大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 23 非言语交际

大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 23 非言语交际23-A. Non-verbal CommunicationIf anyone asked you what were the main means of communication between people, what would you say? That isn’t a catch question. The answer is simple and obvious. It would almost certainly refer to means of communication that involve the use of words. Speakers and listeners-oral communication, and writers and readers-written communication. And you’d be quite right. There is, however, another form of communication which we all use most of the time, usually without knowing it. This is sometimes called body language. Its more technical name is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal, because it does not involve the use of words. NVC for short.When someone is saying something with which he agrees, the average European will smile and nod approval. On the other hand, if you disagree with what they are saying, you may frown and shake your head. In this way you signal your reactions, and communicate them to the speaker without saying a word. I referred a moment ago to "the average European”, because body language is very much tied to culture, and in order not to misunderstand, or not to be misunderstood, you must realize this. A smiling Chinese, for instance, may not be approving but somewhat embarrassed.Quite a lot of work is now being done on the subject of NVC, which is obviously important, for instance, to managers, who have to deal every day with their staff, and have to understand what other people are feeling if they are to create good working conditions. Body language, or NVC signals, are sometimes categorized into five kinds: 1.body and facial gestures; 2.eye contact;3.body contact or "proximity";4.clothing and physical appearance; and5.the quality of speech. I expect you understood all those, except perhaps "proximity." This simply means "closeness". In some cultures-and I am sure this is a cultural feature and not an individual one-it is quite normal for people to stand close together, or to more or less thrust their face into yours when they are talking to you. In other cultures, this is disliked; Americans, for instance, talk about invasion of their space.Some signals are probably common to all of us. If a public speaker (like a professor, for example) is all the time fiddling with a pencil, or with his glasses, while he is talking to you, he is telling you quite clearly that he is nervous. A person who holds a hand over his mouth when he is talking is signaling that he is lacking in confidence. If you start wriggling in your chairs, looking secretly at your watches or yawning behind your hands, I shall soon get the message that I’m boring you. And so on. I'm sure you could make a whole list of such signals-and it might be fun if you did.All the signals I have mentioned so far can be controlled. If you are aware that you are doing these things, you can stop. You can even learn to give false signals. Most public speakers are in fact nervous, but a good speaker learns to hide this by giving off signals of confidence. Other kinds of NVC are not so easy to control. Eye contact, for instance. Unless you are confessing intense love, you hardly ever look into someone else’s eyes for very long. If you try it, you’ll find they will soon away, probably in embarrassment.I’ve already mentioned proximity, so just a brief word now about our last two categories, which concern the way people dress and the way they speak. These are both pretty obvious signals. People may dress casually and speak casually, which signals that they are relaxed. Or they can dress formally and speak formally, showing their tenseness. In fact, non-verbal communication can, as the saying goes, speak volumes.【课文译文】非言语交际如果有人问你人与人之间最主要的交际手段是什么，你会怎么说?这倒不是一个难以回答的问题。

答案简单明了。

几乎可以肯定地说，它指的是运用语言进行交际。

说话者和听话者之间是口头交际，作者和读者之间是书面交际。

你的回答已经相当正确。

但是，还有另一种交际手段，这一手段我们多数时间在使用，却又常常忽视。

它有时被叫作体势语。

更专业些的名字是非言语交际。

之所以称之为非言语交际，是因为它不涉及言词。

非言语交际的缩略语为NVC。

一般的欧洲人，在听别人说他赞同的事情时，会微笑并点头表示赞许。

如果不同意别人的话，他会皱眉、摇头。

用这种方式无需言词就可以把自己的态度传达给说话者。

笔者刚才提到“一般的欧洲人”，是因为体势语与文化密切相关。

为了不误解别人，也不被人误解，了解这一点非常必要。

例如，中国人的微笑可能是表示某种不安而不是赞许。

关于NVC这个课题，现在正进行着大量的研究工作。

这些研究工作显然很重要。

比如，对管理者来说，他们每天与员工打交道，为了创造良好的工作环境，他们必须了解员工们的感觉。

人们有时把体势语或称NVC信号分为五种：1.身体姿势和面部表情；2.目光接触；3.身体接触或“亲近程度”；4.着装与外貌；5.语言特点。

笔者认为大家明白上述除“亲近程度”以外的各条。

“亲近程度”简单来说就是“亲密程度”。

在有些文化中——笔者非常肯定，“亲近程度”是一种文化特征而非个体特征——人们站得很近是很正常的；同样，人们在谈话时不时地把脸凑近你的脸，也是正常的。

但在另一些文化中，上面这些行为就不受欢迎。

比如，美国人会说这侵犯了他们的个人空间。