body languages, they also have common features. For example, master of comedy, Chaplin was very popular with people all over the world because of his

82、humorous behavior in the silent films during 1920s and 1930s. Now, let’s go on the similarities of body language.</p><p>　　Charles Darwin mentioned in his book Emotional Expression of Human and Animal. This

83、book discussed whether the same expressions and postures suggested the same meaning both for human and animals. And he asked people all around the world and collected their possible replies. Surprisingly, the answers wer

84、e almost same, especially on facial expressions. Heading nodding often means agreement or greeting in most countries. And shaking one’s head often means disagreement or “No”. </p><p>　　If a person is hurt, h

85、e/she will cry to express painfulness. And we smile when are happy. Waving one’s hand means goodbye. Even some Chinese and English expressions and their meanings are totally same. For example, patting on the back means e

86、ncouragement and appreciation. Pulling a long face indicates unhappiness and anger. Being all smile means happiness, standing with folded arms means indifference and so on. </p><p>　　3.2 The Causes Resulting

87、 in the Similarities of Body Language</p><p>　　We can analyze the reason why different cultures have the same meaning on body language from psychology, linguistics, anthropology, cult urology, and semi logy,

88、 philosophy and so on. From anthropology, body language is the symbols and a tool of human communication. Human beings have the same ancestor, which determines the similarities of body language. Nowadays, with the develo

89、pment of the world, people from different cultures communicate more and more often. We have more chance to exchange cult</p><p>　　3.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication</p><p>

90、;　　As an old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It is the main principle in communication. This principle refers that communicators should respect and understand the culture of the other nations and elimina

91、te the interference of their own cultures. According to this principle, we should know the differences of their customs, believes and their connotations of body language. For example,</p><p>　　(1) In China,

92、people will give chrysanthemum to the patient. But French people never do this. Because they think chrysanthemum is used in funerals.But we should pay attention to two points, when we apply this principle. On the one ha

93、nd, we should not worship and imitate the whole body language blindly. On the other hand, we should not be trapped in the fixed mode of cultures. For example,</p><p>　　(2) People think Americans behave infor

94、mally in any situation and Englishmen are always conservative. In fact, all communicative modes change with the differences of time, situation and contents.</p><p>　　The other principle indicates that we sho

95、uld conclude the rules by comparison and contrasts of different cultures and excludes the interferences of cultures to avoid cultural confliction. In the application of this principle, we should keep a tolerant attitude

96、towards the differences of cultures, believes, customs and so on to avoid prejudice and superiority. </p><p>　　So in the communication, we can make full use of these principles, exclude fixed mode of culture

97、 and keep open and understanding attitude towards cultural differences.</p><p>　　V. Conclusion</p><p>　　This essay mainly talks about the body language and introduce some kinds of commonly used

98、body language and their different uses in different cultural background. From the study of body language above, we know how important of body language and how complicated it is. I believe which can help the readers succe