简介跨文化中的非言语交际A Breif Analysis on Nonverbal Behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication

A Breif Analysis on Nonverbal Behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication

Abstract: In people’s daily communication, we use both verbal behaviors and nonverbal behaviors. This two ways of communication all play an important role in human’s interaction. But for a long time, people just focus on verbal behaviors. Since communication among different countries and nations which have different cultural background become more and more frequently, it is very necessary to pay more attention to nonverbal communication. This paper aims to introduce such aspects as definition, improtance and characteristics of nonverbal communication and its cultural differences in cross-cultural communication.

Key words: Nonverbal Behaviors; Cross-Cultural Communication Nonverbal communication is a valuable study which was attracted the eyes of western scholar for many decades. Scientific research on nonverbal communication and behavior was started in 1872 with the publication of Charles Darwin’s book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In the book, Darwin argued that all mammals, both humans and animals, showed emotion through facial expressions. Research on nonverbal communication rocketed during the mid 1960s by a number of psychologists and researchers. Argyle and Dean, for example, studied the relationship between eye contact and conversational distance. Ralph V. Exline examined patterns of looking while speaking and looking while listening. According to the scholar’s statement, in face-to-face communication, there are over 70% of all information is sent by nonverbal means while only 30% is conveyed through speaking. Moreover, communication is a complex process, especially in multicultural communication, because of the existence of different cultural backgrounds, it is easy to produce misunderstanding and conflict. Therefore, understanding the knowledge of nonverbal communication is necessary and meaningful. Generally, most classifications divide nonverbal messages into two comprehensive categories: those that are primarily produced by the body (appearance, movement, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, smell, and paralanguage); and those that the individual combines with the setting (space, time and silence).

I. The Definition of Nonverbal Communication There is no shortage of definition for the term nonverbal communication. Different scholars have different views toward it. Some definitions are very simple. For example, “nonverbal communication is communication without the use of word”, or “nonverbal communication indicates all communicative behaviors except oral speech”. But some definitions are much more concrete. For instance, “nonverbal communication is the qualities or behaviors known to all in a community without the use of words, and that such qualities are intentionally or thought to be intentionally given by the speaker and consciously received and responded to by the listener”. The definition which made by Samovar reads that“nonverbal communication involves all those nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver”. It is obviously that this definition not only mark the boundaries of nonverbal communication, but also reflect how the process actually works. Meanwhile, the definition also permits us to include unintentional as well as intentional behavior in the total communication event, this approach is realistic because we send the preponderance of nonverbal message without ever being aware that they have meaning for other people.

II. The Importance of Nonverbal Communication To appreciate the importance of nonverbal communication to human interaction, reflect for a moment on the countless times in a single day that you send and receiver nonverbal message when in the presence of other people. The following are the reasons why nonverbal communication is so important. First, people make important judgements and decisions concerning the internal states of others---states they often express without words. Nonverbal communication is also importan because we use the actions of others to learn about their affective or emotional states. It is significant in human interaction because it is usually resposible for first impressions and many of our nonverbal actions are not easily controlled consciously. Finally, it is important to the study of intercultural communication because a great deal of nonverbal behavior speaks a universal language. It means that whether in Dayton, Ohio, Madrid, Spain, or Guangzhou, China, people tend to have similar meanings for behaviors such as smiling, frowning, langhing, and crying.