[摘 要]

人们习惯性地非常重视言语交际；然而，很少关注非言语交际。在不同的文化里，这种意识倾向往往是导致交流障碍的一个主要的却又总是被忽视的原因。人与人之间的交流并不只是真正的正式谈话。交流随时随处都伴随着人们的生活，即不仅仅是言语交际，非言语交际也至关重要。作为非言语交际的一部分，时间和空间将是这篇论文的主要研究内容。本文通过对比与比较、图表和阐述，使东西方文化差异清晰地展示出来。此篇文章，很好地阐释了文化交际中存在的文化差异和交流障碍。

[关键词] 文化差异；非言语交际；空间；时间

Abstract:

People habitually attach great importance to verbal communication; however, they pay less attention to nonverbal communication. In different cultures, this is a main but always being neglected cause of communication barriers. Communication among people starts before people utter one word formally. Space and time, as a part of nonverbal communication, would be the principal studies in this thesis. Through comparison and contrast, chart and illustration, culture differences between the eastern and the western will be clearly showed. This thesis displays the subtle discrepancies and obstacles in cross-cultural communication.

Key Words: cultural difference; nonverbal communication; space; time

1.    Introduction
    Americans often greet each other by shaking hands, In Arab, men greet others by kissing both cheeks and in Japan, people greet by bowing. In Britain, tapping one’s nose implies confidentiality or secrecy. In Italy, it is a kind of warning. In most Middle and Far Eastern countries, pointing with the index finger is regarded as impolite. In Thailand, people move their fingers back and forth with palms down to signal another person to come close. In America, to signal another person to come near, one holds the palm up and moves the fingers toward him or herself. In the presence of superiors, the Tongans should sit down; while in the west, people should stand up. In the United States, sitting with crossed legs usually means being relaxed; in Korea, that behavior is a social taboo. Muslims are convinced that left hand is unclean and should not use it to pass objects. Many Asians believe it is refined manners to use both hands to offer or receive articles. Buddha considers that great wisdom comes from the moment of silence. In America, people claim that the truth is from talking with others.
    Cultures differ in the use of making of nonverbal communication. Put in slightly different terms: all human beings perform actions to which other people attach meaning, but these meanings are cultural based.
In this thesis, how space and time sound in nonverbal communication will be discussed as follows.