Unit 6
Culture and Nonverbal Communication
Tho who know do not talk. Tho who talk do not know.
---Lao Zi
There’s language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, Nay, her foot speaks”
---William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
Speech is silver; silence is golden.
---English proverb
ACTIONS SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS!!
1. An Overview of Nonverbal Communication (p.191-199)
We communicate with more than the words we speak.
Psychologist Albert Mehrabian has come up with the following formula:
Total communication = 7% verbal + 38% oral + 55% facial.
Studies show that over half of your message is carried through nonverbal elements:
Your appearance
Your body language
The tone and
the pace of your voice.
In face-to-face communication 65% of the information is communicated through nonverbal means (Samovar, 1981; Ross, 1974; Ray L. Birdwhistel, 1970)
Support 1: Charlie Chaplin swept the world with his silent films. (Modern Times)
Support 2: Robinson Crusoe “talked” with Friday without knowing his rvant’s language.
In the communication of attitudes, 93% of the message is transmitted by the tone of the voice and facial expressions, whereas only 7% of the speaker’s attitude w as transmitted by words (Levine, 1981, Mehranbian, 1968)
Support: Lovers express emotions with sparkling eyes and blushing faces or touching, hugging and kissing.
Words are too pale for them!
The quality of a voice can communicate as much as the words. The same words can be tender, mocking, sarcastic or angry, depending on how they are said. e.g. Steven!; Steven?; Steven. (more p.191-192)
When you speak, you communicate. When you don’t speak, you may still be communicating.
A person who truly knows two languages us both body languages too.
A good example of this is New York's famous mayor, Fiorello La Guardia (p193), who communicated in English, Italian and Yiddish.
When films of his speeches are run without sound, it's not too difficult to tell from his gestures the language being spoken.
Class obrvation
In class, how can the teacher identify the concentrated students?
They may show an interested look, wear a smile, make some notes or keep their eyes on the teacher.
On the other hand, how can the teacher know the students are not interested in her class? They may consciously or unconsciously twist the body, bury the head, avoid the teacher’s eyes, wear a blank expression, knit the eyebrows or bite the pen.
2. What is nonverbal communication?
Nonverbal communication involves all nonverbal stimuli in a communication tting that are generated by both the source (speaker) and his or her u of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver (listener). --- (Larry A. Samovar, 1998)民间传说故事
In other words, it is communication without words.
2. What is nonverbal communication?
It refers to communication through a whole variety of different types of signal come into play, including:
the way we move,
the gestures we employ,
the posture we adopt,
the facial expression we wear,
the direction of our gaze,
to the extent to which we touch
and the distance we stand from each other.
Classification
Body language/Kinesics(体态语/身势语):
生肖猪是哪几年posture, head movement, facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, handshaking, arm movement, leg movement, kiss, hug, touch etc.
Paralanguage( 副语言): sound, pitch, tempo of speech, tone, volume, pau, silence, turn-taking etc.
Classification
Object language ( 客体语、物体语) :
clothing, personal artifacts (adornment, jewelry, perfume, personal gear etc.) , hair, furniture,
vehicle etc.
Environmental language(环境语):
time language/chronemics , spatial language/ proxemics (interpersonal distance), space, ating, territoriality, color, light, signs and symbols, architecture etc.
Body language/Kinesics
The study of how movement communicates is called Kinesics.
Kinesic behavior refers to communication through body movements like posture, head movement, facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, handshaking, arm movement, leg movement etc.
Posture
---bow
Posture and sitting habits offer insight into a culture’s deep structure.
美克联苯苄唑乳膏In many Asian cultures, the bow is much more than a greeting. It signifies that culture’s concern with status and rank.
In Japan, for example, low posture is an indicator of respect. Although it appears simple to the outsider, the bowing ritual is actually rather complicated.
---Bow in Japan
The person who occupies the lower station begins the bow, and his or her bow must be deeper than the other person’s.
The superior, on the other hand, determines when the bowing is to end.
When the participants are of equal rank, they begin the bow in the same manner and end at the same time.
---Wai in Thailand
The Thai people u a similar movement called the wai.
The wai movement---which is made by pressing both hands clo together in front of one’s body, with the fingertips reaching to about neck level---is ud to show respect.
The lower the head comes to the hands, the more respect is shown.
---Crossing legs (1)
人生五大问题The manner in which we sit also can communicate a message.
In U.S.: normal to cross legs while ated; women cross at the angle while men cross with angle on the knee;
Middle East: crossing the leg with angle on the knee is inappropriate;
---Crossing legs (2)
In Ghana and in Turkey, sitting with one’s legs crosd is extremely offensive;
People in Thailand believe that becau the bottoms of the feet are the lowest part of the body, they should never be pointed in the direction of another person; In fact, for the Thai, the feet take on so much significance that people avoid stomping with them.
---Slouching
In US, where being casual and friendly is valued, people often fall into chairs or slouch when they stand.
In many countries, such as Germany and Sweden, where lifestyles tend to be more formal, slouching is considered a sign of rudeness and poor manners.
---Feet on desk
In U.S. and Britain: lean back in the chair and put feet on the desk to convey a relaxed and
informal attitude.
Middle East, Swiss and Germany: putting feet on the desk is rude.
---Hands in pocket
Everywhere in Europe, it is rude to talk with your hands in pocket. It’s something only a guilty child would do.
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In Turkey, putting one’s hands in one’s pockets is a sign of disrespect.
In Germany, “it is impolite to shake someone's hand with your other hand in your pocket. This is en as a sign of disrespect”
In China & Japan, it’s rude to stand with hands thrust into the pocket.
---Hands on hips
In Mexico, it signals hostility.
In Malaysia, it shows anger.
In U.S., it means impatience.
In Argentina, it indicates a challenge.
Gestures (p204, p214)
Gestures are an important component of non-verbal communication.
This is mainly a matter of how we u our hands to convey a message.
The language of the hands differs from country to country and a gesture which means one thing in one country may well mean something quite different to tho living in another.
Let’s look at the examples of how gestures communicate.
Gestures
Thousands of cross-cultural examples prove that messages and meanings shift from culture to culture.
An Arabic specialist once cataloged 247 parate gestures that Arabs u while speaking.
And in a large study involving forty different cultures, Morris and his associates isolated twenty common hand gestures that had a different meaning in each culture.
The ring gesture/OK sign
In US &UK, it means OK. It’s great. Everything is fine and going well;
In Japan and Korea, it means money;
In France, it means zero or worthless;
In Russia, it means zero/rudeness;
In Brazil, Turkey, Venezuela, it means insult/vulgar;
班级小游戏In Tunisia “I’ll kill you.”
In Malta, it is an invitation to have a homoxual x.
Among Arabs this gesture is usually accompanied by a baring of teeth, and together they signify extreme hostility.
In Mexico and Germany, it has a vulgar connotation.
In Argentina, one twists an imaginary mustache to signify that everything is okay.
The single finger beckon sign
In U.S. & Britain: it simply means “come here” . (just waiving the index finger)
In Yugoslavia & Malaysia: it is only ud for beckoning animals.
In Philippines: it is ud for beckoning dogs and it’s considered very rude.
In Indonesia & Australia: it is ud for beckoning prostitutes. i.e. ladies for the night.
In Singapore & Japan: it is a sign for death.
Most often than not, in the U.S., when a person wants to signal a friend to come, he or she makes the gesture with one hand, palm up, fingers more or less together and moving toward his or her body.
Koreans express this same idea by cupping “the hand with the palm down and drawing the fingers toward the palm.” When eing this gesture, many Americans think the other person is waving good-bye. (palm not facing people, it is for beckoning the dog in Korea)
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In China, beckoning gesture: the hand is extended towards the person, palm open and facing down, with all fingers crooked in a beckoning motion.
In the Middle East, the beckoning gesture is made by waving the hand with the palm down.
In Portugal, it is made by waving the hand with the palm up.
In Tonga, it is made by downward waving of the arm.
In parts of Burma(缅甸), the summoning gesture is made palm down, with the fingers moving as though playing the piano.
Filipinos often summon someone with a quick downward nod of the head.
In Germany & much of Scandinavia, a beckoning motion is made by tossing the head back.
For many Arabs, nonverbally asking someone to “come here” is performed by holding the right hand out, palm upward, and opening and closing the hand.
妈妈明天不在The thumb-up sign
In Britain: OK, good, great, well done; also ud as a sign for hitch-hiking.
To Chine: excellent, number one.
To Japane: boss, father, husband.
To Persian: discontent.
To people in the Middle East: obscene gesture.
In Greece it is an insult.
In France, it means to show approval.
In Afghanistan, Iran, Greece and most part of Italy: get out.
Yet, to show approval, it is by raising one’s eyebrows in Tonga,
by tilting one’s head in France,
and by having two thumbs up in Kenya.
The thumb-down sign
To most Asian countries: Bad, dislike
U.S. & Canada: Disapproval
In U.S. also for hitch-hiking
Greece: a rude sign
The ear-tug sign
In Spain it means someone is a sponger, i.e. using other people’s money and never spending his own.
