跨文化交际英语论文.doc

大学生跨文化交际中的障碍和能力的培养 A brief analysis of the application of body language in cross-cultural Communication Specialty: English Name: Student ID: Advisor: College of Foreign LanguagesNov , 2013AcknowledgementsIn writing this paper, I want to thank all my teachers ,for their teaching and kind support, their continuous encouragement and massive help during these years. To the my twenty six classmates who helped me with my research, for their enthusiastic participation;To my friends in shijiazhuang, beijing, Liverpool, Western Ontario encouragement and great support.Second, I would like to express my heartfe lt gratitude to professors Fu Tianjun, my advisor who spent much of his precious time discussing with me and helping me to narrow the topic at the initial stages, as well as showing great concern for my progress. I am deeply indebted for his assistance in helping me to accomplish this study. Without his encouragement and specific guidance, the completion of this thesis would have been impossible. In addition, he has been very kind to me whenever I confronted problems during the project.Also, I hereby express my sincere gratitude to my classmates and roommates, who helped me to do the data collection I needed for this project. They have generously offered their help at the preparatory stage during this study. Finally, I thank the subjects whose cooperation and participation contributed to the very basis for this research work. Abstract In the 21st century, as the economic and cultural exchanging of all countries becomes more and more frequent, there appear more obstacles caused by the differences of language and culture. In intercultural communication, one of the most useful ways to deal with the obstacles is to master the meaning of body language. However, even if we understand the meaning of some general body language, there are also some difficulties to master because even the same body language has great differences in different culture background and have different social functions. This article devotes to a comparison and contrast of body language in different cultures in terms of eye language, gestures, postures, facial expressions and touch. Using body languages wrongly makes you fail in interpersonal communications, which would cause conflict in international communication. So what are the differences of the same body language in different country? How to apply body language correctly? In this essay, after borrowing and studying the experience of the forefathers, the author analyzes the various usages and functions of body language in different culture background. It aims to illustrate the differences and similarities of body language and put forward the principles of reducing barriers in communication so as to achieve efficient communication and to avoid misunderstanding.Key Words: intercultural communication; cultural difference;body language;摘 要21世纪， 随着国际经济文化交流的加深，由于语言，文化的差异而产生的障碍随时都可能存在，在跨文化交际中，消除障碍的最有效的方法就是了解身势语的含义。然而即使我们对常用的身势语有所了解，我们仍然面临着一些困难，身势语含义千变万化，即使同一身势语在不同的文化背景都有不同的含义，行使着不同的社会功能。本文致力于从目光语，手势语，身体姿态，面部表情，体触语方面对不同文化的身势语进行对比。错误地用身势语不仅会使我们在跨文化交际中失败，而且会造成和外国朋友之间的冲突，所以怎样正确地使用身势语，怎样理解身势语的差异都非常重要，该篇论文中作者在借鉴前人成果的基础上分析了各种身势语在不同文化背景下的用法和功能。目的在于通过列举身势语的文化差异与共性，并提出交际中遵循的原则，从而促进有效交流,避免误解。关键词：跨文化交际；文化差异；身体语言Table of contentsAcknowledgements iAbstract in English iiAbstract in Chinese iiiChapter one Introduction31.1 Significance of study1.2 Structure of this paperChapter Two Literature Review 32.1. Concept of Body Language32.2. Classification and Functions of Body Language.42.3. Examples of Body Language.62.4. Necessities of Body Language in Intercultural Communication.8Chapter Three The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries.103.1. Eye Contact.103.2. Smile.123.3. Body Distance.133.4. Touch.143.5. Gestures.16Chapter Four The Similarities of Body Language and Their Reasons.194.1. The Similarities of Body Language.194.2. The Causes Resulting in the Similarities of Body Language .204.3. The Principles of Reducing Barriers in Communication.20Chapter Five Conclusion.21References. .21Chapter OneIntroduction1.1 Significance of studyIn modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country. When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each others shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean yes and shaking means no in all cultures? Im afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004) It is clear without body language we cant finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.1.21.3 Purpose of studyTranslation “means to reproduce the message in another language.”(Nida, 1999) But translation is not simply the act of transferring the meaning of a text from one language into another one, it is a complex and fascinating task that requires much effort. The author of the paper believes that translation is not only the media of two languages, but also the bridge of two cultures. It is the culture reappearance. Tourism text is an information type style or “vocative” style (Jia, 2004). It is full of descriptions, exotic features and folk cultures of the country of destination. Tourism text deals with the concept of culture, history and geography (Zheng, 2007). Therefore, tourism translation has to transfer the meaning and culture in the language. This requires that the translator should read the text carefully and research the meaning of culture. The translator should not only have a very high attainment of culture, but also have the skills of English communication. In addition, various translation strategies are indispensable. As two important strategies in the fields of literature translation and classic translation, domestication and foreignization have aroused fierce discussion. But the author of this paper uses the two strategies in one of the pragmatic translation, that is, tourism translation. Through the study in this paper, the author strives to find a good application of domestication and foreignization in the tourism translation. By the proper and useful application of the two strategies, the tourism texts could be translated better, and the culture and customs could be transmitted better. As a result, it will further the progress of the tourism translation and enrich the pragmatic translation theories.1.4 Structure of this paperIn this paper, the author discusses the features of tourism texts and puts forward the principles of the application of domestication and foreignization in tourism translation.Chapter one is a brief introduction of the study. In this chapter, the author explains the progress and importance of tourism, and further shows the significance of the tourism translation. The study in this paper will make contribution to the furtherance and progress of tourism translation; enrich the tourism translation theories as well as the development of the tourism. This is exactly the significance of the study.In chapter two, the author of the paper makes a literature review. The author reviews the previous study of tourism translation. Many researchers have studied the tourism translation. Some study the definition, status and standard of tourism translation; some study the features of various styles of tourism texts; some deal with the culture factors. Jin Huikang even puts forwards the nativation and alienation (domestication and foreignization) in IC, which especially deserves further study. Therefore, the author continued the study in this field.Chapter three analyses the features of tourism texts. From four aspects, the author summarizes the lexical features, syntactic features, stylistic features and culture features of the tourism texts. English tourism texts and Chinese tourism texts have their own characteristics, but the author discusses the general features of the tourism texts on the whole.In chapter four, according to the features of tourism text, the author of the paper introduces the strategies of domestication and foreignization firstly. The readers could have a general outline of the two strategies. Next, the author explains the situations where we could use the strategy of domestication in tourism translation. Third, the author discusses the situation where to use the strategy of foreignization in tourism translation.Chapter five is the conclusion. In this chapter, the author puts forward the major findings and suggestions of the study. We could use the strategy of domestication in terms of grammar, sentence structure and the expressing habits. But when we deal with cultural factors or customs in tourism translation, we could use the strategy of Foreignization to maintain the exotic features of the destination country, so as to achieve the goal of the translators. In addition, the author puts forward the limitations of the study.1. IntroductionIn modern society, most countries in the world communicate with each other frequently, and at the same time, the people speaking different languages have different cultural background, way of living, faith of religion, personal values and so on, which take intervene to the communication of people coming from different country. When a Chinese meet an American friend, would kissing each other be offensive for the Chinese? If two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each others shoulders would English-speaking people regard this as being proper? Does nodding head mean yes and shaking means no in all cultures? Im afraid nobody can give a positive or negative answer about the above questions, because the same behavior in different culture has different meanings. Language is one of the gifts of human being. It lets us share our experiences, helps us learn from others, and allows us to communicate across time, But language is only one of the ways we communicate, Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words, maybe even more effectively, we can use body language to gather information from our surroundings too. The more you understand body language and its affect on others, the better you will be in communicating with co-workers, bosses, clients, and others you encounter during the day. By making simple adjustments to your posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, you can improve the way others view you. In fact, in some respects our primary means of understanding each other are two things we have in common with the rest of the animal world: our eyes and our bodies. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless “A psychologist proposed a formula: the total impact of message = 7% verbal 38% vocal 55% facial expressions and behavior.”(徐小丹.跨文化交际中的非言语交际.黑龙江社会科学，2004) It is clear without body language we cant finish our informational exchange. Body language, like verbal language can express emotions, exchange ideas and deliver information. So we must know the cultural differences of body language to achieve efficient communication.2. The Differences of Body Language in Various Countries2.1. Eye ContactAs saying goes “The eyes are the windows of the soul”. That is to say, we can read ones mind through his/her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from English speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. According to American tradition, communicators must gaze at each other. “But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the 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 cant; they all imply different meanings in communication.” In Juliets Fasters book Body Language, there is a paragraph that can explain the problem. “Two strangers sit face to face in the dinning room in a train; they can introduce themselves to each other. When they are eating, they can talk anything else. They also can avoid eye contact and do not show interest in each other. A writer described this situation in an article “They look over the menu again and again, play with knives and look at their nails. It seems that they look at them for the first time. If their eyes meet, they will turn away immediately and look out of the window.” (1) Americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. In common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will 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 dont, they are regarded lack of enthusiasm or confidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who cant look you in the eyes.” (2) If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they think eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. But Swede use eye language more often than Englishmen. And the French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other communicators neck when they are in conversation. They believe eye contact is impolite. And Chinese consider gazing people is an unfriendly behavior and it is a challenge. Some South American Indians used to look at different directions when they are talking. In the Middle East, it is considered extremely provocative for a woman to let a man catch her eyes, let alone, return his gaze. (3) Another example, Americans have a trip to a village and the local people stare at them. They are annoyed and think the local people are rude. In fact, it is normal in the village. They are just curious. American social psychologist Michael Argyle found out: People who like each other have more eye contact than people who dislike each other. In communication, looking down frequently can indicate submissiveness or embarrassment. Looking away constantly may express dissatisfaction. Females are likely to communicate with more eye contact, especially among females. But too long eye contact will cause embarrassment. Most people feel uneasy and uncomfortable under the strong staring. When people always stare at us, we will feel we are threatened or suspect their sincerity. From what is mentioned above we can conclude that different cultural background has a great influence on body language. And eye language also reflects different cultures and believes. So we need to observe and compare and contrast carefully so as to improve cultural exchange and to blend well.2.2. SmileSmiles are an important facial expression. They show interest, excitement, empathy, concern; they create an upbeat, positive environment. Smiles can, however, be overused. Often, men smile when they are pleased; women smile to please. You know which is the most powerful! To gain and increase respect, first establish your presence in a room, then smile. It is far more professional than to enter a room giggling or all smiles. Smile indicates pleasure, either that you are generally happy or are enjoying the other persons company or that you are amused by something in particular, such as a joke. A full smile engages the whole face, particularly including the eyes, which crease and twinkle. Smiling with lips only is often falsehood, where the person wants to convey pleasure or approval but is actually feeling something else. This false smile is known as the Duchene smile, after the scientists who first described it in 1862. False smiles also tend to last for longer. A genuine smile is often asymmetric and usually larger on the right side of the face. A false smile may be more symmetrical or larger on the left side of the face. Lowering the jaw to show a D-shaped mouth can be a false smile as it is easy to do. It may also be a deliberate signal of amusement and an invitation to laugh. Smiling without opening the mouth, and particularly with lips firmly pressed together, may indicate embarrassment about unsightly teeth. It may also be a suppression of words (I can see the funny side, but Im not going to comment.).A half-smile, on one side of the face, may indicate cynicism, sarcasm or uncertainty (Sorry, I dont buy that idea.).Smiling is also a sign of submission as the person effectively says “I am nice and not a threat”. Smiling in some cultures indicates a question or that you want the other person to speak.When people talk about smile it means friendliness and happiness in most situations, but a tribe of Saudi Arabia thinks smile is the expression of unfriendly. If a boy wants to fall in love with a girl there, dont smile; a smile can blow him off. In China and English-speaking country, smiles stand for friendliness and happiness. However, in some special occasions, especially when people feel embarrassed, Chinese the Western people can disgust peoples smile. One story can tell us the different cognition about smiles between Chinese and English-speaking countries. A Chinese couple held a party in their home and invited a foreign friend, but the foreign friends broke up a glass with a heavy hand, so he felt very sorry and embarrass, but the Chines