【Talk about English】 我们究竟是什么 (Episode4-2/5)

英语自学网

人们往往以为交流是简单而又单一的方式。可是本期主播Marc Beeby认为交流并不只是一个简单的过程，它其间还有很多其妙的事情发生。一起来听听吧。
       

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Hints:
        Eilidh Hamilton
        Kjung-ja Yoo
        gaijin
       
        英式拼写
全文听写   
         
         
As Eilidh Hamilton makes clear, successful communication isn't just a question of getting the language right, it's also a question of using language that's right for the situation - and what's right for the situation will vary according to the things that people in a culture think are important. But language - our verbal communication - is only one way we have of communicating. We also communicate non-verbally. We use body-language, we vary the sound of our voices to express emotions like surprise or anger. Our faces can communicate all sorts of things, as can our eyes. And, of course, we think the way we use non-verbal communication is “normal". I like to use my hands when I'm talking - in fact I'm using them now. I also think looking people in the eyes is a good thing. So perhaps I need to be careful when I meet someone from, say, Japan - as Kjung-ja Yoo, who's spent the last seven years in London, explains…  
We don't use body language. I wouldn't say not at all but we don't use our hands or arms when we are talking. Whenever I go back to Tokyo, my friend tells me that I've become more and more like gaijin - gaijin means foreigner, westerner, then I realised the way I speak maybe I use my hands as I speak English. And then also I try to catch the eyes a lot - but in Japan, especially women, really doesn't stare at the people - Looking at people intensely is a rude thing to do in Japan.
Kjung-ja Yoo. It's easy to think that non-verbal communication isn't really very important. After all, if people understand the words we're saying, they'll get the message, won't they? Er…not necessarily. Rebecca Fong…
In 1967 some researchers conducted an experiment on every day communication situations. And what they tested was how much of the communication was through facial expression, how much came through the context and intonation. And finally how much of the meaning of the conversation was transmitted through language itself. Their extraordinary findings were that 55% of the meaning came through facial expression, 38% of the meaning came through intonation and what was understood from the context and only 7% of meaning was transmitted through language itself. So in fact the actual verbal content - the words that you use in a conversation are not as important as you might think.