book1 unit3 in-class reading : Communication Without Words

When you learn a foreign language you must learn more than just the vocabulary and the grammar. To communicate successfully in speech, you must also learn the nonverbal language, or "body language", of that culture. "Body language" is a term used to describe facial expressions, gestures, and other movements of the body that send messages. This means of communication is so important that we may actually say more with our movements than we do with words.

Speaking a foreign language is sometimes difficult because we may not understand the nonverbal signals of another culture, or they may mean something very different from what they mean in our own culture. For example, nodding the head up and down is a gesture that communicates a different message in different parts of the world. In North America, it means "I agree." In the Middle East, nodding the head down means "I agree." and up means "I disagree." In a conversation among Japanese, it often simply means "I am listening." One Japanese student in the United States learned the difference the hard way. While speaking with a salesman, the student nodded his head politely to show that he was paying attention. The next day the salesman brought a new washing machine to the student's apartment.

Eye contact is also very meaningful, but it, too, can mean different things in different countries. In some Spanish-speaking countries, children show respect to an older person by not looking directly into the person's eyes during a conversation. In other countries, looking into a person's eyes is expected. For example, if you don't do it in the United States, people may think that you are afraid, embarrassed, or angry.

In many places in the world there are two basic gestures that used to tell someone to come closer. In Asia, the sign is a wave of the hand while curling the fingers downward, the same way some North Americans wave good-bye to children. North Americans make almost the same gesture to tell someone to come closer, but they curl their fingers upward. Visitors to other countries must be aware of the difference or they may send the wrong message.

Although we rarely think about it, the distance that we stand from someone during a conversation is also an important part of communication. Generally, North Americans prefer more space than do Latin Americans and people from the Middle East. At an international meeting a pair of diplomats may move slowly across a room as one of them tries to increase the personal conversation distance and the other tries to decrease it. The person who prefers more distance usually loses the fight when he finds himself with his back against the wall.

Although we spend many years learning how to speak a foreign language, misunderstandings can occur unless we also know the nonverbal language and the correct behavior of that culture. We are not really prepared to communicate in a foreign language unless we know whether to shake hands or bow, when to sit and stand, and how to behave in unfamiliar situations. Perhaps a fifth skill ought to be added to the four traditional communication skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening: cultural awareness.

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Latin /'lætin/ American
Middle East
North America

aware
awareness
behave
behavior
bow
communicate
communication
contact
cultural
culture
curl
decrease
diplomat
downward
embarrassed
facial
gesture
meaningful
means
misunderstanding
nonverbal
rarely
salesman
signal
traditional
unfamiliar
vocabulary

add ... to ...
be aware of
eye contact 

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The title of unit3 is More than Words

The main idea of writing and translation of unit3 is 词义的选择：1、通过词语的搭配选择；2、根据上下文选择词义；3、根据词性确定词义；4、根据词汇的褒贬确定词义