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
ABSTRACT
Body 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 communication
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature review 2
2.1 Conceptions of relative words 2
2.1.1 Definition of body language 2
2.1.2 Conception of culture 3
2.2 Overseas and domestic literature review on body language 3
2.2.1 Overseas literature review on body language 4
2.2.2 Domestic literature review on body language 4
3. Comparison of body language in Chinese and American cultures 5
3.1 Same body language with the same meaning 6
3.2 Same body language with different meanings 7
3.3 Different body language with the same meaning 11
3.4 Unique body language exists in Chinese and American culture respectively 13
4. How to improve the ability of intercultural communication 14
5. Conclusion 15
Acknowledgements 16
References 17
