从肢体语言看文化差异
英语论文 从中美肢体语言体现的文化差异
The Cultural Differences Reflected by Body Language inChina and America1. Introduction1.1 BackgroundThere are more and more chance for people to contact with people from different culture because of the quick development of science, technology and economy. The world is become smaller and smaller, which has become a global village. The communication between people from various cultures and countries is increasing. We can communicate with each other through not only language communication but also nonverbal communication. Actually, in everyday life, we spend a considerable amount of time on body language communication. In addition, we receive much of our emotional meanings through noverbal elements.Body language communication is connected with cultures and it is the result of cultures. But many people pay great attention to the acceptance and correctness of the verbal communication and overlook the influence and cultural difference of nonverbal communication. Then the misunderstanding and cultural crash often occur in the cross-cultural communication. So in the process of communication, it is not a complete communication while ignoring the cultural differences of nonverbal communication. A famous anthropologist E.T.Hall pointed out “Silent language expresses more information than verbal language.” According to some researchers abroad, in people’s daily life, nonverbal communication takes over 65% in all of information exchange. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.With increasing contact between China and America, a better understanding betwwen both culture is of growing importance. Nonverbal communication influences how individuals from these two cultures interact and understand or misunderstand each other. Therefore, an understanding of the differences is vital for building harmonious relationships. The thesis is designed to help readers understand and appreciate the differences in nonverbal communication between China and America.There are cross-culture differences in nonverbal communication, which are obvious inmany aspects. Gestural symbols play a large part, and because this is true, gestural emblems are highly sensitive. The same body language have different interpretation because of different cultures. Different body language can be used in different background, however, they can express the same siginificance.To master the nonverbal communication is a necessary part for those who come from different culture. Some people find it difficult to understand the nonverbal code. Because they do not know the background of body language.1.2 SignificanceBody language communication is very important in people communication because it can help us cause first impressions. Think for a while we often judge a person coming from nonverbal information, especially body language. It is important many original information usually can have intuitive recognition. Even how we choose a partner is based on the people who give us the first impression. For example, a famous Chinese proverb going on “fall in love at first sight.” Whether we can have a long-term association with other person also based on the first impression.Body language is so important that some people think of body language as equal to nonverbal communication. More and more people realize the importance of body language communication. We can know more about people’s instinctive feelings situation grounded on their behavioral communication. For example, when we notice a person closing finger tightly with stern appearance, we can judge that this person is sad based on his action. When we are hearing people with shaking sound and noticing them with quivering hands, we can judge that this person is mentally troubled regardless of their saying. Our feelings are showed in our gesture, posture, facial expression and eye contact-it can be happy, sad, anxious and anger and so on. Therefore, we can show our attitude and express ourselves without speaking anything. Because of this, we depend largely on what we have learned coming from our eyes. Many researcher make know that we will rely heavily on non verbal communication rather than verbal ones when they are in conflict with each other.When we come to realize that the nonverbal communication is very important, it is apparent that nonverbal behavior can communicate（convey）people’s physical as well asmental situation. The importance of nonverbal behavior is apparent if we realize that in one form or another, all of our actions convey information about our psychological and physical states. A stroking of the the chin, bow, wave, pointed finger, or yawn all have a message. Our actions, in addition of those association with some illness, have some rules; in a particular way, they stand for outsider speaking to insider. And it is very significant, those behaviors show the time, be it turning to face in another direction from people with whom we feel uneasy. It is very important for us to expain correctly behavioral communication of people who come from other cultures.It is well know that some nonverbal actions have close connection with culture. The body language may lead to understand incorrectly for people of different behaviors who send the same message with different gestures of the body. Misunderstanding can cause the feeling of offence, insult. From these reason, I think that it is highly necessary to make cross-cultural studies of the body language.2 Definition and functions of body language2.1 Definition of body languageBody language, also called body movements, body behavior and so on, refers to all expressions and movements that send communicative messages. Body language is a process in which communicators use the natural features of their bodies to deliver information and express specific meaning instinctively to the other communicator. We will discuss it in details later. It used by people for sending messages to one another. It is very useful because it can help you make yourself easily understood.Different scholars have made various efforts to define it. Accoring to Knapp the phrase‘nonverbal communication’ reffered to communication effect by means other than words. Some linguist also claimed that body language could be without the use of words. Other linguists took into account social cinventions in defining body language. Besides social conventions, many oter factors are also important in helping convey nonverbal meanings. The meanings of body language often have to be interpreted via considerations of such aspects, because these factors may help make clear the complexity of bodylanguage.However, these factors are so diliverse and complex that a perfect definition is impossible. It is so natural that current definitions are different from the ones in their orientations.2.2 Functions of body languageBody language like verbal communication is also a part of culture and the carrier of a certain culture. The function of body language in the whole communication can’t be overlooked. “In the daily communication, we can see people can’t communicate effi ciently by verbal language alone. And nonverbal communication will express clear meanings in a certain context. And a certain nonverbal communication should be connected with verbal communication or the other nonverbal communication to provide correct info rmation.” So in communicative activities, body language also plays a great role. Of course, we should pay close attention to the functions of body language. “In any case, when verbal communication conflicts with no nverbal communication, people are willing to accept the information nonverbal communication delivers. Because nonverbal communication sounds more natural, more instinctive and it is hard to pretend.”Obviously, we should make full use of body language to achieve efficientcommunication. Now, we will discuss the functions of body language.Nonverbal communication ofen performs one of several functions in relationship to verbal communication. These functions help us to understand and use communication more effectively. Nonverbal messages serve six major functions: repetition, contradiction, substitution, accentuation, supplementation or modification and regulation.Repetition is defined as the process of reinforcingverbal messages through redundancy. People often use nonverbal messages to repeat apoint they are trying to make. For example, when we tell people how to get to the nearest hospital, we are not only telling them the direction but also pointing to the direction with hands. Generally speaking, the gestures and words have a similar meaning and reinforce one another.Contradiction is the opposite of repetition; it negates the verbal message. On some occasions, our nonverbal actions send signals opposite from the literal messages contained in our verbal messages. For instance, you tell someone you are relaxed and at ease, yet your voice quavers and your hands shake.Substitution. We use substitution in body language when we perform some action instead of speaking. If a group of people is boisterous, you might place your index finger to your lips as an alternative to saying “please calm down so that I can speak”.Accentuation. For example, you may have noticed how some people tap the desktop with each word of an important message like “I want you to do this today”.Supplement. For instance, we greet people with a smile. Smile functions as a supplement to the pleasure of meeting people.Regulation occurs when nonverbal messages help to control the flow of verbal messages. We often regulate and manage communication by using certainform of body language. We nod our head in agreement to indicate to our communication partner that we agree and that he or she should continue talking or we have direct eye contact with someone to let him or her know the channels are open.Thus,body language function sometimes occur separately, and sometimes they occur at the same moment. Without them, we should have a very difficult time communicating.3 Cultural differences of body language betwwen Chinese and Americans3.1 Types and differences of body languageHere, we research into three elements of body language: gesture (head gesture, facial expressions, eye contact, arm gesture, hand gesture, and leg movement), posture(walking posture, standing posture, squatting posture, and sitting posture), and touch (ten distinctions concerning touching behaviors) Different believes are the causes of the differences of body language. According to the theories proposed by American anthologists Barnettt Pearce, Verrion Cronent, people’s behavior, the way of thinking and so on are aff ected 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. But western people admire independence, self-respect, free development, and requiring individual space and so on. Next, we will go to the differences of body language from five parts.3.1.1 Head gestureChinese and American head gesture shares a number of similarities. For example: nodding the head up and down means “yes”, “I agree”; shaking the head side to side means “no”; heading forward shows an interest in the conversation; heding backward shows lack of interest and so on.As to the differences, a nod of the head in China can function as greeting and beckoning someone to come here, while the same function performed by the Americans is a raise of the head. Patting on head means differently in these two cultures. Occasionally, Chinese adults may pat the head of children to show affection; patting the head of a teenager or an adult would cause displeasure and can be insulting. Americans’ patting on other’s head is just for giving comfort, consolation or encouragement; and also for showing affection.A unique head gesture in China-tip the head backward and audibly suck air in through the teeth-meas “no”or “something is very difficult” and has the function of pausing to rethink. Also there are some head gestures use in America but seldom seen in China: scratching the head means thinking or confused or skeptical; chin stroke, tapping the head with forefinger showscontemplation; hand cutting across the top of the head shows impatience; head switching to one side with a rush or chin pointing to a certain direction function as beckoning someone to come here or pointing direction.3.1.2 Facial expressionsWe constantly read expressions from people’s face. In fact, facial cues are the single most important source of nonverbal communication.Facial expressions have some own features: they are innate and universal. Therefore, the expressions for happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, and surprise (the six basic emotions) are recognized by most culture groups as having the same meaning. However, some variations also exist. Some facial expressions and their interpretations may vary from one culture to another.Generally speaking, Chinese people are more self-controlled, especially in formal, public occasions, and when communicate with strangers and foreigners, they tend to control their emotions. When in down spirits (sad, angry, contemptuous and so on), Chinese people usually try to sustain a neutral expression. The whole face is on a loose state, forehead and eyebrow are equable, lips close naturally, and eyes open looking forward-such kind of looks is considered to be a neutral expression. Differently, the Americans may show in their expressions immediately when they are in the same spirits. Controlling one’s bad mood properly is considered mature and well-educated in China. Therefore , they think the Americans’ lack of control their emotions as an illustration of puerility and philistinism; whereas the Americans may consider the Chinese to be wooden and slow.When expressing some positive emotions, such as compliment and sympathy, Chinese people sometimes have less sense of propriety in their exprssions than the Americans do. They think the more exaggerated the better. American people regard this as dishonest.In daily communication and daily behaviors, some differences cause by Chinese’s humility and Americans’ self-esteem are worth mentioning. When receiving honest praise from others, Chinese people usually send an expression showing “I don’t believe”, “no”, “I don’t deserve such praise”, and sometimes even give an anxious looks. American people think that such response is dishonest and hypocritical. On the contrary, they may smile to the person who praise them, accept the compliment and usually say “thank you”. In the Chinese point of view, such response is kind of pride and conceited.3.1.3 Smile and laughterWhen it comes to smile and laughter, the most common facial expressions, they may cause some misunderstandings between Chinese and American culture. Thus it is necessary to explore them further in this point. Smile and laughter usually convey friendliness, approval, satisfaction, pleasure, joy, merriment. This is generally true in China as well as in America. However, it may be difficult for Americans to believe that smiling for the Chinese not only means that someone is happy, but also that he or she is sorry. It is desirable for a Chinese to apologize with a smile, which indicates humbleness and embarrassment.3.1.4 Eye languageAs saying go es “The eyes are the window of the soul”. That is to say, we can read one’s mind through his or her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from America have more eye contact than Chinese people 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 other communicator or not; when it is the time to look at them, how long we can look at; who we can look at and who we can’t; they all imply different meanings in communication.”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 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 enthusiasm or co nfidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who can’t look you in the eyes.” For showing politeness or respect, Chinese people frequently avoid direct eye contact with others.3.2 Gestures“Gesture means we communicate and express by the movement and manners of our hands and fingers.” In our daily li fe, every one makes gestures, but many gestures have distinct regional and cultural features. “Don’t assume that every one in the world understands one gesture in the same way.”For example, A mericans often touch their temples to express somebody’s cleverness. But。
中西肢体语言差异研究报告
中西肢体语言差异研究报告1. 引言肢体语言是人际交往中重要的非语言沟通方式之一。
不同文化背景的人们对肢体语言的理解和使用方式存在差异。
本研究旨在探究中西方文化背景下肢体语言的差异，并分析这种差异产生的原因。
2. 研究方法2.1 参与者本研究共招募了100名中国参与者和100名西方参与者。
中国参与者的年龄范围在20-40岁之间，男女比例约为1:1；西方参与者的年龄范围和性别比例与中国参与者相似。
2.2 测量工具为了准确测量中西方人在肢体语言理解和使用上的差异，本研究使用了以下测量工具：•面部表情识别测试：通过观察表情图片，参与者需要识别出其中的情感表达，并对其进行评分。
•肢体动作解读测试：参与者观看一系列肢体动作视频，并根据视频内容回答相关问题。
•肢体动作选择性运用测试：参与者需要根据不同情境选择合适的肢体动作表达。
2.3 测试过程参与者在研究实验室内完成测量工具的测试，测试过程中有专业研究人员提供必要的解释和指导。
所有参与者完成测试时均未知晓研究目的和假设。
3. 结果与讨论3.1 面部表情识别中西方参与者对面部表情的识别准确率存在差异。
在愉快、悲伤、惊讶等情感表达上，西方参与者的准确率略高于中国参与者。
而在愤怒、厌恶等负面情感表达上，中国参与者的准确率稍高。
这种差异可能与不同文化中对情感表达的侧重点有关。
3.2 肢体动作解读中西方参与者对肢体动作的解读也存在差异。
在示意性动作，如招手、点头等方面，中西方参与者的解读准确率相近；而在非示意性动作，如手势配合说话等方面，西方参与者的准确率较高。
这可能是因为西方文化中肢体语言在日常交流中更为频繁使用，使得西方人对非示意性动作更加敏感。
3.3 肢体动作选择性运用通过肢体动作选择性运用测试，我们发现中西方参与者在不同情境下选择肢体动作的偏好不同。
中国参与者更倾向于使用身体接触类动作，如拥抱、握手等，以表达亲近和友善；而西方参与者更倾向于使用空间类动作，如指向、挥手等，以表达引导和指示。
从中西方肢体语言看文化差异DOC 文档
从中西方肢体语言看文化差异(根据调查研究：当我们在与他人进行沟通时，语言只是起到7%的传达的作用。
语气却占去剩下的38%。
更重要的是：肢体语言在沟通中起到了55%的影响。
（相对于沟通的内容和环境）那么，什么是肢体语言？肢体语言(body language)是指能够传递某种特定信息的面部表情、手势语，以及其他身体部位的动作等等。
它在人际交往过程中起着非常重要的作用。
由于社会的发展，国与国之间的交流不断加强，西方的许多肢体语言在我国也已经被认同，还有一些被普遍适用。
比如：西方人往往指胸口来表示“我”。
大拇指朝上，表示“好”；但大拇指朝下则表示“坏，糟透了”。
还有用大拇指指尖与食指指尖相接成Ｏ形，伸直其余三个指头，表示OK，即“正常”、“顺利”、“没问题”。
伸出食指和中指成V形，表示victory(胜利)。
如果招手示意别人过来，他们是伸出手，掌心朝上，捏拢四指，前后弯动食指。
当然，在中国和西方国家中，肢体语言其含义也存在不同程度上的差异。
不过，很多肢体语言表达的含义还是一致的，比如，点头表示：同意或者表示明白了，听懂了；眉毛上扬表示：不相信或惊讶；避免目光接触意味着：冷漠，逃避，不关心，没有安全感，消极，恐惧或紧张等；摇头表示：不同意；鼓掌：赞成或高兴等等，但是在这里，我们主要通过分类来说明，在不同的文化背景下，不同的肢体语言在不同程度上所存在的差异，了解从中体现出来的文化差异，从而提高我们学习语言的兴趣。
一、动作一样，意义不同(the same action，different meaning)。
如下例：1. 跺脚(stamp one’s foot)：在中国人看来，表示气愤，恼怒，灰心，悔恨。
比如说：气得直跺脚。
而它的英文含义则是不耐烦，比如：give a stamp of impatience(不耐烦得跺脚)。
2. 目不转睛地看(look with fixed gaze)：其中文含义是：好奇；有时是惊讶。
中西文化中肢体语言差异分析
中西文化中肢体语言差异分析摘要：肢体语言是一种重要的非语言交流手段。
在日常交流中，特别是在跨文化交流中，肢体语言起着极其重要的作用。
在跨文化交际中，我们往往只重视语言交际，而忽视了非语言交际，特别是肢体语言的重要性。
在跨文化交流中打破障碍的最有效方法是掌握肢体语言的含义。
肢体语言之间有相似之处，但有些肢体语言在不同文化中的含义并不完全相同。
因此，了解中国和西方国家肢体语言的差异是很重要的。
关键词：肢体语言；跨文化交流；传递信息；文化差异在西方，“肢体”一词被引入各个领域，成为一些哲学家、社会学家、语言学家、心理学家和其他学者的研究对象。
许多中外学者对“肢体语言”的起源有不同的看法，有人认为肢体语言起源于先天的遗传；有人认为肢体语言来自于人类后天的经验；还有人认为肢体语言是一种自然能力。
[1]一、文献综述在中国，受语言学研究氛围的影响，20世纪80年代以前，教育领域的研究者很少考虑肢体语言在教育教学中的作用。
20世纪80年代以来，我国学者逐渐认识到肢体语言在教育教学中的作用，并在引进国外著作的基础上开展了对教师肢体语言的研究。
20世纪80年代，《外国教材》、《外国中小学教育》等刊物上发表的一系列译文引发了中国学者对教师肢体语言研究的关注。
20世纪90年代初，《教育评论》、《教育科学》等权威刊物发表了一些学者对教师肢体语言的初步探索文章，代表了此后人们研究的趋势。
此后，学者们或在《教学的艺术》等作品中专设章节论述教师肢体语言，或以专著的形式系统论述教师肢体语言，如《教师体态语的艺术》。
肢体语言出现在语言诞生之前，根据进化论的分析，人类在诞生之初就用肢体语言进行交流。
然而，近几十年来，一些美国社会心理学家和人类学家开始科学系统地分析肢体语言的构成，人们开始关注肢体语言学。
事实上，对肢体语言学的研究早在20世纪就开始了。
1644年，博沃出版了《手势的研究：手的自然语言》，该书被学者们认为是最早的肢体语言专著。
肢体语言在不同文化下的差异英语作文
肢体语言在不同文化下的差异英语作文Differences in Body Language Across Cultures;Body language plays a significant role in communication, often conveying messages and emotions that words alone cannot express. However, the interpretation of body language can vary greatly across different cultures, leading to potential misunderstandings and miscommunication. Understanding these differences is crucial for effective cross-cultural communication. Here are some examples of how body language can differ across cultures:1. Gestures: Hand gestures are a common form of nonverbal communication, but their meanings can vary widely. For example, the "thumbs up" gesture is considered positive in many Western cultures, signaling approval or agreement. However, in some Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, it can be seen as offensive or vulgar. Similarly, the "OK" sign made by forming a circle with the thumb and index finger is positive in the U.S. but offensive in some South American and European countries.2. Personal Space: The concept of personal space varies across cultures, affecting body language during interactions. In some cultures, people stand closer together during conversations, while in others, maintaining a certain distance is preferred. Invading someone's personal space unintentionally can be seen as intrusive and disrespectful.3. Facial Expressions: Facial expressions are universal to some extent, but their interpretation can differ across cultures. For example, a smile is generally seen as a sign of happiness or friendliness in most cultures. However, the intensity and duration of a smile can convey different meanings. In some Asian cultures, a smile might indicate discomfort or nervousness rather than happiness.4. Eye Contact: The role of eye contact in communication also varies across cultures. In some cultures, prolonged eye contact is a sign of attentiveness and respect, while in others, it can be seen as confrontational or disrespectful. Avoiding eye contact can be a sign of respect in certain cultures, indicating humility and deference.5. Posture and Gestures: Posture and body movements can also convey different meanings across cultures. For example, crossing arms can indicate defensiveness or disagreement in Western cultures, while in some African and Middle Eastern cultures, it may simply be a comfortable or neutral position. Pointing with fingers is considered rude in some cultures, while in others, it is a common way to emphasize a point.In conclusion, being aware of and sensitive to the differences in body language across cultures is essential for effective communication in a globalized world. By understanding and respecting these differences, we can navigate cultural interactions more successfully and avoid potential misunderstandings.。
中西方身体语言的差异例子
中西方身体语言的差异例子中西方文化背景不同，因此在身体语言上也存在一些差异。
以下是一些例子，展示了中西方身体语言的差异。
一、面部表情1.微笑：在西方文化中，微笑通常表示友好或愉快。
而在中国文化中，微笑可能有多种含义，如礼貌、害羞或尴尬。
2.眼神接触：在西方文化中，直接的眼神接触被视为自信和尊重。
而在中国文化中，直接的眼神接触可能被视为不礼貌或傲慢。
二、姿势和动作1.握手：在西方文化中，握手是一种常见的问候方式，表示友好和尊重。
而在中国文化中，握手通常不如西方文化中普遍，而是以鞠躬为主要方式。
2.肢体接触：在西方文化中，肢体接触通常较为普遍，如拥抱、拍肩等，表示亲近和关怀。
而在中国文化中，肢体接触较为保守，通常只在亲密关系中出现。
三、姿态和姿势1.坐姿：在西方文化中，常见的坐姿是直立或稍微向后倾斜。
而在中国文化中，坐姿通常是直立或稍微向前倾斜，以示尊重。
2.手势：在西方文化中，挥手表示告别或打招呼，而在中国文化中，挥手通常表示离别或招呼。
此外，竖起大拇指在西方文化中表示赞成，而在中国文化中表示不好。
四、身体接触1.接吻：在西方文化中，接吻通常是一种亲昵的行为，如亲吻脸颊或嘴唇。
而在中国文化中，接吻通常只在亲密关系中出现，不像西方文化中那么普遍。
2.拥抱：在西方文化中，拥抱是一种常见的亲密行为，表示关怀和亲近。
而在中国文化中，拥抱通常只在亲密关系中出现，不像西方文化中那么常见。
五、手势和动作1.点头：在西方文化中，点头通常表示同意或理解。
而在中国文化中，点头可以表示同意、理解或尊重。
2.摇头：在西方文化中，摇头通常表示不同意或否定。
而在中国文化中，摇头可以表示不同意、否定或表示歉意。
六、姿势和动作1.手势：在西方文化中，举起手掌表示停止或等待。
而在中国文化中，举起手掌可能表示不理解或表示抗议。
2.手指：在西方文化中，竖起食指表示“好”或“正确”。
而在中国文化中，竖起食指可能被视为不礼貌或侮辱。
七、身体姿势和动作1.微笑：在西方文化中，微笑通常表示友好和愉快。
人际沟通时的肢体语言和面部表情会对交流有何影响？
人际沟通时的肢体语言和面部表情会对交流有何影响？一、肢体语言的影响1. 姿势与态度：肢体语言的姿势和姿态能够传达人的情感和状态。
例如，挺胸抬头、肩部放松等积极的姿势能够显示自信和开放的态度，增加交流的亲和力和效果。
相反，低头弯腰、紧张的姿态则会给人产生拘谨和不信任的感觉，影响交流的顺畅性。
2. 手势与动作：手势和动作是肢体语言中重要的组成部分。
合理运用手势和动作能够有效地补充语言信息，增加交流的丰富性和效果。
例如，点头、鼓掌、手势引导等动作能够在沟通中起到强调和重点提示的作用；而过大、过频或不协调的手势和动作则可能分散对方的注意力，降低信息的传达效率。
3. 眼神交流：眼神是人际交往中非常重要的传达方式。
通过眼神交流，人们能够感知对方的情感状态和意图，建立情感连接。
例如，直视对方的眼睛表示尊重和信任，可以增加沟通的亲近感和信任感。
然而，眼神游离或不断转移则可能让对方感到不舒服和不自在，影响沟通的质量和效果。
二、面部表情的影响1. 表情的丰富性：面部表情是个体情感体验的直接反应，具有极高的信号价值。
人们通过观察面部表情，能够准确地获取对方的情感状态和意图。
正面丰富的面部表情能够增加交流的亲近感和共鸣效果，让对方感受到更真实和深入的沟通体验。
2. 微表情的捕捉：微表情是瞬间出现并迅速消失的面部表情变化，反映出个体真实的情感状态。
学会捕捉对方的微表情能够更好地理解对方的情感需求和意图，提高交流的准确性和有效性。
例如，微笑是最常见也是最受欢迎的面部表情，能够缓解紧张情绪，增加交流的顺畅性和效果。
3. 面部表情的控制：面部表情的控制能力是有效交流的重要因素之一。
人们通过控制面部表情来调整和控制自己的情绪，进而影响他人对自己的感知和理解。
例如，面带微笑的表情能够传递友好和亲和力，使交流更加愉悦和和谐；而面无表情或面带愠怒的表情则可能给人留下冷漠或敌意的印象，影响交流的氛围和结果。
三、肢体语言和面部表情的综合应用1. 互动配合：肢体语言和面部表情的使用应与语言信息相互协调，实现信息的完整性和一致性。
肢体语言在中美文化中的比较
摘要肢体语言是人类语言的重要组成部分，在中美文化交流中扮演着重要角色。
本文运用案例法与比较法，从四个方面对两国的手势、身势、眼神交流和面部表情四类肢体语言进行了进行对比与分析，即“相同”含义的相同肢体语言比较、“不同”含义的相同肢体语言比较、“相同”含义的不同肢体语言比较、中美两国各自独特的肢体语言比较，并探讨了背后的文化根源。
研究结果表明，两国在生产、生活中存在的诸多共同特征是导致中、美肢体语言存在共性的主要原因，而两国独特的历史文化和语言表达等因素对两国肢体语言差异的形成产生了重大影响。
因此，必须深入了解两国肢体语言及其文化背景，才能提高跨文化交际能力，促进中美文化交流。
关键词：肢体语言；文化差异；跨文化交际ABSTRACTBody language is a very important part in human language and it plays a vital role in Sino-American cross-cultural communication. Divided into gestures, posture, eye contacts and facial expressions, the body language in China and America had been compared and analyzed from four aspects by case analysis and comparison method. The four aspects included (1) the same body language with the same meaning, (2) the same body language with different meanings; (3) different body language with the same meaning, (4) the special body language exists in Chinese and American culture respectively. Furthermore, cultural background of body language in two countries was discussed. Results showed that the similar features in both life and production in two countries were the major reason for existence of common cognition of body language. The special historical characteristics and different ways of language expression played an important role in the differences of body language between the two countries. Therefore, in order to improve Sino-American cross-cultural communication, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of body language under different cultural backgrounds in China and America.Key words：body language; cultural differences; cross-cultural communicationContents1.Introduction (51)2. Literature review (52)2.1 Conceptions of relative words (52)2.1.1 Definition of body language (52)2.1.2 Conception of culture (53)2.2 Overseas and domestic literature review on body language (54)2.2.1 Overseas literature review on body language (54)2.2.2 Domestic literature review on body language (55)3. Comparison of body language in Chinese and American cultures (56)3.1 Same body language with the same meaning (57)3.2 Same body language with different meanings (59)3.3 Different body language with the same meaning (63)3.4 Unique body language exists in Chinese and American culture respectively (65)4. How to improve the ability of intercultural communication (66)5. Conclusion (67)Acknowledgements (70)References (71)1.IntroductionSpeaking of “Body Language” in a board sense, there are in English such expressions as body movement, body gesture, body behavior, etc [1]13,[2]4. A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of a message = 7% verbal + 38% vocal + 55% facial expressions and behaviors [3]15.Nowadays, with the rapid development of economy as well as science and technology, the world is becoming smaller and smaller, and the communication between people from different countries with different cultural backgrounds is increasing [3]19, especially that between people from China and America. Since interpretations of body language vary tremendously from culture to culture, it is a necessity to obtain the ability to understand body language while communicating with people from different countries with different culture. Certainly, there were many previous studies made by scholars on body language. However, most of their researches lay emphasis on the differences of body language between China and western countries instead of those between China and America. Meanwhile, few focus on the history and culture roots of body language and the influence of verbal language on body language. Therefore, the thesis is intended to focus on the similarities and differences of body language including posture, gestures, facial expressions and eye contacts under different cultural backgrounds in China and America so as to enable readers to comprehensively understand the exact meanings of body language and to know the corresponding cultural background and social-cultural characteristics of the two countries.The thesis is mainly composed of five chapters. The first Chapter serves as the brief introduction of the whole thesis; The second Chapter presents the definition of body language, culture and the literature review of body language abroad and in China; The third chapter focuses on the similarities and differences of body language under different cultural backgrounds in China and America and the corresponding reasons of history, culture and language for those similarities and differences will be analyzed at the same time. The fourth chapter introduces several tips for improving the ability of cross-culturalcommunication between the two countries. And the last part summarizes the whole content of this paper and restates the importance of body language in cross-cultural communication.2. Literature reviewThe observation of body language is important to an effective listener because it communicates what is the most important to the speaker. When a person is reluctant to put his feelings into words, or has repressed his feelings to the extent that he is not consciously aware of his feelings, then his nonverbal language usually indicates his feelings. Now, to have a better knowledge of body language, the author here will first introduce the literature review on body language as follows.2.1 Conceptions of relative wordsWhen communicating with a person from different cultures, it is extremely important to possess the ability to understand the exact meanings of the body language he uses. Otherwise, it will cause unnecessary misunderstandings and even lead to some trouble. Body language has a close relationship with culture. Thus, before we come to the study on body language under different cultural backgrounds in China and America, we should first of all have a clear idea about the definitions of relative words: body language, and culture.2.1.1 Definition of body languageBody language is a term for forms of communication using body movements or gestures instead of sounds, or other forms of oral communication [4]25. It is often called kinesics, composed not only of gestures and posture, but also facial expressions and eye contacts [5]23. Gestures refer to the movement of hands or arms to express the meaning of a verbal message which is regarded as the central part of our body language. Posture is the general way of carrying out one’s body, especially the head, shoulders and back when walking, standing, squatting, sitting or lying. Eye contact is a very important part in body language which refers to the study of messages expressed by eyes, including eye contact,eye movements, staring, gaze, blinks and pupil dilation. The face serves as the most expressive function in our body and it can give us some information about one’s character.It should be mentioned that since diverse and complex factors are involved in the study of body language, a considerable amount of academic arguments exist concerning which definition of body language is the most valid and workable. Some scholars claim that body language is the language without words; others give a similar statement that body language indicates all communicative symbols except oral speech. Besides the above mentioned definitions, Samovar and Porter (1995) have made some attempts on a more specific and vivid definition of body language like this: Body language is the socially, biologically, psychologically or culturally framed exchange of valuable messages which are not verbally spoken out but conveyed by the body movements, body gestures, symbols or relevant context and surrounding environment etc [5]10. Also, there is definition written in dictionary: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines body language as the process of communicating through conscious or unconscious gestures and poses [6]143.2.1.2 Conception of cultureIt is difficult to find even a single definition of culture on which scholars may have agreements since culture is really a very large and evasive concept which is very difficult to define. The anthropologists define it as: common knowledge, perceptions and values that constitute the foundation of social, economical and religious institutions in a society (Svanberg & Runblom, 1988) [7]8. It is said that there have been at least over 150 definitions on culture, but none of them seems to be able to tell us everything about culture [8]14.But, simply put, “culture” refers to a group or a community with which we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the world. Most professionals view culture as being the sum total of beliefs, rules, techniques, institutions, and artefacts that characterize human beings[8]3. In other words, culture consists of socially created and learned patterns of behaviour shared by members of a given society—a unique lifestyle of a particular group of people.From above, we know that culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group or category of people from another [7]16. Since China is a developing country while America is a developed country, they havetheir unique styles in the traditions of culture and customs. They are different in many aspects of their life and production which produce a big influence on their body language. When coming to the definition of culture, we should take the cultural backgrounds of two countries’history, customs and literature into consideration; meantime, we also should take the cultural factors into consideration when we are taking part in cross-cultural communication. By acquiring the basic theoretical conceptions of body language and culture, we will go further for the study on the meanings of body gestures under different cultural backgrounds in China and America in the next part.2.2 Overseas and domestic literature review on body languageThis part concerns literature review on body language made by scholars in China and America. Body language, as a communicative method, has a long history and it can be assumed that the history of body language is longer than any other natural languages. Body language is the subject which has received the most research and the greatest amount of public attention during recent years.2.2.1 Overseas literature review on body languageBody language may date back to Aristotle, who had studied the expressions of actions. And Darwin’s Expressions of Humans and Animals published in 1872 can be regarded as the initial study of body language [9]16. It is generally accepted that the study of body language became an independent subject in the 1950s. During this period, there was a significant increase in the number of body language research’s efforts. Ray Birdwhistell’s Introduction to Kinesics in 1952 in which the term kinesics was initiated primarily constructed the conception system of Kinesics. Dr. Edward T. Hall’s The Silent Language in 1959 explored the importance of cultural factors, and revealed the profound mystery of kinesics in communication [10]26. These two books are regarded as two milestones in the decade.The 1960s witnessed a nuclear explosion of studies on body language. There were extensive studies on specific areas of body including eye behaviors, personal space, body movements and body gestures. Dr. Edward T. Hall, professor of anthropology at Northwestern University, went into thecross-cultural perspective of proteomics. Paul Kerman and Wallace Friesen have developed a specific system of classifying nonverbal languages in terms of function in the book The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior[11]20, which provided insights on the origin, usage, and coding of nonverbal behavior.The 1970s made deep exploration on the aspect of body language from different perspectives, among which was Julius Fast’s Body Language in 1973 in which he explained by presenting interesting instances the meaning of such nonverbal behaviors as gestures, facial expressions, postures, and distance between interlocutors[12]14. In 1970, Ray Birdwhistell coined the term “kinesics”—the systematic study of how human beings communicate through body movements and gestures—in his masterpiece Kinesics and Context: Essay on Body Motion Communication.2.2.2 Domestic literature review on body languageChinese researchers have made a great contribution to the study on body language. The study on body language in China originated in the 1970s and prospered in the 1980s [14]6. In the late 1980s, there were two famous monographs, one is An Introduction to Body Language in 1988 by Ge Erling and the other is Motion Linguistics in 1988 by Zhou Jiyu [13]18. And the research in this field reached its research height at the beginning of 1990s. During these years, the number of literary works on this aspect had reached over one hundred [3]26. Since then, an increasing number of anthropologists, linguists, sociolinguists and language teachers are doing researches on intercultural nonverbal communication. The linguist and educator Chen Wangdao pointed out that language is a way to send and receive information, and he was the first one who made a clear distinction of body language between some other means of message transferring in China[8]18. Besides, other famous scholars in our country, for example, Hu Wenzhong, Bi Jiwan and Liu Wenrong had issued several articles on cross-cultural communication and translated many literature works of body language [14]5.From above literature review on body language, we can clearly get that scholars have made various studies on body language. However, most of the researches laid emphasis on the differences of body language while the similarities were ignored. Furthermore, most of the studies focus on the phenomena of the differences instead of the real reasons of those similaritiesand differences, such as the differences between history, culture, traditions, customs and expressions of verbal language, etc.Therefore, the author will focus on the comparison of similarities and differences of body language, including posture, gestures, facial expressions and eye contacts, between China and America and analyze the reasons of the differences with case analysis and comparison method as well. And in the process of this study, in order to thoroughly compare the similarities and differences of body language between the two countries, the author will analyze the above mentioned four categories of body language one by one from the following aspects: (1) the same body language with the same meaning; (2) the same body language with different meanings; (3) different body language with the same meaning; (4) the special body language exists in Chinese and American culture respectively.3. Comparison of body language in Chinese andAmerican culturesBody language can serve for communication which can make people communicate very well and smoothly. It is much related to culture. Particular body language and the meaning of body language are largely depended on cultural variations[13]13. Each culture in the world is unique and has its own system of expressing body language in communication. It is the uniqueness of different cultures that cause misunderstandings or even conflicts in intercultural communication[15]17. Two individuals come from different cultures can understand the meanings of some certain different body gestures while the majority of body gestures varying others and the meanings they conveyed seem to be decided by culture in a large sense [13]9. From this we can see that it is important to study body language under the different cultural backgrounds. Besides, we should also have a clear understanding of the deep cultural reasons which cause these differences in body gestures.In this part, the author elaborates the similarities and differences of body language, including posture, gestures, eye contacts, and facial expressions withcase analysis and comparison method from the following four aspects so as to find out the culture root and social-cultural characteristics.3.1 Same body language with the same meaningHuman beings have thousands of thousands of body gestures. Although different people live in different places, speak different languages, wear different clothes, people share many similarities in daily life as well, for example, happiness, anger, sadness. So it is not difficult to understand that people share a lot of similar body language which expresses the same meaning. In this part, the author discusses posture, gestures, facial expressions and eye contacts that convey the same meaning in Chinese and American culture and analyzes the reasons as well.Posture refers to the general way people carry out their body, and it can be divided into three categories: standing, bent-knee positions and lying [15]36. The same posture can be seen in the same situation in different countries. No matter in America or in China, it is easy to observe from TV and movies that individuals of higher status usually use a relaxed postural style, while those who are in a lower status are always in a upright and tense postural style since the “lower status” must show his respect to the senior.Generally speaking, Gestures refer to specific body movements that carry meanings. Gestures are closely related to speech, illustrating or supplementing it. Gestures carry a great deal of meanings, some of which mean the same in China and America. When they are interpreted by Chinese and Americans respectively, there will not be any problem in understanding each other when communicating. For instance, both Chinese and Americans nod head up and down to mean “yes”, and they shake head from side to side to mean “no”; move hands from side to side to convey the meaning of saying goodbye to somebody; applaud to show approval of a performance. What is more, touch is one of the most fundamental forms of body gestures, like our oral speech, carries messages about what we are thinking and feeling. Touch is the earliest means we have to make contacts with others. Touch can indicate many things, including affection, aggression, sympathy and even the status or relationship which exists between people [15]25.Face is the most expressive part of our body. The sayings “one’s face is themirror of one’s soul,” and “The face tells the secret” tell us the importance of facial expressions. During interpersonal communication, we depend heavily on facial cues when making important judgements. Facial movements can express emotion. Research shows that seven basic emotions have been expressed the same. They are happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust and interest. In China and America, people almost express the above basic emotions with same facial expressions. So we can easily guess the meaning of a person from his or her face although we don’t understand each other’s language.Eye contact plays an important role in human interactions. People can use eye contact to regulate communication, convey emotions, and indicate degrees of attentiveness, interest, and arousal. It was estimated that we spend approximately 45 percent of our time looking at others’eyes [16]5. As to eye contacts, Chinese and Americans share some similarities too. For example, when we are in different emotions, such as happy, angry or sad, the expression in people’s eyes will change in accordance with the emotions we are in. Sometimes we control our facial expressions to hide our feelings and we can successfully do that while the expression in our eyes will reveal the secrets since it is too difficult to be controlled. In our daily life, we can not only guess a person’s happiness, anger and sadness from his or her eyes, but we can feel whether he is confident or shy, he is pessimistic or optimistic, he is kind or cruel, and so on. So Eyes are called the windows of man’s heart for they can reveal the implication at a deeper level that spoken language cannot express.Why do body gestures have the same meaning even in China and America which have their own unique cultural origins and historical characteristics? The reason is easy to understand. It is the mutual knowledge and cognition in people’s life and production during the development of human’s society which offers the answer. What is more, both Chinese and Americans face life and death, love and hate, hope and fear in life. All people’s basic needs and philosophies are similar, even when their expressions is clouded and confused by racial, cultural or political trappings [15]19. And it is these cultural common characteristics upon which we can build understanding, respect and communication. To some extent, we human beings sometimes may have something in common in nonverbal expressions with gorillas, let alone people from different cultures. There are many differences between China and America,such as culture, history, religion, race, color of skin, etc, but just like many idioms we share in life, for example, “love me, love my dog”, “strike while the iron is hot”, “look before you leap” and so on, we share many body gestures in life too.3.2 Same body language with different meaningsEven body language has a cultural accent, and because of the cultural differences in China and America, the same body gesture differs from each other in its meanings in some circumstances. Just like the say ing goes “do as the Romans do”, it is necessary to pay attention to such differences in the same body gesture to avoid misunderstandings. Here the author studies the differences of posture, gestures, facial expressions and eye contacts in Chinese and American cultures respectively and ultimately to cultivate their inside resources and reasons.1. PostureThere are cultural differences as far as gait is concerned in China and America. For example, Chinese people may regard Americans’ big strides when they walk as being arrogant, and Americans may consider Chinese people’s gait shy and timid. This reason of this difference is simply that Americans need more space than Chinese do since American culture emphasizes individualism while Chinese culture stresses modesty. Also, Standing with arms akimbo is common in America with neutral meaning. Women may do this posture to show their impatience. However, this posture in China means a signal to protect oneself from being approached.Sitting posture is a constant source of cultural misunderstandings. In America where being casual and friendly is valued, consciously or unconsciously people often fall into chairs or slouch. However, in China, a slouching posture is a signal of bad manners on many occasions, for Chinese value proper stance and sitting position.When combined with cultural backgrounds in China and America, it is not difficult to understand the reasons for all these differences. People may note the values, norms, and beliefs or subjective culture of a particular group reflected in the nonverbal codes of the two nations. Americans emphasize informality andseem to have a loose and easy stance, but Chinese ancient philosophy values a rigid, erect and quiet stance. As an old saying: Stand as straight as a pine and sit as upright as a bell.2. GesturesGestures are mainly connected with moving of hands or arms to convey some certain verbal information and emotion. People from China and America may have their own particular gestures, and even the same gesture may have its separate significance for Chinese and Americans in certain contexts because of their different cultures.In America, snapping fingers is to cause someone’s attention, whereas in China it is considered very rude and ill-mannered. In the United States, using one’s thumb and index finger to make a circle while extending the others has the meaning of “ok or excellent”; while in China, it stands “zero”. Chinese may shake the hand with the palm turning downward to ask somebody to come, while Americans interpret this gesture as saying goodbye or asking somebody to go away [14]15. In American culture, stamping one’s foot means impatience, but in China it conveys anger, frustration and remorse. Moreover, in Chinese culture, using the index finger up to tip one’s own nose means that “I did this or it is me”, while for Americans they will think this to be ridiculous or funny.Touch is more acceptable on Chinese campus than American campus, although both China and America are classified as non-contact culture [18]15. Chinese teachers often pat children on the heads or on the shoulders to show their intimacy, warmth, affection and encouragement. However, American teachers are less likely to do that since that they consider this behaviour to be rude, intrusive and offensive. Moreover, in China, one can touch the cloth or the hair of a newly known person to show affection and praise; while in America, this touching is avoided except that the two persons are close friends. Again, tapping the head with a finger means that one need to consider carefully or one is thinking in Chinese culture; while in American culture, it conveys the meaning that one is so stupid. Using hand to cover mouth is to indicate that one has something secret to say in Chinese culture; but in American culture this behaviour means that one is telling a lie. Also, Chinese may clap for themselves after a speech, but Americans may see this as immodest [19]20.There are still many other gestures varying culturally in this part. Forinstance, almost everyone has the experience of pointing a way for others. From childhood, Chinese are taught that it is impolite to use forefinger to point at things. This conception is reflected in the Chinese idiom “指桑骂槐” and “指手画脚”which convey the negative meaning [7]16. Since we have known the different meanings of the same body gesture in China and America, now, let’s come to the reasons for these differences. We all know that in China, culture is mainly connected with Han culture. Chinese culture emphasizes collectivism under the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism while American culture advocates individualism and independence which is clearly reflected in the different meanings of touch. That is to say, a country’s religion, economy and literature, to some extent, have a deep effect on the meaning of body language. Therefore, we should not only learn the meaning of body language, but also learn the cultural backgrounds that hind behind it.3. Facial expressionsFacial expressions are connected with culture. There are differences between Chinese and Americans in facial expressions. Facial movements can express one’s emotions. Research shows that seven basic emotions have been expressed the same by facial expressions [20]11. However, the meaning of facial expressions differs in the values of culture and differs in the context of interpersonal communication.Many examples can be found in daily life. In America, children often make facial expressions when they are disapproving of or questioning actions of their parents, while in China, children who do this are thought to disrespect their parents. As for the relationship between children and parents in a family, being obedient is what Chinese parents hope their children to do, while American parents seem partial to respect their children’s own choices, which is well reflected in the expressions of body language. So it is difficult for Americans and Chinese to understand each other’s ways of education. The main reason is that the difference in family education lies in the differences in their cultures.In American culture, people are willing to express attitude and emotions. The American teachers like to open a friendly environment in his class to make his class more relaxing and interesting. They are more willingly to use body language frequently, such as making face and rising eyebrow, while the teachers in China tend to control their feelings or cover their emotions and attitude. The。
从肢体语言看中西方文化差异论文提纲
论文：从肢体语言看中西方文化差异Chinese and western cultural differences in body language一.引言二.肢体语言概述（一）肢体语言的概念及特征（二）肢体语言的相关理论三、肢体语言在差异文化中的发展与演变（一）肢体语言在人类社会交流方面的重要性1 不同种类的肢体语言所代表的意思2 肢体语言在交流中的作用以及重要性3 在中西方交流中，怎样恰当的使用肢体语言？（二）社群交流及族群认同性对区域文化历史的形成、发展的重大影响1中西方区域文化的历史的形成和发展对比2 中西方区域交流文化的重大差异（三）区域文化对肢体语言的反作用（四）中西方文化的主要内容和差异1 肢体语言对中西方交流文化的影响2 通过肢体语言对中西方交流文化造成差异的过程以及原因3 中西方交流文化中的肢体语言的比较以及异同四．肢体语言的东西方差异，在经济全球化带动文化交流融合的现代的发展趋势。
1 在中西方交流中学习肢体语言的必要性和重要性2 肢体语言在文化交流中的发展趋势五．结论1 General ideas of body languageA the definition of body languageB the relative theory of body language2 the development and exchange of body language in different culturesA the importance of body language in human ’s communication1. Introduction (1)2. The necessity and importance of learning body language on nonverbal communication (2)3. The concrete types and application of the body language (3)3.1 Types of body language (3)3.1.1 Distance between people conversing (3)3.1.2 Physical contact (3)3.1.3 Eye contact (4)3.1.4 Smiles and laughter (6)3.1.5 Gestures (6)3.2 Application of the body language (6)3.2.1 Greetings (6)3.2.2 Signs of affection (8)3.2.3 Physical contact in life (8)3.3 A comparative study of Chinese and American body language (9)4. Conclusion (12)Introduction1. General ideas of body language 52. ?The different kinds of body language 62.1 Manual speech2.2 face expression2.3 posture expression3. ?The function of body language4.How to use body language5. The importance of body language浅谈非语言交际中的身势语摘要“身势语”同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。
中外肢体语言结题报告研究过程
中外肢体语言研究报告背景肢体语言是人类交流中重要的非语言表达方式之一。
不同的文化背景和社会习惯对肢体语言的解读和使用方式存在差异，因此研究中外肢体语言的差异具有重要的实践意义。
本报告旨在通过对中外肢体语言的研究，揭示不同文化间的差异，分析原因，并提出相应的解决方案。
分析中外肢体语言的差异手势的差异在中外文化中，手势的使用方式存在明显的差异。
例如，西方文化中，竖起大拇指表示赞美或认可，而在中国文化中，竖起大拇指则被视为侮辱的手势。
另外，西方文化中，教师常常用手指点黑板或指向学生，而在中国文化中，这种做法被视为不尊重学生的行为。
面部表情的差异面部表情是肢体语言中重要的组成部分。
中外文化对于面部表情的解读也存在差异。
例如，西方人常常用微笑来表示友好和喜悦，而在中国文化中，微笑的含义更加复杂，既可以表示喜悦，也可以表示尴尬或者不满。
姿势的差异姿势是肢体语言中另一个重要的方面。
在中外文化中，人们对于姿势的要求和解读也存在差异。
例如，在西方文化中，直立的姿势被视为自信和权威的象征，而在中国文化中，过于直立的姿势则被视为傲慢和不谦虚。
中外肢体语言差异的原因分析中外肢体语言差异的产生是多方面因素的综合结果。
历史和文化差异中外文化的差异是肢体语言差异的主要原因之一。
不同的历史和文化背景导致了人们对肢体语言的理解和使用方式的差异。
例如，中国文化强调谦虚和尊重，因此对于过于直立的姿势持否定态度；而西方文化强调自信和个人权威，因此对于直立的姿势持肯定态度。
社会习惯和教育差异社会习惯和教育方式也会对肢体语言产生影响。
不同的社会习惯和教育方式会塑造人们的肢体语言习惯和解读方式。
例如，西方文化中，教师常常用手指指向学生，这在中国文化中被视为不尊重学生的行为。
个体差异除了历史、文化和社会因素外，个体差异也会影响肢体语言的差异。
不同的个体有不同的肢体语言习惯和解读方式。
例如，一个人可能因为个人性格的原因而更倾向于使用手势表达自己的情感，而另一个人可能更倾向于使用面部表情来表达情感。
肢体语言中中西方文化差异探讨论文
肢体语言中中西方文化差异探讨论文肢体语言中中西方文化差异探讨论文预读: 摘要:肢体语言是指能够传递某种信息的一种交流手段.美国心理学家阿尔伯特.马洛比恩发明了一个原则:总交流=7%的文字交流+38%口头交流+55%的面部表情交流.这一公式充分了说明了肢体语言在人类交流中的重要性.本文中所提到的肢体语言具体包括面部表情、手势或者其他身体部位的动作.这种肢体语言虽然曾经是人们沟通的一种初级手段,但是随着人类社会的不断进步,不同的地区和国家开始拥有自己的文化和历史.在这样的差异性中开始产生了不同的肢体语言.同时也会出现同一种肢体语言在不同的文化背景中所代表的含义也会各有不同.这就是我们跨文化交际中强调的中西方文化的差异和他们的思维模式的差异影响着人们相互之间的理解与交流.因此在用外语沟通时,就必须要求第二语言习得者在掌握语言的同时也要掌握不同文化中的肢体语言所表示的含义,这样才能使得沟通更加顺畅、成功.一、表情语的文化差异表情语是指通过眼、嘴、面部肌肉等变化表现出的脸部的情感体验.通常指的是面部表情和眼部动作.面部表情是形体动作语言中最能表现人情绪的非言语行为.当今时下比较流行的一词“微表情”说的就是通过面部表情来看出一个人的心理活动.因此我们说面部表情是最能体现人情绪的一种依据.人的喜、怒、哀、乐都可以通过各种信号和行为在脸上表露出来.但是在不同文化背景下,这种表情的表达也会存在一定的差异.比如说笑这个肢体语言,在中国和美国当你对一个陌生人投以微笑意味着表示对于对方的欢迎,对方也会向我们投以微笑以示友好.但是如果对方的回应是板着脸,我们也会立刻停止微笑.但是印第安人则是用哭来表示对对方的欢迎.另一个具有代表性的肢体语言动作就是吐舌头.在中国如果一个人感到自己的行为不和适宜或者非常尴尬的时候,经常会吐舌头,同时缩一下脖子.这个动作在多数中国女孩中较为常见,并有时候被其他人视为可爱.但是在美国人看来,吐舌头这个动作是非常粗鲁的,并且他们从来不去做.所以当与美国人接触时最好不要做这个动作,以免造成负面影响.表情语的另一个重要表现手段是目光接触.目光语在肢体语言中也扮演着非常重要的角色.就像俗语说:眼睛是心理的窗户.透过一个人的眼睛的表情我们可以观看到他的内心世界.例如,来自英语国家的人在谈话中会使用更多的目光交流,美国人讲话就会非常注意目光接触的时间和方式.在普通对话中,他们会对看一分钟然后再挪开.如果两个美国人互相凝视,那就表明他们之间的关系很亲密.在北美,孩子们必须学会直视对方的眼睛,否则就会被认为缺乏激情和自信.二、身势语的文化差异身势语是指人们借助手、脚、身体来表达自己的思想.在人与人的沟通中,人们除了用语言来表达信息以外,还可以通过身体的动作来表达意思.可以说身势语的信息传递同言语信息传递一样,也是信息发出者编码到信息接收者解码的过程.因此想要用外语进行有效沟通就必须对不同文化的身势语有所了解.身势语的第一表现形式即是最普遍的表现形式为手势语,就是我们经常接触到的“打手势”.不同的手部动作有着不同的行为代码和文化含义.以握手为例,在沙特熟人之间在谈话的过程中也会通过握手来表示彼此的尊重的意思.但是如果你在澳大利亚或者是英格兰面对熟人千万不要以这种方式来问候,因为在这些国家里握手的动作通常发生在两人之初以及分手道别之时.同一种身势语的交际功能也会随着文化的改变而变化.如有些文化中如中国,认为点头就是表示支持肯定的意思,摇头来表示否定的意思但在印度等地人们却用摆头来表示对对方的肯定,而相反点头则是表示对于对方的否定.英美人常常做出吧拇指指尖和食指指尖对接构成圆形,其余三指自然伸出的手势,这个手势在这些国家表示的是“OK”或者非常好,但是在法国南部地区表示的意思则是零或者一文不值,在很多拉丁美洲国家则被视为是一种不敬的行为.三、小结根据原创论文数据分析研究,本文认为,肢体语言是各国文化差异的生动的体现.在夸文化交际中,我们不仅要重视语言交际的的差异同时也要重视肢体语言的差异性,英语学习者应该了解并熟悉不同文化背景下各种肢体语言的确切含义,是自己能够在交流沟通中更为准确的掌握对方的意思,避免产生不必要的交际障碍.正如谚语中所说的“WheninRome,doastheRomansdo.”我们在跨文化交际的过程当中应当了解并且尊重对方与我们之间的文化差异,熟知其风俗文化、信仰和他们的肢体语言,这样才能提高沟通的实效性.。
课题研究中外肢体语言的文化差异
5、通过把研究学习资料收集、整理过程以PPT文件，专题网站等形式展现出来，提高创作能力。
五、研究的预期成果及其表现形式（研究的最终成果以什么样的形式展现出来，是论文、实验报告、实物、网站、多媒体还是其他形式）
1、编制常见的肢体语言中英文对照词汇表。
二、研究性学习的教学目的和方法（可按新课程标准的三维目标（或布鲁姆目标分类法）进行研究性学习的教学目和方法的阐述）
知识与技能:
1、掌握和运用课本出现的肢体语言词汇,并学习更多常见的肢体语言英语词汇。
2、了解各国不同的民族文化、宗教信仰和风俗习惯等而出现不同的肢体语言。
3、学会分析与比较中外肢体语言的文化差异，了解相关肢体语言的表达与知识，提高学习英语的兴趣。
2、设计以英语手抄报形式宣传中外肢体语言的文化差异。
3、PPT文件展示。
4、专题交流网站。
5、学生心得体会。
六、资源准备
1、教师提供一些英语学习网址给学生搜集中外肢体语言文化资料。
2、教师提供一些各国各民族肢体语言的表达图片给学生。
3、学校开放图书馆、电脑室、多媒体教室。
4、有关指导教师的联系电话号码和宿舍地址。
3、课题介绍
让学生开展中外肢体语言的文化差异的研究性学习活动，是对本单元学习的拓展。通过学生观察，调查和收集中外肢体语言文化资料，再根据分析，归纳，整理各国各种肢体语言的表达及意思，从而总结出不同肢体语言所存在的差异。通过参与实践活动，提高学生调查、收集、处理信息与人沟通的能力，以及互相合作学习、利用互联网学习的能力。通过这次活动，学生可以掌握更多有关肢体语言的英语词汇，了解肢体语言表达的准确性，培养良好的自身素质，提高合作、创新和探究精神和运用英语交流的能力。
文化毕业论文从肢体语言差异看中西方文化的不同
从肢体语言差异看中西方文化的不同社会在发展进步着，每一个阶段人们的进步也同步反映在了人们的沟通方式上。
例如，人类最初阶段是用肢体语言来沟通的身体时代;第二阶段是用真正的语言来沟通的嘴巴时代;第三阶段是用书写文字来沟通的手写时代;第四阶段是用键盘沟通的十指时代;第五阶段就是当代用手机短信来沟通的拇指时代。
确实，从古至今不同地区和不同时代人们的沟通方式不尽相同，但每一个阶段人们的沟通都离不开最初的肢体表达方式。
肢体语言是指能够传递某种特定信息的面部表情、手势语或者其他身体部位的动作等。
这是人们最初交流沟通的方式，也许口头表达出来的语言会说谎，但是肢体语言是相对比较真实的。
特别是不同语言国家的人之间交往时，肢体语言往往发挥了很大的作用。
在进行一般社交活动时，肢体语言相对比较灵活，也就是说，肢体语言种类比较多;同时，同一种肢体语言在不同的文化中所代表的含义也各不相同。
因此，要用外语进行有效交际，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。
握手是社交中的礼节，但中英握手的礼节形式差异较大。
西方英语国家握手的方式是：两人以手相握，然后马上松开，两人的距离也随即拉开。
中国人的礼节性动作是：两人先握一下手，然后相互靠近，两人的手扔不松开，或者干脆变成相互抓住不放了。
对此，英语国家的人们往往窘迫不堪。
他们认为，身体之间的距离显得过于亲密，抓住别人的手不放与握手毫不相干，同性人如此握手甚至会招致同性恋之嫌，因此，一般视为禁忌。
另外，西方国家的男女相见时一般要由女士采取主动，除非男士身份很高或者年龄很大，中国人之间的交往没有女士优先的礼俗。
两人相见时是否握手，一般由上级或者长者决定。
除了在一般社交中的握手礼仪的差异，亲吻和拥抱的肢体表达方式也不尽相同。
在西方国家，这些即使在公共场合也会做得从容不迫、运用自如，但在中国，公共场合做起来却觉得别扭。
这是因为两种文化的背景不同，中国长期受封建礼教的压抑，在情感表现形式上一向非常含蓄。
浅谈肢体语言的文化差异及交际原则
2152009年· 04月·下期学 术 · 理 论现代企业教育 ＭＯＤＥＲＮ ＥＮＴＥＲＰＲＩＳＥ ＥＤＵＣＡＴＩＯＮ现代企业教育美国心理学家阿尔伯特 · 马洛比恩发明了一个原则：总交流量＝７％的文字交流 ＋ ３８％口头交流 ＋ ５５％的面部表情交流，这说明了肢体语言的重要性。
在日常交际活动中，我们都通过言语和非言语相互交流。
肢体语言是非言语交流的重要组成部分，在人际交往中起了不可忽视的重要作用。
但是并非所有的肢体语言都表达了同一种意义，它会受多种因素的影响而有差异。
一、肢体语言文化差异存在的根源具有不同的信仰是肢体语言存在差异的根本原因，美国人类学家Ｂａｒｎｅｔｔｔ Ｐｅａｒｃｅ， Ｖｅｒｒｉｏｎ Ｃｒｏｎｅｎｔ的研究表明，人类的行为和思考问题的方式等等都受它们自身的信仰影响。
并且每一种文化都有其独特的信仰体系。
在一种文化中被认可的行为在另一种文化中可能就会被误解为是粗鲁的，不可接受的。
东方世界的国家崇尚谦虚，宽容，忍耐，相互支持和团体责任感。
就是由于我们国家的核心价值观是集体主义；而西方国家的人崇尚独立，自尊，自由发展，尊重隐私，要求有个人空间等等。
这是因为西方国家的价值观是个人主义。
二、肢体语言在不同文化中的区别我们将从五个方面来介绍肢体语言的文化差异：１．目光语我们通常说“眼睛是心灵的窗户。
”这就是说，我们可以通过对方的眼睛来读懂说话者的心思。
目光语可以用来表达多种复杂的感情，而且也是判断交际双方亲密程度的一种重要方式。
来自英语国家的人在谈话中会使用更多的目光交流，美国人讲话就会非常注意目光接触的时间和方式。
在普通对话中，他们会对看一分钟然后再挪开。
如果两个美国人互相凝视，那就表明他们之间的关系很亲密。
在北美，孩子们必须学会直视对方的眼睛，否则就会被认为缺乏激情和自信。
他们坚信这样一句话“Ｎｅｖｅｒ ｔｒｕｓｔａ ｐｅｒｓｏｎ ｗｈｏ ｃａｎ＇ｔ ｌｏｏｋ ｙｏｕ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｅｙｅｓ．”而如果是两个阿拉伯人在对话，他们会温和的看着对方，因为他们认为眼睛是他们存在的关键。
中西方肢体语言的差异的例子
中西方肢体语言的差异的例子
1. 咱就说，在西方，拥抱可是很常见的打招呼方式呢！比如朋友见面就会来个大大的拥抱，而在中国，可能更倾向于点头微笑或者握手来表示友好，你说是不是很不一样呀！
2. 哎哟喂，西方人表示赞同时会竖起大拇指，这多直接呀！可中国人有时候会用点头来表示认可，这差别可不小吧！
3. 嘿，你知道吗？在西方，耸肩摊手表示无奈的情况好多呀！但中国人可能就会叹口气或者摆摆手来表达这种情绪，这还真挺有趣呢！
4. 哇塞，西方人在表示“过来”的时候会手掌朝下向自己勾手，而中国人很多时候是手掌朝上向自己摆来表示呀，多有意思啊！
5. 哎呀呀，西方要是有人在你面前打响指来引起注意，好像很正常，但这在中国可就不太礼貌啦，是不是差别很大呀！
6. 哈哈，在西方，人们表示胜利会用“V”字手势，咱中国人虽然也知道，但好像用得没那么普遍呢，这也是一种差异呀！
7. 你想想看，西方人表达安静可能会把手指放在嘴边“嘘”一声，而中国人可能会轻声说“别说话”，这不同的表达方式是不是很神奇呀！
8. 天哪，西方在告别时可能会挥挥手说拜拜，中国呢，也会挥手但有时还会说句“慢走”之类的，很不一样吧！
9. 咦，西方人在表示数字时的手势和中国人也有差别呢，比如说表示“八”，就完全不一样呀，感觉好神奇呢！
我觉得中西方肢体语言的差异真的很有意思，也反映了不同文化背景下人们的习惯和思维方式的不同，我们应该去了解和尊重这些差异，这样才能更好地交流和沟通呀。
肢体语言文化差异的例子
肢体语言文化差异的例子
1. 在西方国家，两个人交谈时可能会保持比较近的距离，甚至手舞足蹈的，这可不是咱中国人习惯的呀！比如你看那些美剧里，主角们说话时不就凑得很近嘛。
2. 咱中国人表示友好可能会点头微笑，可在有些国家，他们会拥抱甚至亲吻脸颊呢，就像法国人打招呼那样，你说神奇不神奇。
3. 你知道吗，在日本，鞠躬可是非常重要的肢体语言，不同的角度还代表着不同的含义呢，这跟咱们可太不一样了，咱们可不会动不动就鞠躬呀。
4. 还有啊，有些外国人表示赞同时会竖起大拇指，那如果在中国有的老人面前竖大拇指，说不定人家还不乐意呢，这差异大吧！
5. 在一些地方，人们说话时喜欢用各种手势来加强表达，可在另一些地方可能觉得这样太夸张了，就像意大利人讲话时那丰富的手势，多有意思啊。
6. 想想看，印度人点头和摇头的含义和咱们理解的完全相反呢，咱们点头是同意，他们点头有时候表示不同意，这多容易混淆呀。
7. 你要是看到有人睁大眼睛表示惊讶，在很多地方都很常见吧，可在某些文化里可能就不是惊讶的意思呢，就像个谜一样。
8. 有些地方的人感到紧张可能会搓手，可咱们可能一般不会用这个动作来表达呀，这就是肢体语言文化差异呀！总之，肢体语言的文化差异真的太有趣了，让我们感受到了世界的多姿多彩呀！。
肢体语言的中西方文化差异
肢体语言的中西方文化差异➢动作一样，意义不同汉语意义气愤，恼怒，灰心，悔恨谢谢，互相表示友好感情好奇；有时是惊讶反对；责骂；轰赶（少见；一般见于成人对孩子）疼爱；（对成人或青年，会引起反感，是侮辱人的动作）肢体语言跺脚观众和听众鼓掌，表演或讲话人也鼓掌目不转睛地看发“嘘”声拍别人的脑袋英语意义不耐烦为自己鼓掌；被认为是不谦虚不礼貌；使人发窘；不自在要求安静安慰；鼓励；钟爱➢意义相同，动作有差异意义“过来”（叫别人过来）“丢人”“没羞”（半开玩笑）“我吃饱了”（吃饭后）中国的肢体语言把手伸向被叫人，手心向下，几个手指同时弯曲几次伸出食指，用指尖在自己脸上划几下，象搔痒，不过手指是直的一只手或两只手轻轻拍拍自己的肚子美国的肢体语言把手伸向被叫人，手心向上，握拳用食指前后摆动（中国人对此反感）伸出两只手的食指，手心向下，用一个食指擦另一个食指的背面一只手放在自己的喉头，手心向下（常同时说“到这儿了”）➢只存在于一种文化中的动作肢体语言在美国的意义●咂指甲——重大思想负担；担心，不知所措●用大拇指顶着鼻头，其他四指弯着一起动——挑战，蔑视●摇动食指（食指向上伸出，其他四指收拢）——警告别人不要作某事，表示对方在做错事●把胳膊放在胸前，握紧拳头，拇指向下，向下摆几次——反对某一建议、设想；反对某人；表示强烈反对●眨眼（很快地合上一只眼，微微一笑点点头）——表示下列几种感情：会意，赞许，鼓励，传递信息，表示团结等肢体语言在中国的意义●用食指点点或指指自己的鼻子——“是我”，“是我干的”（西方人认为这个手势有点可笑）●说话时用一只张开的手捂着嘴（一般是老年人用）——说秘密话（有时没有明显的意义）●两只手递（即使可以用一只手拿起的）东西给客人或别人——尊敬●别人为自己倒茶或斟酒时，张开一只手或两只手，放在杯子旁边——表示感谢●伸出两个竖起的食指在身前慢慢接近（往往在戏曲中出现）——男女相爱；匹配良缘。
肢体语言的中西方文化差异
肢体语言的中西方文化差异尼泊尔人、斯里兰卡人和有些印地安人和爱斯基摩人用点头表示“不”。
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。
我们可以观察一下阿拉伯人同英国人谈话。
阿拉伯人按照自己的民族习惯认为站得近些表示友好。
英国人按照英国的习惯会往后退，因为他认为保持适当的距离才合适。
阿拉伯人往前挪，英国人往后退。
谈话结束时，两个人离原来站的地方可能相当远！在这个例子里，双方的距离是关键。
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。
根据研究，据说在美国进行社交或公务谈话时，有四种距离表示四种不同情况：关系亲密，私人交往，一般社交，公共场合。
交谈双方关系亲密，那么身体的距离从直接接触到相距约45厘米之间，这种距离适于双方关系最为亲密的场合，比如说夫妻关系。
朋友、熟人或亲戚之间个人交谈一般以相距45～80米为宜。
在进行一股社交活动时，交谈双方相距1.30米至3米；在工作或办事时，在大型社交聚会上，交谈者一般保持1.30米至2米的距离。
在公共场合，交谈者之间相距更远，如在公共场所演说，教师在堂上讲课，他们同听众距离很远。
多数讲英语的人不喜欢人们离得太近，当然，离得太远也有些别扭。
离得太近会使人感到不舒服，除非另有原因，如表示喜爱或鼓励对方与自己亲近等，但这是另一回事。
记住这一点很重要。
在英语国家里，一般的朋友和熟人之间交谈时，避免身体任何部位与对方接触。
即使仅仅触摸一下也可能引起不良的反应。
如果一方无意触摸对方一下，他（她）一般会说Sorry；Oh，I’m sorry；Excuse me 等表示“对不起”的道歉话。
在中国，常常听到西方妇女抱怨中国人抚弄了她们的婴儿和很小的孩子。
不论是摸摸、拍拍、接接或是亲亲孩子，都使那些西方的母亲感到别扭。
她们知道这种动作毫无恶意，只是表示亲近和爱抚而已，所以也不好公开表示不满。
但在她们自己的文化中，这种动作会被人认为是无礼的，也会引起对方强烈的反感和厌恶。
浅析中美文化中肢体语言的差异
浅析中美文化中肢体语言的差异随着全球经济的发展和国际交流,世界已经成为一个地球村。
人们随时都会面对来自其他文化的朋友。
在人们的交流沟通过程中,文字语言并不是表达我们的想法和感受唯一的方式,肢体语言同样重要,两者相辅相成才能达到交流的预期效果。
然而,不同的文化造就了不同肢体沟通方式,不同的人也用不同的手势传达自己的表情。
中国和美国作为世界大国,在世界政治和经济舞台上扮演着重要角色,两国之间的交往频率一直处于上升中,学习肢体语言的不同与共同规则,将会有助于中美国两国之间进行更好的沟通与合作,有利于世界的和平与国际经济的健康发展。
1 中美肢体语言的差异1.1 距离来自不同文化背景的人在两个人交流时距离的问题上有着不同的看法。
它不仅显示了两个人之间的交际关系和心理状态,但也反映出民族文化特点。
中国人和美国人在该问题上的观点存在明显的差异。
有时你感觉对的行为,可能完全冒犯了对方的文化。
在研究过程中笔者发现,相比于中国人,美国人会保持更大的互动距离。
通过反复观察和细致的对比研究和阅读文献,正如所说,在美国社会与商业关系中有四种距离亲密、私人、社会和公众。
对于亲密的距离（045cm）,一般出现在人们最私人的关系和活动中,如亲戚、亲密的朋友、情人和夫妻。
私人距离保持在45120cm,是最常见的普通朋友和熟人。
他们互相认识,但没有特殊关系。
xxxx。
一起工作或做生意的人,xxxx。
公共距离是3.60m。
该区域被预留给公众演讲,或者一般来说,当一大群人一起聊天时。
最重要的是要记住的是,大多数美国人都不喜欢过于亲近。
过于远,当然也可能是尴尬的,但是走的太近会让人不舒服。
因此,应该保持合适的距离。
1.2 触摸与他人接触也是一种沟通的方式。
文化人类学已经将联系分为两类：联系文化和接触文化。
美国属于联系文化而中国属于后者。
当美国人排队时,他们总是刻意保持距离。
如果有人与他太近,第一反应是离开。
如果不是这样,他会倾斜到一边。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
从肢体语言看文化差异摘要：跨文化交际中，中西方文化的差异和他们的思维模式的差异影响着人们相互之间的理解与交流。
学习英语过程中基本的语法词汇当然特别重要,但是肢体语言作为一种特殊的语言也不容忽视。
肢体语言(body language)是指能够传递某种特定信息的面部表情、手势语,以及其他身体部位动作。
其之所以能够被称之为语言,主要在于它的信息传递性。
为什么它有着不可忽视的作用呢?是因为有时肢体语言能够表达比话语还要深刻的含义或内容。
但是，每个人都有自已的一套肢体语言，而对于同一套肢体语言，每一种文化也有与其他文化不同的含义。
由于文化差异的缘故，对肢体语言的误解很可能会让你陷入尴尬的境地。
倘若忽视这些，人们就可能造成一些令人不快的严重错误。
所以，明智的做法就是你应该在对他人的肢体语言和动作下结论之前，首先考虑对方的文化背景，从而避免产生不必要的误会。
因此，提高对文化认知的程度，并通过研究了解肢体语言的差异，无疑具有十分重要的作用，进而使得沟通显得更加通畅无阻。
在这里我们就研究一下由于中西方不同的肢体语言含义的差异所隐含的文化差异。
关键词：肢体语言文化差异跨文化交际正文：肢体语言同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。
在不同文化中肢体语言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一、肢体语言”同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。
一个中国男人和一个美国或加拿大妇女谈话时，看着对方是否失礼？两个男青年或两个女青年同行时，其中一个搭着另一个肩膀或两个人手拉手向前走，西方人是否认为合适？在有各种文化背景的民族中，点头是否都表示“是”，摇头是否都表示“不”？这不是语言问题，而是“肢体语言”（非语言交际，也称非话语交际或表情交际）问题。
我们同别人谈话时，交际的手段不限于词语，尽管我们没有意识到这一点。
我们的表情、手势、身体其他部分的动作，都向周围的人传递信息。
微微一笑伸出手来表示欢迎，皱眉表示不满，点头表示同意，挥手表示再见。
听报告或讲演时，身子往椅背上一靠，打个呵欠表示厌烦、不感兴趣。
人们公认这些动作表示上述意义，至少中国人和美国人都是这样的。
这些动作是交际手段的一部分。
“肢体语言”同语言一样，都是文化的一部分。
二、不同文化，肢体语言有相似的地方。
全世界的文化基本要素几乎是相同的。
世界各地的面部表情和微笑几乎都一样的。
旧金山加利福尼亚大学的保罗将印有人们各种表情的照片（快乐、愤怒、害怕、悲伤、厌恶以及惊讶）拿给生活于21种不同文化氛围中的人们看，结果发现大多数人对照片中快乐、悲伤和厌恶这三种表情的含义的意见完全一致。
而且，中美肢体语言对比研究表明，两者有相似的地方。
如男子相逢时不拥抱，一般见面时握手即可；挥手表示再见；皱眉表示不高兴；耸耸鼻子表示不喜欢、讨厌或不快；点头表示“是”，摇头表示“不”；噘嘴表示不痛快、情绪不佳、忿恨；拍拍男人或男孩子的背表示赞扬、夸奖、鼓励；咬牙表示生气、愤怒或下决心。
文化有相似的地方，但本文章主要讲各民族文化差异，对于各民族肢体语言的相似之处就不过多阐述。
三、很大情况下，不同的文化，肢体语言的意义有很大差异。
由于各民族政治经济的不同，生存环境的差异，各民族文化有很大差异，表现在肢体语言上就有很多不同。
各民族有不同的非话语交际方式。
本章开头提的两个问题，答案都是否定的。
甚至点头也可以表示不同的意义。
尼泊尔人、斯里兰卡人和有些印地安人和爱斯基摩人用点头表示“不”。
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。
下面我们来看一下不同文化的人各异的肢体语言。
（一）交谈时双方保持的距离因文化而不同。
我们可以观察一下阿拉伯人同英国人谈话。
阿拉伯人按照自己的民族习惯认为站得近些表示友好。
英国人按照英国的习惯会往后退，因为他认为保持适当的距离才合适。
阿拉伯人往前挪，英国人往后退。
谈话结束时，两个人离原来站的地方可能相当远！在这个例子里，双方的距离是关键。
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。
根据研究，据说在美国进行社交或公务谈话时，有四种距离表示四种不同情况：关系亲密，私人交往，一般社交，公共场合。
交谈双方关系亲密，那么身体的距离从直接接触到相距约45厘米之间，这种距离适于双方关系最为亲密的场合，比如说夫妻关系。
朋友、熟人或亲戚之间个人交谈一般以相距45～80米为宜。
在进行一股社交活动时，交谈双方相距1.30米至3米；在工作或办事时，在大型社交聚会上，交谈者一般保持1.30米至2米的距离。
在公共场合，交谈者之间相距更远，如在公共场所演说，教师在堂上讲课，他们同听众距离很远。
多数讲英语的人不喜欢人们离得太近，当然，离得太远也有些别扭。
离得太近会使人感到不舒服，除非另有原因，如表示喜爱或鼓励对方与自己亲近等，但这是另一回事。
记住这一点很重要。
（二）谈话双方身体接触多少因文化不同而各异。
（1）轻轻触摸在这一方面，有一篇调查报告提供了一些有趣的数字。
调查者在各地大学里或附近的商店中观察两人坐着单独说话时的情景，每次至少一小时，记下两人触摸对方的次数：英国首都伦敦（o）；美国佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔（2）；法国首都巴黎（10）；波多黎各首府圣胡安（180）。
这些数字本身很说明问题。
在英语国家里，一般的朋友和熟人之间交谈时，避免身体任何部位与对方接触。
即使仅仅触摸一下也可能引起不良的反应。
如果一方无意触摸对方一下，他（她）一般会说Sorry；Oh，I’m sorry；Excuse me 等表示“对不起”的道歉话。
而在中国，摸摸、拍拍、接接或是亲亲孩子则是表示亲近和爱抚。
所以我们常常听到西方妇女抱怨中国人抚弄了她们的婴儿和很小的孩子。
不论是摸摸、拍拍、接接或是亲亲孩子，都使那些西方的母亲感到别扭。
她们知道这种动作毫无恶意，只是表示亲近和爱抚而已，所以也不好公开表示不满。
但在她们自己的文化中，这种动作会被人认为是无礼的，也会引起对方强烈的反感和厌恶。
所以，遇到这种情况，西方的母亲往往怀着复杂的感情站在一旁不说话，感到窘迫，即使抚弄孩子的是自己的中国朋友或熟人。
（2）握手假如一名沙特男子当众抓住了另一名男子的手，这就表示相互尊重的意思。
但是，如果你身处于澳大利亚、美国的得克萨斯州，或是英格兰的利物浦市可千万不要这样做问候方式的差异。
握手方式的差异有时候会导致握手双方尴尬场面的发生，有时候又会制造出一些有趣的场景。
英国人、澳大利亚人、新西兰人、德国人以及美国人的握手通常都发生在两人见面之初以及分手道别之时。
大多数欧洲人则不然，他们会在同一天与同一个人握手数次，而法国人握手的频率则更高。
英国人、澳大利亚人、新西兰人、德国人以及美国人的握手通常都发生在两人见面之初以及分手道别之时。
大多数欧洲人则不然，他们会在同一天与同一个人握手数次，而法国人握手的频率则更高。
有记录显示，在一天当中，法国人握手的时间累加起来竟然达到了30分钟之多。
与西方人不同的是，印度人、亚洲人以及阿拉伯人会在握手结束之后依然握住对方的手不放，保持握手的姿势。
在握手的过程中，德国人和法国人会抓住对方的手，有力地摇动一至两次，然后很快便会松开；而英国人握手时摇动的次数略多于前者，大约为三至五次；美国人就更多了，平均为五至七次。
在各种国际会议中，由于各国人握手时摇动的次数都有所不同，所以我们常常会见到因为对方奇怪的握手方式而备感惊讶的各国代表。
坦白说，那场景还真是挺热闹。
就拿德国人和美国人来说吧，德国人仅摆动一次的简短握手会让美国人产生一种生疏的感觉。
殊不知，在德国人眼中，握手时来回摆动不停的美国人根本不像是在握手，反倒像是在为充气床垫打气。
（3）拥抱在许多国家里，两个妇女见面拥抱亲亲是很普遍的现象。
在多数工业发达的国家里，夫妻和近亲久别重逢也常常互相拥抱。
两个男人应否互相拥抱，各国习惯不同。
阿拉伯人、俄国人、法国人以及东欧和地中海沿岸的一些国家里，两个男人也热烈拥抱、亲吻双顿表示欢迎，有些拉丁美洲国家的人也是这样。
不过，在东亚和英语国家，两个男人很少拥抱，一般只是握握手。
若干年前，发生了这样一件事：当时日本首相福田纠夫到美国进行国事访问。
他在白宫前下车，美国总统上前紧紧拥抱，表示欢迎。
福田首相吃了一惊，日本代表国成员也愣住了。
许多美国人感到奇怪----这种情况很少见，完全出乎人们意料。
如果美国总统按日本人的习惯深鞠一躬，大家也不会那么惊讶。
但在美国和日本都不用拥抱这种方式表示欢迎。
在英语国家，同性男女身体接触是个难以处理的问题。
一过了童年时期，就不应两个人手拉手或一个人搭着另一个人的肩膀走路。
这意味着同性恋，在这些国家里，同性恋一般遭到社会的强烈反对。
(4)亲吻脸颊文化影响着人的交往行为、交往方式，不同民族、国家的人们礼节往往不同：藏族同胞为尊贵的客人献哈达，泰国人会见客人行“合十礼”，拥抱是欧美常见的见面礼节，初次见面时一般行握手礼，熟悉的人大多会热情拥抱。
在波兰，至今仍盛行吻手礼巴西巴西人在社交场合通常是以拥抱或者接吻作为见面礼仪。
在普罗旺斯，两个男人相会会互相亲吻。
来自斯堪的纳维亚半岛的人们通常习惯只亲吻一次即可，法国人则更喜欢在两边脸颊各亲一次，而荷兰人、比利时人以及阿拉伯人见面时亲吻的次数则达到了三次。
于是，“变幻莫测”的亲吻次数让澳大利亚人、新西兰人以及美国人感到困惑不已。
很多时候，他们常常因为弄不清楚到底该亲吻多少次，而干脆让自己的鼻子与对方的脸来一次小小的亲密接触。
相比之下，英国人就显得果断得多，他们要么后退一步，以明确的行动拒绝对方的亲吻礼，要么就用欧洲人见面时常用的两次亲吻礼把你亲得目瞪口呆。
当你与意大利人握手道别时，他们的动作同样会让你大吃一惊，在你还没反应过来之前，你的脸颊上就已经留下了对方送给你的两个道别之吻。
（5）鞠躬迄今为止，在这个地球上还有一个地方的人们在见面时既不握手，也不使用亲吻礼，更不提倡拥抱式的见面问候方式。
这个地方就是日本。
在那里，以上所有发生了肢体接触的动作都会被视为不礼貌的行为。
日本人以鞠躬作为初次见面时的问候方式，而弯腰的幅度则取决于身份的高低。
初次见面时，人们通常会首先互相交换名片，然后评估对方的身份，紧接着再依据各自的身份，以适当的角度弯腰鞠躬。