非言语交际和跨文化交际

Non-verbal communication and intercultural
communication
Abstract: Language is the tool of communication and carrier of culture. Non-verbal communication can effectively complement verbal communication. Non-verbal communication often happens as verbal communication takes place. It also has the same communicative function as verbal communication does. People only emphasize verbal communication while they usually neglect non-verbal communication which is of much importance in information transmission. The main concerns in this paper include the relation between verbal and non-verbal, classification, feature, and function of non-verbal communication. The way solving intercultural conflicts in non-verbal communication is also discussed here.
Key words: non-verbal communication; function; intercultural communication
1.Introduction
Language is a necessary and very important tool in human communication. When people talk about the
communication, they always regard verbal communication as a kind of way to communicate, but neglecting the non-verbal communication. In fact, verbal communication and non-verbal communication are both ways for people to communicate. Comparing with verbal communication, non-verbal communication can transfer information and express the meaning in a better way. This paper mainly talked about the relation between verbal communication and non-verbal communication, the function of non-verbal and the function of non-verbal in the intercultural communication.
2.the non-verbal communication
2.1 The definition and classification of the non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication (NVC) is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture;by body language or posture; by facial expression and eye contact.Object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture; symbols. Speech may also contain non-verbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and
stress. Likewise, written texts have non-verbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emoticons.
Language is the most important way in human communication, but it is not the only way to communicate. For example, sometimes we need lots of non-verbal communication symbols to help us understand well. In fact verbal and non-verbal communications are both very important. Some researchers divided the non-verbal communication into three types; the first one is that people just show the dynamic posture in a silent way. For example, when people show their agreement they will just nod their heads instead of saying yes to others. Another example, smiling is also a kind of non-verbal communication; it can express many different meanings. It can show the satisfaction of something or even the polite refusal. These depend on the different contexts. The second one is static posture. For example, people were standing straight or leaning on the chair or sitting on the floor etc. The different postures of the static bodies also can express different meanings according to the different contexts. The third one is a kind of sounds which are produced by human
beings but not verbal language; it’s a kind of non-verbal language. For example, all kinds of smiling, and the sigh both belong to the third type.
Those three non-verbal communications play a very important way in human communication society.
2.2 The comparison of verbal communication with non-verbal
communication
As we all know, verbal communication is very important in our real life, however, non-verbal communication also plays an important role in daily life.
The phon etician David Abercrombie claimed that ‘we speak with our organs, but we converse with our entire bodies’ (Abercrombie 1968), and we shall see in what sense this is true. And in Mr. Dai Weidong’s book named A New Concise Course on Linguistic for Studies of English, language was defined as langue is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. Short as it, this definition has captured the main features of language. First as all, language is a system. Second, language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no intrinsic connection between a linguistic symbol and what the symbol and what the symbol stands for. Third, language is vocal
because the primary medium for all languages is sound. Last, the term human in the definition is meant to specify that language is human-specific.
Speech also reflects the social relations between the speakers and addressee, most particularly the power and solidarity manifested in that relationship. Power is self-explanatory, but solidarity is harder to define. It concerns the social distance between people - how much experience they have shared, how many social characteristics they share (religion, sex, age, region of origin, race, occupation, interest, etc.), how far they are prepared to share intimacies, and other factors.
Non-verbal behavior is involved in the two aspects of speech considered in these chapter-making relations between speaker and addressee and the structure of discourse; and it also involved in the communication of content, that is, propositions and referents. In the part 4 we will discuss the non-verbal communication in intercultural communication in detail.
3. The function of non-verbal communication
When communicating, non-verbal messages can interact with verbal messages in the following ways: repeating, conflicting, complementing, substituting, regulating.
1) Repeating
"Repeating" consists of using gestures to strengthen a verbal message, such as pointing to the object of discussion.
2) Conflicting
Verbal and non-verbal messages within the same interaction can sometimes send opposing or conflicting messages. A person verbally expressing a statement of truth while simultaneously fidgeting or avoiding eye contact may convey a mixed message to the receiver in the interaction. Conflicting messages may occur for a variety of reasons often stemming from feelings of uncertainty, ambivalence, or frustration. When mixed messages occur, non-verbal communication becomes the primary tool people use to attain additional information to clarify the situation; great attention is placed on bodily movements and positioning when people perceive mixed messages during interactions. 3) Complementing
Accurate interpretation of messages is made easier when non-verbal and verbal communication complements each other. Non-verbal cues can be used to elaborate on verbal messages to reinforce the information sent when trying to achieve communicative goals; messages have been shown to be remembered well when non-verbal signals affirm the verbal exchange.
4) Substituting
Non-verbal behavior is sometimes used as the sole channel for communication of a message. People learn to identify facial expressions, body movements, and body positioning as corresponding with specific feelings and intentions. Non-verbal signals can be used without verbal communication to convey messages; when non-verbal behavior does not effectively communicate a message; verbal methods are used to enhance understanding.
5) Regulating
Non-verbal behavior also regulates our conversations. For example, touching someone's arm can signal that you want to talk next or interrupt. For example, a person who is
verbally expressing anger may accent the verbal message by shaking a fist.
4. Non-verbal communication in intercultural communication
4.1. The definition of culture
A culture is a collection of beliefs, habits, living patterns, and behaviors which are held more or less in common by people who occupy particular geographic area.
Culture influences all aspects of our lives. It involves subjective – attitudes, values, beliefs, opinions, behaviors –and objective –clothes, food, utensils, architecture –elements. We use culture to explain similarities within and differences between groups of people Culture is not a static entity, but is ever-evolving; what we commonly know as “the generation gap” is a cultural difference as it refers to different ways of life and being for people who are raised in different periods of time .Culture exists on multiple levels, and it enhances survival. Cultures provide rules for living, telling people how to interact, work and play with each other. Culture provides a hierarchy for decision-making and sets the standards for group cooperation and divisions of labor.
With culture there is order; without culture there is chaos. Even people who think they have no culture have a culture; it is just the culture to believe they have no culture. Of all the possible things people could do, culture helps to limit what we should do in order to survive in the environment in which we live. Culture is communicated across generations. And, culture both enables behavior, allowing it to be created or invented and it constrains and restricts it.
4.2The definition of intercultural communication
Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is sometimes used synonymously with cross-cultural communication. In this sense it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate and perceive the world around them. As a separate notion, it studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on
social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries. Intercultural communication plays a role in anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, psychology and communication studies.
Intercultural communication can be simply defined as communication between people of different cultures. The need for intercultural understanding does not begin or end with national boundaries. One does not necessarily need to cross an ocean to have a cross-cultural experience, for virtually every country around the world is undergoing increased diversity within its own borders. Even within our own country, communication can often be somewhat intercultural.
4.3. Non-verbal communication in intercultural communication
Just as this paper mentioned, non-verbal communication is necessary in our daily communication.
One very obvious aspect of non-verbal behavior which helps to reflect power-solidarity is the physical distance
between the people concerned, the subject-matter of proxemics (Pocheptsov 1994). It would be a safe hypothesis that physical distance is proportional to social distance in all cultures, so that people who feel close in spirit will put themselves relatively near to each other when interacting. At one end of the scale are courting couples, and at the other end impersonal and formal occasions where speakers may be long distances from their addressees, as in theaters, or unable to see then at all, as on radio and television. What varies from culture to culture is the distance which is thought appropriate for a particular degree of solidarity.
For example, Arabs generally set the distance lower than Americans. This claim is supported by research (Watson and Graves 1966) in which comparisons were made between Arab and American students in an American university. The students were asked to converse in pairs in a room where they could be observed without their knowledge, and records were kept of their movements –how close to each other they sat, how they oriented themselves towards each other, how much they touched each other, how much they looked at each other, and how loudly they talked. Sixteen Arabs and
sixteen Americans were studied in this way, with Arabs talking to Arabs and Americans to Americans. When the results were compared it was found that‘Arabs confronted each other more directly than Americans when conversing…, they sat closer to each other…, they were more likely to touch each other…, they looked each other more squarely in the eye…, and conversed more loudly than Americans.’ As we noticed, such cultural differences can lead to serious misunderstandings, and it is easy to see how physical distance relates to solidarity - and power- face. We get (and give) solidarity- face by physical contact (touching, stroking, grooming), and intimacies of the close family and between lovers are the ultimate in showing acceptance, so the closer we are the more we can bolster each other’s solidarity-face. On the other hand, being physically close to another person is also an intrusion on their personal territory and a threat to their power-face. What is needed is a very delicate balancing act: too near and we are intrusive, too far and we are cold. We don’t make these decisions unaided, but learn then from those around us; this is very helpful when we are dealing
with our own group, but a source of problem when dealing with strangers.
Another kind of non-verbal communication that is very important for power-solidarity (and other socially important emotions) is what we do with our face – in the literal sense this time. We give out social signal with our mouths (smiling, showing disgust), our eyes (eye-contact) and our eye-brows (frowning, showing surprise). These signals are particularly interesting and important because some of them seem to be universal (as Darwin claimed over a hundred years ago). In short, whatever our genes may (or may not) do for our spoken language; they clearly have a lot of influence on the non-verbal communicative framework within which speech takes place.
Besides, non-verbal communication also helps to mark the structure of the interaction. One of the main kinds of structure considered was the pattern of behavior associated with entities and exits, where non-verbal behavior is just as clearly patterned as verbal behavior. Some aspects of the former are relatively conventionalized, such as hand-shaking, which in some cultures is replaced by nose-rubbing or supplemented by kissing or embracing, according to the
relation between the participants. In Britain hand-shaking seems to be used to show that a relation is being given a fresh start, rather than as a sign of intimacy. Thus it is used to patch up quarrels between friends, or when one is introduced to a stranger, or to any one not seen for a long time. In other cultures the rules for shaking hands are clearly different, so once again we find scope for relativity in the norms governing behavior.
Last, non-verbal cues are important for structuring discourses as far as turn-taking is concerned. As we saw, one of the questions to be asked about turn-taking is how speakers signal that they are ready to stop and let the other person start. Eye-movements are one such cue. Research has shown that we normally look at the other person’s eyes for much longer periods when we are listening than when speaking, so when we are about to stop speaking (and start listening) we look up at the other person’s eyes, in anticipation of our next role as listener. Conversely, the other person looks down when about to start speaking, in anticipation of the change of role. Eye- movement is not the only signal of an approaching change of speaker.
Knowing about this knowledge can help us communicate much better in the daily life.
5. Conclusion
This paper has shown that verbal communication and non-verbal communication both are very important in our communication. Non-verbal communication is one necessary side to communicate. There are different non-verbal communications rules for different cultures, in intercultural communication, people can communicate properly, politely on the basis of knowing the different cultures. And the same time, people should respect the different cultures; try best to solve the cultural shock in the real communication.
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