A Comparative Study of Verbal Communication and Nonverbal Communication in Crosscultural Communicat.docx
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AComparativeStudyofVerbalCommunicationandNonverbalCommunicationinCrossculturalCommunicat
AComparativeStudyofVerbalCommunicationandNonverbalCommunicationinCross-culturalCommunication
ⅠIntroduction
Communicationisanindispensablepartinpeople’sactivities.Itfallsintotwocategories,namely,verbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunication.Whenitcomestocommunication,peopletendtoviewitasverbalcommunication.Yetbesidesthelanguage,non-languagecommunicationplaysadispensableroleinpeople’sdailylife.Bothdependoneachother.
Ⅱ.Verbalcommunication
Ingeneral,verbalcommunicationmeansthatpeoplecommunicatewitheachotherbymeansoflanguage.Throughverbalcommunication,peoplewilllearnwhotheyare,andwhattheworldaroundthemislike.Furthermore,verbalcommunicationexpressesone’sthoughtandfeelingstoothers,andtosatisfyone’semotionalandmaterialneeds.Inhuman’sdailylife,communicationissomethingthattheydoeveryday.Verbalcommunicationishuman’smaincommunicativeform,inwhichlanguageisitscommunicativetool.
Ⅲ.Nonverbalcommunication
Inabroadsense,nonverbalcommunicationreferstoallcommunicativemeansexceptverbalcommunication.Accordingto《外语界》,上海外国语主办,nonverbalcommunicationmaydivideintotwocategories:
non-languageinformationsentbybodylikebodylanguage,facialexpression,eyecontact,physicaltouch,smellandparalanguage,andnonverbalinformationconnectedtoenvironmentsuchastime,spaceandsilence.Inanarrowprospect,definitionsofnonverbalcommunicationdifferfromoneexperttoanother.Nonverbalcommunicationmayconveyricherinformationthanthatofverbalcommunication.Sometimes,itcansendmessagesindependently,andinmanysituationsitisemployedincombinationwithverbalactionstotransmitmeanings.
Ⅳ.Superioritiesofnonverbalcommunication
4.1Comparisonofverbalandnonverbalcommunication
Insocialcommunication,verbalandnonverbalcommunicationarenotabsolutelyseparateeachother.Bothareindispensableandinteractive.Verbalcommunicationsendsinformationonlyinaway—language.Suchinformationmayberepeated,explained,complementedandreinforcedwiththeaccompanimentofnonverbalbehaviorsliketoneofvoices,smiling,nodding,eyemovement,facialexpression,etc.Duringpeople'sface-to-faceactivities,verbalcommunicationisaprinciplecommunicativemeans,butonceverbalandnonverbalcommunicationhappentoconflict,nonverbalmessagesaremorepowerfulinthatitmayreflectone'struethinkingandfeelings.Whyisnonverbalcommunicationmoreforcefulthanverbalcommunicationwhentheyconflict?
Therealvalueofthesetwokindsofcommunicationsliesintheirdifferences.
4.1.1One-wayinformationvs.Multiple-waymessages
Verbalcommunication,whosecommunicativetoolisonlylanguage,conveysinformationwiththeuseofverbalmessagessuchaswords,sentencesandparagraphs.Whethersendingcomprehensiveinformationthatwhatcounterpartneeds,itdependsonhisorherreaction.Unlikeverbalcommunicationthatsendsinformationinasingleway—language,nonverbalcommunicationmayprovidevariouswaysoflearningaboutotherssuchasothereyesmovement,facialexpression,postures,gesturesandsoon.JustasChinesesaying:
toreadone’sfaces.Then,verbalcommunicationconveysinformationwiththeone-wayuseoflanguage.However,infact,languagemayhardlyconveyabsolutelythesender’sthoughtandfeelings.Sometimes,thereisnoneedtoconveyone’smindsandemotions.What’smore,onlywiththeuseoflanguagecantheynotbeconveyed.Whereas,non-languageinformationsentbybodyandnonverbalmessagesconnectedtoenvironmentmaytellothers.Throughsomenonverbalcues,othersareabletounderstandthesender’sverbalinformationinthewhole.Itnaturallyleadstothefactthatverbalcommunicationsendsinformationinasingleway,whilenonverbalcommunicationmayexplainandcomplementthemessagesthatlanguagecannotconveyorimpossiblyconveythroughvariousways.
4.1.2Directvs.Indirect
Verbalcommunicationdirectlysendsinformationthroughlanguage,whilenonverbalcommunicationindirectlyconveysmessagesthroughsomenon-languagecuessuchasbodylanguages,physicaltouch,spatialuseandsoon.Whencommunicatingthroughhumanlanguage,peoplereceivedirectinformation.Then,inaconversation,thetopic,thecontent,thedirectionandthepurposeareobvious.Communicatorsareabletodirectlygainnecessaryinformationandtheywillreachanagreeableidea.Nonverbalcommunication,however,mayindirectlybringagreatvarietyofmessages.Althoughnonverbalcommunicationdiffersindifferentcultures,somebasicemotionsreflectedbybehaviorssuchassmiling,frowning,laughingandcryinghavecommonmeaningsinhumancommunication.Asmilesignifieshappiness,greeting,andwelcome;Frownmaydisplaydisagreement,unhappiness,discouragement,dissatisfaction,angerandsoon.Ontheotherhand,peopleindifferentculturehavedifferentattitudetowardsphysicalcontact,spatialuseandsoon.Suchindirectinformationwithouttheaidoflanguageismoreeffectivethanthatofverballanguage.
4.1.3Consciousvs.Unconscious
Itisausualfactthatpeoplethinkaboutwhattheywanttosaybeforespeakingorwriting,morenonverbalmessagesarenotconscious.Ofcourse,someonereallyfocusonsomeoftheirnonverbalbehavior:
smiling,aspeoplewanttotrytheirbesttoconvinceothersthattheyarehappyormakingsurethehandshakeisfirmtoshowthattheyarestraightforwardanddecisive.Yettherearesomanynonverbalsignalsthatareunlikelyforpeopletoconsideranddominantoverallofthem.Then,theirsubtlefrownsmaydenytheirsmiles,andtheireyemovementmaydestroyalltheself-confidenceoftheirstronghandshakes.Theunconsciousnatureofmostnonverbalbehaviorexplainsthereasonwhyitcanoffersomanyvaluablecuesabouthowothersarefeelingandthinking.
Verbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunicationareinseparable.Thetwodependoneachother.Thus,bothareinteractive.Itisdifficulttoimagethathowtheycouldtakeintoeffectwithouteitherone.Muchoftherealvalueofthesecommunicationsoftwokindsliesintheirdifferences.
4.2Functionofnonverbalcommunication
Nonverbalcommunicationisalsocalledsilentlanguagebecauseitdoesnotusesoundasmedia.Themessagessentbynonverbalcommunicationarenotinsuchanorderly,sequentialmanner.Nonverbalcommunicationmayconveyone’ssoundlessandtruefeelingsintheinnerworld.Ininterpersonalcommunication,nonverbalcommunicationisunlikelytobereplacedbyspokenlanguage.Nonverbalcommunicationisthelinguisticsignalsystemthatpeopleexchangethought,conveyinformationandexpressemotions.Ithasitsownfunction.Whenonlyused,ithasthefunctionofconveyingemotions,replacinglanguage,conveyinginformation,showingceremonyandsoon.Whenusedtogetherwithlanguage,ithasthefollowingfunctions.
4.2.1Emphasizingtheinformationofverbalcommunication
Nonverbalsignalmayunderlinetheinformationthattheverbalcommunicationconveys,andleaveadeepimpressiononothers.Inaspeech,nonverbaltransmissionisespeciallyimportant,sometimesevenmoreimportantthanlanguage.Whenyouaregivingaspeechortalking,nonverbalcuesmayleadtoyoursuccess,foritcandrawaudience’sattentionandemphasizeyourspeech.Inthisway,peoplewillhaveadeepimpressiononyouandabetterunderstandingonwhatyoutrytoconveyinthisspeech.Inaddition,nonverbalsignalsmayhighlightwhatoneisspeaking.Forexample,whenastrangergetslostinabigcity,thenturntoyouforhelp,youwilldescribehowtogetthere,pointingatalandmark.Insuchway,thestrangermakesaclearsenseofyourwords.Andthisgestureemphasizeswhatyousay.Nonverbalsignalsplayavitalroleinemphasizingwhatverballanguageisconveying.Itmaymakeverbalinformationclearer,morepowerful.
4.2.2Repeatingtheverbalmessages
Nonverbalcommunicationmayreinforcewhat’ssaidinverballanguage.Studiesshowthattheinformationthatverballanguageconveysisonlypartlysenttoreceiver.Hence,repeatingtheverbalmessagesbynonverbalcues,suchasbyagesture,thereceiverpossessesabetterpossibilitytounderstandthemessages.Forinstance,peoplemaypointatabuildingaftertheyjustsay“thisisthemostbeautifulofficebuildinghere”.
4.2.3Complementingmoreinformation
Repetitioncanreinforcetheinformation,whilecomplementinggenerallyaddsmoreinformationtomessages.Forexample,ifyouaredeliveringalecture,youmaychangeyourtoneofvoice,forinsuchway,audiencewillnotfeelbored.Meanwhile,thiswaymaycomplementyourlecturethatisexpressingideas.Inaddition,ifyoumakeanapologytosomeone,itismorepowerfulonyourface,eyesaswell,aresaying,“Iamsorry”.Itismoreeffectivethatyoucouldaccentyourangerbyspeakinginamuchloudervoicethaninnormal.
4.2.4Contradictingtheverbalmessages
Nonverbalcommunicationsendssignalsoppositetotherealmeaningconveyedinverballanguageinsomesituation.Insuchoccasion,itiseasiertobringaboutmisunderstanding.Itisoftenarguedthatpeoplehaveatrendtobelievetheinformationthatnonverballanguageconveyswhenverbalcommunicationandnonverbalcommunicationconflict.Sometalkers,however,oftensendtheirnonverbalcuesbeyondtheirconsciouscontrol.Forexample,ifyouvisitafriend,whenyouaregoingtoleave,yourfriendenthusiasticallysaytoyou,“Ireallywantyoutostayadayonceagain”,openingthedoorandhavingadesiretopushyououtsideandshu