Ways of Improving Intercultural Nonverbal Communication between China and America

: In our daily communication, we communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Nonverbal communication is an indispensable and inseparable part of human interaction and communication. Nonverbal communication system is the result of a certain social culture. It has its own cultural specific features. Nonverbal behavior may convey different meanings in different cultures. Nonverbal differences may influence the effects of cross-cultural communication. This paper intends to give an introduction of the functions and characteristics of nonverbal communication and propose some strategies to improve the efficiency of cross-cultural communication.

communication is the process of human social activities, and it is the inevitable product of society. And other scholars think that nonverbal communication is a process of communication which does not convey information through language. Some experts think that nonverbal communication is the process by which individuals are likely to produce meaningful nonverbal cues in other people's brains. Nonverbal communication involves all those nonverbal stimulus in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver. But in general, nonverbal communication is a process of communication which is carried out by human beings except in the process of language communication. This process is difficult to detect, and often is a spontaneous process.
Along with the development of society, the communication between the politics, economy and culture is increasingly frequent, and the communication between people from different countries and different cultures is called cross cultural communication. Intercultural communication includes verbal communication and nonverbal communication. But in intercultural communication, people often pay more attention to the language used in the process of communication. It is believed that communication is the exchange of language, but it neglects the non verbal communication. Non verbal communication plays a vital role in the communication between people and people. It is a direct impact on the effect of using and understanding the non linguistic information in cross cultural communication. A US study shows that: in the speaker's opinion, attitude, mood, 93% of the information is transmitted through the facial expressions, and only 7% is transmitted through the discourse. This shows that language and non language communication influence mutually. Therefore, we cannot ignore the important role of nonverbal communication in intercultural communication. Language and non language communication is the product of a particular social culture, which is closely related to the history, culture and development of the society. Different cultures have different ways of communication. The same nonverbal behavior may convey different meanings in different cultures. This may lead to cultural barriers to communication. Therefore, we must strengthen the understanding and application of non linguistic communication, so as to better carry out cross cultural communication.

Recognize the role
In the process of communication, people have to recognize their own identity. Any person who has his or her own special status in any speech situation is the role of language environment. People have to realize their own identity clearly and then talk and do something which is suitable for their role in certain social environment.

Dress appropriately
According to the survey, 84% of the first impression of a person depends on his appearance. The first few seconds of meeting between the two sides decides a person's impression. Dressing up can reflect a person's cultural background and culture. This will affect the effect of communication.

Facial expression
The facial expression is one of the major sources of nonverbal information. For most of the time, even if people have different cultural backgrounds, they tend to use the same facial expression instead of the same meaning. Because facial expression represents information about a feeling, attitude and belief system. So the facial expression is an important part of the nonverbal communication system. The expression of emotion is a vice language of expression. Smiling can pass a pleasant mood. People can get friendly, admissible, satisfying, and pleasant information from smile. In this way Americans and Chinese have the same view. Therefore people should know cultural attitudes towards facial expression. Understanding it can help them reduce the nervousness and ethnocentrism in intercultural communication.

Eye contact
People can send a messages with their eyes. This message is almost limitless. Eye contact is an important aspect of nonverbal communication, too. Good eye contact can make the information transmitter know that their listeners are listening or not. In addition, good eye contact can show respect, respond friendly, or ensure receiver feels comfortable in the process of communication. What's more, from receiver's opinion good eye contact reveals the speaker's good faith, confidence, and bluffness. People tend to size up everyone's authenticity through reactions of everyone's eye contact. Eye contact as a skill has been learned by us. Different countries have different cultures so that eye contacts have different rules and patterns in different countries.

Think twice before saying
Almost all of the errors in the process of communication are caused by the lack of serious consideration. Do not respond to certain behaviors or words that are met in the process of communication immediately. Sarnoff said: " 'I' is the smallest letter. Don't always say 'I think' in communication, but say, 'What do you think?' ".
Different countries have different cultural systems because they have different origins and development. Some of them complement of each other and also has their own characteristics. Communication in different countries becomes more frequent and faster with the global economic development and scientific and technological progress. In order to make nonverbal communication more and more effective in different countries, studying various cultures and the differences of nonverbal communication is becoming more and more important. In addition, studying various cultures and their differences can help people overcome ethnocentrism so as to improve their competence of intercultural communication.