Nonverbal behaviors in Chinese Communication:
What CFL Instructors See in Movies
Thesis
Presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts
in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University
By
Menglin Jin, M.A.
Graduate Program in East Asian Languages and Literatures
2019
Thesis Committee:
Galal Walker, Advisor
Xiaobin Jian
Copyright by Menglin Jin
2019
Abstract
Nonverbal behaviors can convey meanings that are unique to a given culture and thus play a significant role in cross-cultural communication. The majority of current studies on the nonverbal communication in cross-cultural communication predominantly centers on the Western perspective about the differences between Western culture and other societies in general.
Nonverbal behaviors in the field of teaching and learning Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) are much lacking and rarely utilized in language instruction.
This study attempts to identify a series of nonverbal elements that often cause confusion and frustration for Americans communicating in a Chinese cultural context. The following aspects will be examined: first, the significance of nonverbal behaviors in cross-cultural communication will be introduced; second, examples of nonverbal behaviors will be examined in Chinese contexts through the visual information provided by scenes from Chinese films. Last, the Hollywood film
Crazy Rich Asians will be used as an example to show the challenge of making meanings in cross- cultural communication from the perspective of nonverbal behaviors. The study suggests that nonverbal behaviors are significant in Sino-American communication and should be taken into consideration in CFL teaching and learning.
Keywords: nonverbal behaviors, Chinese communication, intention, films, pedagogy
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Dedication
The thesis is dedicated to my daughter Yinuo.
You provided the courage and love necessary for me to pursue the path I’ve always wanted.
Your love was there all the way through.
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Acknowledgments
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor and mentor, Doctor Galal Walker, not only for providing invaluable guidance throughout this thesis but also for guiding me throughout my two-year journey of graduate studies. His vision and motivation have deeply inspired me. He has inducted me to formulate the topic of a pedagogy of nonverbal behaviors in CFL instruction by incorporating my scholarly interests with my previous academic background, encouraged me to break new ground in research despite controversy, taught me the methodology to carry out my research, and given me support and direction whenever I needed.
It has been a great journey for me to study under his guidance and work with him.
My sincere thanks also go to Professor Xiaobin Jian, who has continually offered many insightful and generous suggestions to my research with his rich expertise in the field of Chinese pedagogy. The initial idea of the nonverbal dimension in communication was inspired by my observation in Professor Jian’s 7760 class with its emphasis on behavioral culture in addition to linguistic knowledge. He has been a significant influence on my understanding to be a laoshi with his remarkable kindness, generosity, knowledge and insight.
I would also like to thank all the professors I have taken courses with during my graduate studies at OSU. What I’ve learned from their classes have broadened my knowledge, shaped my thoughts and grounded my study.
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My gratitude also goes to my classmates who have provided me help and support in various ways over the last two years of graduate studies. I also feel grateful to those friends I met in the Resident Center of University Village for their accompany when I sat there studying day and night.
Finally, I owe an exceptional thanks to my husband and my daughter for their love, caring and sacrifices all along the way. I am also very grateful to my parents-in-law for their understanding and continuing support for my family and me. My thanks also go to my parents for their support and encouragement to complete my study successfully.
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Vita
Education
2004－2008 ……………………………… B.A. Sports Journalism, Sports University of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2008－2011 ……………………………… M.A. Film Study, Institute of Arts, Communication University of China, Beijing, China
2017－2019 ……………………………… M.A. East Asian Languages and Literatures, Chinese Language Pedagogy, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Professional Experience
2018－2019 ……………………………… Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2015－2017 ………………………………Scriptwriter, Hongyangzhiguang Film & Culture Development Ltd, Beijing, China
2013－2014 ………………………………International Recruiting Consultant, Admission Office, University of Redlands
Fields of Study
Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures
Film Study
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Table of Contents
Abstract ...... i
Acknowledgments...... iii
Vita ...... v
Table of Contents ...... vi
Lists of Tables ...... vii
Lists of Figures ...... ix
Introduction ...... 1
Chapter 1: Nonverbal behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication...... 4
1.1 Definition of Nonverbal behaviors in Communication...... 4
1.2 Nonverbal behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication...... 6
1.3 Culture as Performance...... 11
1.4 Film and Believability...... 14
Chapter 2: Nonverbal behaviors and Interpretation in Chinese Movies...... 17
2.1 Space...... 17
2.2 Touch...... 20
2.3 Body Language...... 25
Chapter 3: A Clash of West and East: Nonverbal behaviors in Crazy Rich Asians...... 32
Chapter 4: A Pedagogical Discussion...... 45
4.1 A Performance-based Approach of Nonverbal behaviors...... 46
4.2 Procedural Learning Phases of Nonverbal behaviors...... 50
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4.2.1 Observing Nonverbal behaviors...... 51
4.2.2 Recognizing Nonverbal behaviors...... 51
4.2.3 Associating Action to Nonverbal Behaviors...... 52
4.2.4 Production of Nonverbal behaviors...... 53
4.3 Conclusion and Future Study...... 54
Bibliography...... 56
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List of Tables
Table 1: Performances Involving Personal Space ...... 18
Table 2: Performances Involving Touch...... 21
Table 3 Performance Involving Handshake...... 23
Table 4 Performance Involving Holding Arms...... 23
Table 5 Performances Involving Touching Kids...... 24
Table 6 Performances Involving Eye Behaviors ...... 27
Table 7 Performances Involving Holding Arms...... 30
Table 8 Performance of Self-Introduction...... 48
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List of Figures Figure 1: Passing Through the Crowds ...... 18
Figure 2: Passing Through the Crowds...... 18
Figure 3: Hugging...... 21
Figure 4: Bowing...... 21
Figure 5: Handshake...... 23
Figure 6: Holding Arms...... 23
Figure 7: Touching the Baby...... 25
Figure 8: Eye Behaviors...... 27
Figure 9: Bowing to a Teacher...... 30
Figure 10: Hugging at the First Meeting...... 34
Figure 11: Hand Gestures...... 36
Figure 12: Facial Expressions...... 37
Figure 13: A Spinning Hug...... 38
Figure 14: A Squeeze Hug...... 39
Figure 15: Hugging an Acquaintance...... 40
Figure 16: Greeting a Stranger...... 40
Figure 17: Gratitude is Verbal...... 42
Figure 18: Gratitude is Not Verbal...... 42
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Introduction
In many communicative endeavors, what a message means depends on what the recipient, or audience takes it to mean. Meaning is not always established merely by what is said. Rather, the audience in all its elements formulates its meaning from the knowledge of the context aside from the script consistency of sentence patterns and lexical choices: the nonverbal behaviors of communication such as body gestures, postures, facial expressions, and spatial distances.
There are considerable cultural differences in nonverbal behaviors, just as there are differences in verbal expressions. Nonverbal behaviors have a significant impact on meaning as actions help reveal and interpret intentions in cross-cultural communication. However, nonverbal behaviors tend to be overlooked in teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language. Galal
Walker (2010) explains that one of the main reasons is that nonverbal behaviors operate automatically as people speak without awareness of the actions accompanying their speech. It is only when nonnatives are observed misusing nonverbal behaviors that the natives become aware of their own “covert culture”, a phenomenon Edward Hall (quoted in Walker & Noda, p. 26) terms
“hidden culture.” Chinese language instructors, whether they be native or nonnative speakers, should be sensitive to both the verbal language and nonverbal behaviors in their communications, and be aware of the efficacy of teaching functional nonverbal behaviors in Chinese language and
1 culture. In this way will Chinese foreign language (CFL) learners be able to recognize and perform the necessary behaviors expected by their Chinese interlocutors.
The visual dimension of films makes them a valuable resource for observing nonverbal behaviors. Using current films as a source, this paper attempts to identify a series of nonverbal behaviors that often cause confusion and misunderstanding for Americans communicating in
Chinese cultural environments. More specifically, I will identify and examine culturally specific actions in selected segments of films whose subtle meanings are essential to sustaining the plot by being apparent to audiences from Chinese culture but may likely escape an audience from another culture. The purpose is to help CFL learners gain an enhanced understanding of cultural differences and become more responsive to culturally-specific nonverbal behaviors. Chinese language instruction can reveal these elements so that students can interpret the intentions of their Chinese counterparts more accurately and intuitively early in their language learning careers.
Chapter one discusses the significance of nonverbal communication in cross-cultural conversation and the value of using films as a source of data regarding nonverbal behaviors. In the second chapter, selected scenes are extracted from Chinese films and analyzed, with a focus on nonverbal behaviors and their cultural significance for revealing the implied intentions incorporated in the stories of the films. In the third chapter, nonverbal behaviors selected from the
Hollywood film Crazy Rich Asians will be discussed. Crazy Rich Asians won huge acclaim among
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American audiences, but failed to be appreciated by audiences in China.1 This paper does not
attempt to criticize the accuracy of the portrayal of “Chinese” in Crazy Rich Asians, but rather,
uses it as an example to demonstrate how non-Chinese or American nonverbal elements fail to be
decoded in Chinese culture as they are intended and thus, the film does not resonate with native
Chinese audiences. Chapter four is a summary of the significance of nonverbal behaviors in cross-
cultural communication and language instruction.
1 “好莱坞爆款《摘金奇缘》为何国内水土不服？-新华网.” n.d. Accessed March 3, 2019. http://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/2018-12/04/c_1123803017.htm. “Crazy Rich Asians’ Fails to Click with Chinese Audiences.” n.d. Accessed March 3, 2019. https://www.apnews.com/97304daddf844ca2a8c5b3499d1aabfd.
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Chapter 1 Nonverbal Behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication
1.1 Definition of Nonverbal Behaviors in Communication
Communication co-occurs on different levels of consciousness, ranging from full awareness to subconscious, and is composed of two dimensions － verbal and nonverbal communication (Hall, 1966; Harrison 1974; Miller, 1988; Walker, 2010). Nonverbal communication consists of 60% to 65% of the meaning in communication (Birdwhistell, 1955).
Thus, the correct use of nonverbal behaviors can be considered as significant as appropriate lexicon in interpersonal communication.
Mehrabian (1972) states that nonverbal behavior refers to actions as distinct from speech.
Harrison (1974) describes nonverbal behavior as the action that transcends written or spoken words.
Miller (1988) defines nonverbal communication as communication without the use of words.
Overall, nonverbal behavior refers to the aspects of culture that functions in communication but is not expressed explicitly in language through the selection of sentence patterns and lexical choices.
More specifically, the definition constitutes a wide range of nonverbal behaviors such as how people use personal space, facial expressions, gestures, voice tones. Researchers have categorized these nonverbal behaviors into the following main categories: proxemics, haptics, kinesics, and paralinguistics：
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Proxemics, a term coined by Edward Hall (1959), is the study of spatial use in interpersonal relationship. In The Silent Language, Hall introduces the theory of proxemics and outlines four interpersonal zones based on the observations of middle-class Americans: intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance. Intimate distance, ranging from direct contact to about 46 cm, is reserved for intimate relationships such as friends, family members and lovers. Personal distance, ranging from 46 to 122 cm (18 to 48 in), refers to the distance maintained for conversations among close friends and family members. Personal space that makes one feel comfortable includes intimate distance and personal distance. Social distance, ranging from 1.2 to
3.7 m (4 to 12 ft), is the distance used for conversation and interaction among friends and acquaintances. Public space is the distance used for public speaking. People value and are afforded comfort by the distance in these four interpersonal zones, and if their assumed space is encroached upon by others, it will cause anxiety for the interlocutors (1959).
Haptics studies the use of physical touch in nonverbal communication such as hugging, kissing and shaking hands. People want to maintain a certain space in communication, and they also want to get involved in an intimate interaction by physical closeness. Jones (quoted in
Burgoon, 2016) uses the expressions “Let’s stay in touch,” and “I’ll contact you” as examples to explain the significant role of touch in a relationship, both physically and mentally.
Kinesics was first developed by Ray Birdwhistell (1982), referring to the study of body
5 activity or body language such as facial expressions, gestures, postures and other bodily movements. Birdwhistell proposes that body language, similar to verbal language, can be taken as a formalized language code that carries specific meanings. For example, a wave of the hand means
“Hi” or “Goodbye”; a shrug of the shoulder means “I have no idea”; a nod of the head signifies the agreement or attention.
Paralinguistics is the study of nonverbal behaviors of voice that contribute to the meaning and emotion of speech such as voice tone, pitch, pauses, volume, rate of speech, etc (DeVito,1989).
For example, pausing during speech allows the speaker and the receivers to think; a rise of voice pitch may be used to get attention from others; a throat-clearing noise can convey nonverbalized disapproval, a mild warning, or call for attention, depending on the context.
Moreover, chronemics, or the use of time, how the physical environment is arranged, how the material in the environment is used are also considered to be nonverbal behaviors in communication (Woolfolk & Brooks, 1983). In this paper, the source of nonverbal behaviors will be limited to the four main aspects of proxemics, haptics, kinesics and paralinguistics that are related to the observable behaviors that people perform.
1.2 Nonverbal behaviors in Cross-Cultural Communication
Hall (1966) points out that, when people from different cultural backgrounds engage in a conversation, they are doing more than tossing the language ball or linguistic chunks back and
6 forth. Following Walker (2010), communication is framed in culture and inextricably commingles language and action. In other words, what matters in communication is not only what is said but also what it is being acted culturally through nonverbal behaviors. Kramsch (quoted in Risager
2007, p. 18) proposes that “Through all its verbal and nonverbal aspects, language embodies cultural reality.” More specifically, she states that people in the same social context express shared experiences through language. At the same time, they also create common understanding through the way people use language that is recognized and understood in consistent ways by the group to which they belong, e.g., “the tone of voice, accent, conversational style, gestures, and facial expression.”(2007, p. 18) Considering the following examples in each category of nonverbal behaviors:
Spatial use. Hall (1959) points out that people from different cultures may inhabit different sensory worlds and thus, make them perceive and use space differently. He uses face-to- face interaction between members of different cultural groups to elaborate on his theory. For example, Arabic people expect less space between interlocutors to make them feel comfortable than Americans do. When Americans and Arabics have a conversation, because they have a different interpretation of social distance in their minds, it is very likely that an Arabic person will try to stand closer to the American and the American will keep moving backward in order to maintain a comfortable social distance (1959). Therefore, correct use of social space can be as
7 essential as correct words in cross-cultural communication- i.e., achieving intentions and creating relationships.
Touch. Hall (1966) identifies different countries as “contact culture” or “noncontact culture” based on how likely people tend to touch each other and the distance maintained in conversation.
Contact cultures include the Middle East, the Mediterranean areas of Europe, Eastern Europe,
North Africa, Mexico, Central Africa, and South America. Noncontact cultures include North
Europe, Germany, Great Britain, America and most Asian countries (Burgoon et al., 2016 ).
Generally speaking, people from contact cultures tend to touch more, space closer, and use more eye contact than people from noncontact culture.
Body language. Birdwhistell (1982) asserts that body language is socially acquired, just as verbal language, and the meanings it conveys vary in different cultures. For example, the way
Indians nod may confuse many people from other countries. While shaking one’s head from side to side is widely accepted as a gesture meaning “no”, wobbling one’s head in India indicate a certain degree of agreement ranging from a mild conviction to a high degree of agreement, depending on the speed of the head movement. Generally, the faster the nod is, the higher the level of agreement tends to be.
The meaning of sticking out one’s tongue also differ across cultures. In some regions of
Tibet, sticking out one’s tongue is a traditional form of greeting showing respect to others (Zhang,
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2000; Patsalides, 2011). When a Chinese person makes a mistake, he or she may stick the tongue out slightly as a sign of embarrassment, which might be perceived by an American as a gesture of disrespect. In America, sticking out one’s tongue at others is generally considered rude.
Another illuminating example is American greeting habits that often confuse Chinese visitors to the United States. It is common in America that if one sees a fellow pedestrian who walks by them, they make the eye contact, nod and smile, sometimes with the verbal expression
“Hi.” For some Chinese visitors, who may, due to lack of exposure to western culture, get shy and confused when being greeted by an American whom they do not know. In China, people do not greet strangers. The traditional Chinese courtesy requires one to be an insider, or at least not a stranger, to be greeted in a friendly manner. In China, when seeing a pedestrian approaching, a
Chinese person usually looks straight ahead, making no eye contact, no smile, or any other greeting being expressed.
Paralanguage. Paralanguage concerns how one says what ones says rather than simply the content of the expression. For instance, when someone says something like “That’s great,” the meaning it conveys is not what it literally means. For instance, when Donald Trump visited China and China’s president Xi Jinping briefed the history and culture during the tour of the Imperial
Palace, Trump said “That’s great.” Trump’s response was literally translated into “tài bàng le” in
Chinese media and interpreted by Chinese people as a genuine praise. However, when screening
9 this video to a group of American students who were advanced Chinese learners, the author observed the American students all laughed out loud when seeing the translation. It turns out, what
Trump said to their ears was not a compliment as Chinese would like to believe but a conventional response meaning “Oh, ok, I’m not really interested, but that’s good.” The nuanced difference lies in the special emphasis in the voice (paralanguage) and in the facial expressions of the speaker, especially eye contact, to show the listener whether what being said really means what one says.
A genuine “That's great” is normally said emphatically with eye contact. If it is not genuine, the voice is usually monotone and no eye contact is made, suggesting a disinterest in the topic and an attitude of wanting the conversation to move to something else. Similarly, when a Chinese use sarcastic tone to say “Nǐ kě zhēn xíng! ” or “ (lit.) Good for you!”, it means just the opposite of what the words literally mean. The context fundamentally determines the message conveyed by the script, but on a more concrete level, it could be perceived by the nonverbal behaviors accompanied by the speech.
DeVito (1989) notes that we communicate not only in language but also in silence. Without even uttering any words, silence can help speakers to express attitudes, emotion, and feelings. For instance, silence allows the speaker to contemplate, can be a weapon to hurt others, or is used “as a response to personal anxiety, shyness, or threats, etc” (1989). Beyond these universal phenomena, silence can also imply different meanings across cultures. American culture places higher values
10 on individual interest and expressiveness. Across many countries in Asia, where the cultures emphasize putting the interests of the majority over everything else or dà jú wéi zhòng 大局为重, individual expressiveness is usually subordinated to the collective cohesiveness. In a Chinese community, for instance, if someone has a conflicting point of view with the majority of people, silence is valued as an act of maintaining group harmony. Voicing disagreement directly against the majority, unless the speaker occupies a higher social rank, is usually frowned upon and considered to be a gesture of threatening collective cohesiveness.
Mark Turner (2010) suggests that “words do not mean”: words are, rather, merely a communicative agent to access meaning. However, the significance of words in communication is almost always exaggerated in language instruction due to the scarce availability of nonverbal cultural knowledge. Nonverbal behaviors are culturally determined and, therefore, should be taken into consideration in the process of teaching and learning a foreign language.
1.3 Culture as Performance
Walker (2010) proposes a pedagogy that considers culture as performance. To behave appropriately in another culture, one needs to be aware of the cultural framework required for a specific performance that includes:
Role: Who is talking to whom.
Time: When something is said or done, e.g., clock or calendar time, or after an event.
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Place: Where something is said or done, e.g., office, school, church.
Audience: People who are observing or overhearing a conversation that the speaker is aware and concerned about.
Script: what is said and what is gestured.
For instance, if the framework is to greet a Chinese person who occupies a higher social status, then the role is expected to acknowledge his or her interlocutor’s status by using appropriate honorifics and gestures. If the framework is to greet a person of lower social status, then the required honorifics and gestures are not expected. If used anyway, honorifics will not facilitate mutual communication but, rather, confuse the interlocutor. The language used might be similar, the same, or different; however, the framework of the performance changes as any element in it changes. This is especially true in cross-cultural communication when non-native speakers tend to interpret the intention of others automatically from their familiar base culture and expect their default behavior to influence their counterparts.
It is not unusual to observe misunderstanding caused by an American who speaks Chinese and act in “English culture,” or a Chinese who speaks English and acts in “Chinese culture.” For example, when their American friends greet a Chinese with “How are you doing?” or “How are you?,” Chinese people may get frustrated and even annoyed when their American friends continue to walk away and to not stay to hear how they really are doing. They tend to think: “Why are
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Americans so hypocritical? Why do they ask how I am without even caring?” As can be seen from this experience － “How are you?” － a formulaic greeting in American culture, is often misunderstood as an inquiry “nǐ hǎo ma?” that invites a detailed response about one’s health.
Similarly, an American in China will encounter being asked “Have you eaten?” (nǐ chī le ma?),
“Where are you going?” (nǐ qù nǎr a?) and “Where have you been?”(nǐ qù nǎr le?) by their
Chinese acquaintances. If an American person responds without recognizing that these are merely conventional greetings in different contexts, they will misunderstand the intention of their interlocutors and not recognize the expected interpretation no matter how fluent and clearly pronounced their Chinese may be. Some of them may even perceive the Chinese way of greetings as an invasion of their privacy and refuse to adjust their behavior to conform to the expectations of the new environment.
Equally, the incorrect performance of nonverbal behaviors caused by cultural dislocation can be as inappropriate as incorrect words in performing another culture. A Chinese student shared her failed experience in the United States when an American female friend was trying to hug her after a party, a common gesture among friends in America. In Chinese culture, hugging is too intimate for a friend one just met in a party, so her instinct reaction was to step back from the hug.
Seen from the embarrassment written on the American friend's face, the Chinese girl realized that she had violated a social rule and, thereby, offended her friend.
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In summary, learning nonverbal behaviors is as significant as verbal language, if no more, in the pedagogy of performing another culture. To participate in another culture, Walker (2010) states that one should learn relevant stories and compile memories regarding that culture. Just as they learn to remember vocabularies and dialogues, students learning to perform in Chinese culture should also undergo the process of compiling nonverbal behaviors that will facilitate their performance.
1.4 Film and Believability
The visual and auditory information provided by film, as well as the wide range of subjects covered, are valuable materials for learning nonverbal behaviors. Film in Chinese is called dianying, which literally means electric shadows. It at once suggests what a Chinese spectator sees in the theater: the shadow. Although it is considered as a “shadow”, the visual impact of film art is unprecedented for viewers. When film was newly imported into China in the early 20th century, due to a lack of the experience of watching movies, it is said that when viewers saw a train rushing out from the right end of the screen, they were scared enough to escape from the theater, thinking that the train was really going to crash into them. It can be seen how film’s visual imitation of reality stimulates the imagination of the audience and creates associations with the real world.
Compared to other texts, movies offer CFL learners an “authentic” alternative to living in a foreign country with both linguistic and cultural content. As Wood (1995) points out, if the
14 learning goal is only about the transcript, the visual dimension of videos as a hidden and valuable language resource will never be tapped. Since nonverbal behavior is visual rather than verbal in communication, the visual resource of films makes it possible for CFL learners to study nonverbal features in communication.
Some people may question the representation of daily life in films, arguing that movies contain too many uncommon situations in order to appeal to the curiosity of audiences. However, films are accessible to viewers mainly due to them adhering to cultural possibilities, indicating that believability comes from the background, more than the foregrounded plot. Even the most unbelievable plots or worlds, such as The Avengers, Star Wars, etc., are only successful because they are founded on believable and familiar cultures. What is going on in the background in a film convinces the viewers to suspend disbelief about what is going on in the foreground. Take a horror film as an extreme example. This is arguably the least believable genre of film. The plot of a horror film usually is absurd and shocking to the viewers. The question is, if everything in a movie is unbelievable, then the audience would not be able to accept the plot, and how will they be afraid?
However, the audience finds it truly frightening to watch a horror film. This fear is not only derived from the plot, but the deeper reason is that people at least believe it to some extent. A large part of this belief is derived from elements of the film that people can identify as commonplace and that can be associated with their own lives. The audience connects with the things people regularly do
15 in the particular environment and then believe what is unusual in the foreground.
Film allows people to establish connections with real-life experience. The visual and auditory information provided by the film, as well as the wide range of subjects covered, are valuable materials for learning nonverbal behavior. Although ghost films have their credibility, it does not mean that any film genre will meet the need of second language acquisition and learning nonverbal behaviors. To ensure the maximum relevance to contemporary communication, the selection of film should meet the following criteria:
1) Time: Movies from the late-twentieth century;
2) Genre: Feature film such as romantic comedy that students can associate with themselves;
3) Content: Daily life scenario;
4) Length: 1-3 mins; Scenes;
5) Language: Mandarin Chinese; Dialect might serve as supplementary material for recognition.
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Chapter 2 Nonverbal behaviors and Interpretation in Chinese Movies
In this chapter, selected scenes are extracted from Chinese films and then analyzed. The films include, according to their officially translated titles, Cell Phone (Shǒujī), Mountains May
Depart (shān hé gù rén), Our Time (wǒ de shào nǚ shí dài), Lost on Journey (rén zài jiǒng tú),
Back to Back, Face to Face (bèi kào bèi, liǎn duì liǎn). Each scene is chosen to demonstrate a highly representative performance of a commonly occurring communicative event. Situating nonverbal factors under specific frameworks of performances with a focus on space, touch and body language, this chapter reveals how nonverbal behaviors in Chinese culture help deliver culturally nuanced intentions and meanings.
2.1 Space
As a heavily-populated country, public space is often densely crowded in China. The
Chinese idiom rén shān rén hǎi 人山人海, literally translated into “mountains and seas of people”, is a vivid metaphor to describe the crowds in public space. Therefore, the way Chinese interact with the environment they are living in and Chinese perceptions of personal space are much different from those of Americans. The following two scenes show how Chinese people negotiate personal space with the crowds in the public space.
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Table 1: Performances Involving Personal Space
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Script Audience A lower After an The local People who People are Other expectation of event Bureau of attended the rushing out people personal space in Culture event. when working in a public place; someone the Bureau No apologize else is trying of Culture required for to come in. bumping into others in a crowded space. From “Back to Back, Face to Face” bèi kào bèi, liǎn duì liǎn (1994) Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Script Audience A lower When A heavily- Travelers Physical Other expectation of people packed train contact travelers personal territory pass the in public in public space crowds space From “Lost on Journey” rén zài jiǒng tú (2010)
In the first scene, a crowd of people are
leaving the local Bureau of Culture. Two
persons pass through the crowds and enter the
narrow gate before letting others get out. Figure 1: Passing Through the Crowds In the second scene, in a heavily-
packed train, the passengers get on the train in
a hurry and try to pass through the crowds to
get to the other side of the cabin. People and Figure 2: Passing Through the Crowds
18 their large suitcases keep bumping into each other. No one apologizes or remarks the act of pushing others out of the way.
To American audiences, who tend to be more concerned with personal space, what is shown in the above two performances contradict with the daily behaviors in their base culture. They may have found themselves confused and even uncomfortable, “Why do Chinese people walk right in front of you? Why can’t they wait and enter the door after letting others exit? “Why do people bump into each other without apologizing?” This discomfort is one that has been experienced and complained about by many American students studying abroad in China.
Negotiating personal space in a public place is done differently in Chinese and American culture. Research by Brosnahan (1991) demonstrates the different expectation and tolerances of personal space in a public setting in China and English-speaking countries. People from English- speaking countries feel uncomfortable when others walk into the extremeties of their intimate distance, that is, 18 inches or 46 cm. In a highly populated country such as China, people tend to assume that public space is open and maintain a lower expectation of personal space. For example, when standing in a line, America people maintain a certain distance in order not to invade others territory and privacy. In China, people space themselves much closer to each other to the degree that sometimes they probably can see over the shoulder what other people are texting on the phone.
Besides, when bumping into others, American people tend to say “sorry” or “excuse me” as they
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think they are infringing on the private space of others. However, in a community where people
are surrounded by crowds all the time, physical contact is almost inevitable and people tend to
believe that there is no need to apologize for it.
People react to their environment and define personal space differently. When Americans
complain about how Chinese are “rude” in their pushing and shoving, how personal space and
privacy are not respected in China, how impolite Chinese are when they hesitate to make any
explicit apology when bumping into others, they have likely misunderstood the target culture and
intentions of Chinese people.
2.2 Touch
American can observe a lack of physical intimacy in interpersonal interaction in China.
Hugging, a common nonverbal form of greeting among friends and family in American culture, was not acceptable in traditional Chinese etiquette. Due to exposure to Western cultures in recent times, hugging is getting more acceptable in China, but this physical intimacy remains discomforting for most Chinese, especially across genders. Traditional Chinese moral etiquette places emphasis on a proper distance between male and female: “Male and female shall not allow their hands to touch in giving or receiving anything,2” Mencius (372–289 BC), a famed Confucius
2 Chun Yu Kun said, “Is it the rule that males and females shall not allow their hands to touch in giving or receiving anything?” Mencius replied, “It is the rule.”淳于髡曰: “男女授受不親，禮與？”孟子曰：
20 philosopher, said in his self-titled work. Despite significant social changes in the 20th century,
Confucianism still has a permeating influence in Chinese society and interpersonal communication.
Thus, hugging between people of the opposite gender is considered a romantic act and does not usually happen in non-romantic relationships. Even a handshake between a male and female is more likely to be shorter than it is between people of the same gender.
Table 2: Performances Involving Touch
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Gesture Audience An expression of Reunite Japan Two men; Hugging tightly A woman close friendship after years Good friends A sign of respect At the first Japan One man’s Deep bow; A man in Japanese meeting girlfriend and No physical culture male friend. contact From If you are the one/ “fēi chéng wù rǎo”(2008)
In this scene, two men who are good friends hug with joy when reuniting after a long time
in Hokkaido, Japan. When one man’s girlfriend is introduced to the other, the man who has been
living in Japan for many years greets the woman with a full bow, a Japanese etiquette of respect.
Figure 3 Hugging Figure 4 Bowing
“礼也。” - Chinese Text Project. (n.d.). Accessed April 1, 2019, from https://ctext.org/mengzi
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The woman follows the custom and bows in response. The woman and man do not have any physical contact and maintain an appropriate distance at their first meeting.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. This nearly universal proverb is widely applied.
When in Japan, do as the Japanese do. If Chinese have learned anything from Jane who shied away from a hug initiated by an American friend, they know the framework of hugging in American culture requires a friend to hug in response. Similarly, Americans in China need to assume the intuitive reaction intention not to hug. Even if a Chinese person recognizes the intention and responds with a hug, this cross-cultural physical intimacy is somewhat awkward for most people.
For Chinese who are lacking exposure to Western culture, especially for people of different gender, a hug may be interpreted as a sign of romantic interest and lead to misunderstanding.
A handshake is a common form of greeting in a formal setting in both China and America.
But even the simple handshake can have subtle intentions in Chinese culture. American culture usually perceives a firm handshake as a sign of confidence, whereas the Chinese consider a firm handshake as aggressive and prefer a gentle handshake, a gesture of humility (Song & Li, 2016).
After people initiate the handshake, they may hold on the hands for an extended length of time as a sign of affection and the need to be close to the interlocutor (2016).
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Table 3: Performance Involving Handshake
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Gesture Audience An expression of When A business Two A long Other people extra courtesy they occasion acquaintances; handshake in the room. depart Working relationships From Cellphone “shǒu jī ” (2003)
In this scene, on a business occasion, two men
shake hands and then hold on their hands for the entire
duration of the conversation. It is not until the elevator
Figure 5 Handshake arrives that one “has to” take his hand back and leave.
The physical intimacy among women take different meanings in Chinese and American culture. Here is an example:
Table 4: Performance Involving Holding Arms
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Gesture Audience An expression of When two On campus Two girls Holding Other students close friendship girls hang arms out From Our Time “wǒ de shào nǚ shí dài” (2015)
In this scene, two young girls are holding arms
when they walk around on campus, commonly seen
among women in China as a display of friendship. The
Figure 6: Holding Arms acceptance of such an intimate form of nonverbal
23 communication varies in American culture. In America, non-romantic women are not seen holding arms or hands; if they do so, it is generally regarded as a sign of close affection or even homosexuality. Without recognizing the intention of women holding arms in Chinese culture, if a
Chinese woman tries holding the arm of an American woman when they are walking, the American woman might hesitate or refuse and potentially cause a misunderstanding.
Americans and Chinese also have different attitudes towards touching children. In
American culture, unless it is among close family members or friends, touching a child is considered rude and inappropriate. In Chinese culture, even a stranger may reach out and gently touch a child to show their love and an appreciation－a little tap on the head, an affectionate squeeze of the face, a tender caress of the hand. If two interlocutors are close enough such as good friends and relatives, they may cuddle and even kiss the baby on the cheeks, forehead or hands to show their affection.
The following scene is a good example of touching kids in interpersonal communication:
Table 5: Performances Involving Touching Kids
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Script Nonverbal Audience Expressing when Tao at the Friends Tao: Your baby Pat the Friend’s personal sees the friend’s is already so baby on husband affection baby of her home big? Is she the back. for the baby friend sleeping? for the first 涛：孩子也这么 time 大了。呀，睡了?
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Liang’s wife: Just falling asleep. 梁子妻子:刚睡 着。 From Mountains May Depart “shān hé gù rén”(2014)
In this scene, Tao, a middle-aged woman,
comes to an old friend Liangzi’s house. When Tao
enters the house, Liangzi’s wife comes over and greets
her with the baby in her arms. As Tao speaks to Figure 7 Touching the Baby Liangzi’s wife, she gently pats the baby on her back and puts her hands on the baby to cuddle it. When she finds the baby sleeping, Tao pats the child in a gentle rhythm as if she is helping the baby settle to sleep. Tao’s physical touching of the baby is all appropriate nonverbal expressions to show her kindness and concern toward the baby, which is appreciated by her interlocutor: the baby’s mother.
2.3 Body Language
Regarding body language, facial expressions usually create first impressions and convey the most immediate emotional states in interpersonal communication. The universal hypothesis assumes that all humans express six basic emotions, i.e., happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust, by using the same facial movements (Darwin,1998). However, the study of Jack et al.
(2012) challenges the universal theory of facial expressions and shows that Easterners use cultural-
25 specific facial cues that are different from those of Westerners.
The six basic emotions show a distinctive pattern of facial movements of Western
Caucasians, whereas they tend to have a significant overlap with people from East Asian countries.
The study (2012) finds that, the facial expressions of East Asians focus primarily on the movement of eyes, while the Westerns use other parts of the face such as mouth in addition to eye movement.
This finding helps explain why Chinese and Americans tend to stereotype of each other when communicating emotions: Chinese people believe that Americans are exaggerated and overt in expressing emotions, whereas Americans consider Chinese reserved and emotionless.
The observations of Jack et al. (2012) demonstrates how culture can shape the way people behave. Chinese culture maintains that a sophisticated person should not show happiness or anger on their face, ‘Xǐ nù bù xíng yú sè’(喜怒不形于色)3, suggesting that mature and strong persons are expected to control and hide their emotional states. Americans need to pay attention to the subtle facial cues of Chinese when engaging in cross-cultural communication.
People from culturally diverse backgrounds also attribute different meanings to sustained eye contact. Americans maintain steady eye contact with interlocutors, indicating attention and interest. The lack of eye contact in a face-to-face conversation may suggest distraction and
3 陳壽. 三國志. ctext.org, http://ctext.org/sanguozhi/zh. Accessed 6 Apr. 2019.
26 disinterest in the interlocutor. In some other cultures, maintaining direct eye contact may be regarded as a gesture of disrespect and hostility, e.g., in East Asian, Arabic, Native American and
Hispanic cultures (Andrew & Boyle, 2008). Generally, eye contact in Chinese culture tends to be indirect.
The following example is a scene from the movie shǒujī or “Cell Phone.” In this scene, two brothers are arguing about bills as the younger brother Yan is giving money to the elder brother
Zhuantou to fix their grandmother’s house.
Table 6: Performances Involving Eye Behaviors
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Nonverbal Audience behaviors An expression of When the At the Younger Avoidance of Other respect and younger family brother eye contact; workers obedience brother offers home in the and elder the silence money to the countryside brother elder brother
From “cell phone” shǒujī (2003)
The communication pattern is an essential
aspect of the theme“accepting” in Chinese culture
which begins by refusing. In this scene, the first time
the younger brother Yan offers money, not only does
Figure 8: Eye Behaviors the elder brother Zhuantou not accept, but he severely
27 scolds Yan for making the offer. Later, due to Yan’s insistence in giving the money, Zhuantou accepts it, but only reluctantly.
The implicit way Zhuantou expresses rejection is another meaningful aspect of the communication in this theme. Zhuantou does not say, “No, I don’t want it” and deny the offer explicitly. Rather, he facetiously asks Yan about the obvious family ties between them that Yan responds to “nonsense”. In front of the audience, the renovation workers in the yard, the elder brother is putting on a display of disapproval and authority, to maintain his role and face in the family. Despite being scolded by his elder brother, the younger brother still insists on paying the bill. Neither of them takes offense by the harsh words from each other as both of them know what is said is not what is actually happening between them, but that what is being said implicitly is being said for the sake of convention.
In their conversation, different kinds of eye contact are exchanged meaningfully between them along with their words. As mentioned earlier, maintaining direct and prolonged eye contact does not conform to Chinese social propriety. There are two instances of direct eye contact between them, but they are fleeting. When Yan speaks, he is either staring off into space or his gaze is dwelling on something else, for example, his wallet. The avoidance of eye contact by the younger brother when making the offer is a gesture to relieve embarrassment and maintain the face of the elder brother, who is supposed to take more family responsibility in Chinese culture but is less
28 economically capable of doing so compared to the younger brother. Zhuantou looks at his younger brother Yan aggressively because he is performing authority as the dominant role in the family.
Yan, as the younger brother, is performing obedience to the elder brother, performing actions such as hanging his head, averting his gaze, and nodding to Zhuantou’s words. Yan does not say anything except the grunt of agreement ei, which demonstrates assent. Yan’s silence further indicates his obedience in front of his older brother.
Words in this scene convey the opposite of their intentions. However, both interlocutors understand each other without causing confusion and misinterpretation. They recognize that verbal and nonverbal expression are only the conventional performance of this theme. This scene shows how the visual can triumph over the verbal in conversation.
Bowing in China is not as common as it is in Japan and South Korea, but Chinese still bow slightly when they intend to express great respect, gratitude, or apology to others, especially to teachers, elders and superiors (Huang, 2001; Wang, 2004, Tong & Cang, 2017).
A performance of bowing is presented in the following scene:
Table 7: Performances Involving Holding Arms
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Gesture Audience An expression of When Campus Two good Holding Other close friendship they hang female friends arms students out From Our Time “wǒ de shào nǚ shí dài” (2015)
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In this scene, a student comes to the
teacher’s office, knocks on the door and bows
slightly to the teacher when seen. Chinese culture
values hierarchy and authority of teachers.
Figure 9: Bowing to a Teacher The students are commonly seen greeting the teacher “lǎo shī hǎo” or “hello teacher” along with a slight bow of the head when meeting their teachers on campus.
A slight bow is also seen when someone accepts a gift from a person of higher social status.
In such cases, one should accept with both hands as a sign of respect and gratitude. When admitting a mistake and making an apology, Chinese lower the head and bend slightly as a sign of shame and guilt, rather than to stand straight and to look people directly in the eye as an American would when saying “sorry.” It should be noted that a deep bow is not used in daily life in China. Instead, the deep bow is generally reserved for traditional occasions such as marriage ceremonies when the bride and the bridegroom bow to each other, parents, and the guests, or funerals when people bow deeply to the deceased at the funeral as a gesture of respect (Huang, 2001; Wang, 2004).
In summary, using examples of nonverbal behaviors extracted from Chinese films, this chapter explores the cultural differences of nonverbal behaviors in Chinese culture and how that can affect CFL learners communicating in Chinese contexts. This chapter also sheds light on the
30 richness and subtlety of cultural differences that cannot be captured in a few sentences. For instance, simply categorizing culture into contact or non-contact ignores the complexity and diversity of a given culture. In some ways, American culture might be a more contact-oriented society than Chinese culture. People in American culture tend to use more eye contact, hug often.
However, in other respects, Chinese culture is more of a touch-oriented society than American culture, For instance, people maintain relatively shorter personal distance in interpersonal communication. Chinese women linking arms or holding hands as a sign of friendship is widely acceptable in China, whereas it is rarely seen in American culture. Chinese are also apt to touch other peoples’ children to express affection, but American tend to not do so. By juxtaposing and comparing nonverbal behaviors in two different cultural contexts, this chapter might also help CFL learners gain an enhanced understanding of cultural diversity and appreciation of the living styles of others.
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Chapter 3: A Clash of West and East: Nonverbal Behaviors in Crazy Rich Asians
Released in 2018, the film Crazy Rich Asians is a rather conventional Hollywood romantic comedy based on Chinese American writer Kevin Kwan’s bestselling book by the same name. The drama ensues when Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American New Yorker, accompanies her boyfriend
Nick Young on a trip to Singapore to meet his Chinese-Singaporean family and friends for the first time. Set in Singapore and featuring a predominantly Asian cast, this film evoked huge discussions and gathered extensive praise among American audiences. Many Asian-American viewers remarked how much it made them feel “seen” after years of being ignored and stereotyped on the screens of Hollywood productions.
The reaction to this film has been mixed in Asia. In Singapore, film viewers have criticized the film for its ignorance of the actual diversity of Singapore and underlying class bias since it focuses mainly on the ethnic Chinese while showcasing South and Southeast Asians as guards, maids, and drivers only. “With its cast of mostly ethnic Chinese characters, a soundtrack featuring a number of Chinese artists and story notes that emphasize Chinese culture, it would also seem assured of success in China…”4 However, the film did not gain much acceptance
4 Qin Amy. “‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Has Soared So Far, but It May Not Fly in China.” The New York Times. Accessed May 10, 2019. https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20180910/crazy-rich-asians- china/zh-hant/.
32 from the China audiences. According to Douban, a Chinese social platform where users share their reviews on books, film and music, the film was rated 6.1 out of 10 stars based on 27,195 reviews. Most audiences in China had mild or negative attitudes towards Crazy Rich Asians.
Many audiences think the storyline of a modern Cinderella meeting a rich guy is an overused cliché. Other than this, a significant aspect of the criticism speaks to the lack of authentic
Chinese culture in this film. The film is compared to General Tso’s chicken, the Americanized
Chinese food that appeals to Americans’ appetites. Many filmgoers think Crazy Rich Asians reflects only what Chinese look like in the eyes of Americans instead of what Chinese are really like.5
This paper does not criticize the accuracy of the portrayals of Chinese and Chinese culture in Crazy Rich Asians. After all, there is a huge difference in the experience of the Chinese diaspora and Chinese mainlanders. The film actually tries to explore the cultural tension between
East and West through what a Chinese-American encounters in Singapore. However, there is something meaningful when China audiences sense “foreignness” or even discomfort from the
Chinese characters on the screen. This speaks to the “ignored culture” that is pointed out by
Walker (2010, p.14) in teaching and learning a foreign language: “cultural knowledge a native is generally unaware of until the behavior of a non-native brings it to light.” As a foreign
5 “摘金奇缘 (豆瓣).” n.d. Accessed May 1, 2019. https://movie.douban.com/subject/26786642/.
33 language instructor or learner, when we notice what is considered foreign or “inappropriate,” we are “a mere step away from noting the behaviors that are appropriate to that situation in that culture” (Walker & Noda, 2010, p. 26). Focusing on nonverbal elements, this chapter uses Crazy
Rich Asians as an example to highlight cultural nuances and implied meanings.
The identity crisis of Chinese-American versus Chinese is one of the central topics of the film. Before Rachel heads to Singapore, her mother warns her that she is different although she may look Chinese.
In Singapore, when meeting with Nick’s
mother Eleanor, Rachel immediately seems foreign
to the Chinese family when she greets Eleanor with
an overly enthusiastic hug at their first meeting.
Figure 10: Hugging at the First Meeting What is worse, she is unsure how to exactly address
Nick’s mother: Mrs. Young or Auntie. Had Rachel been equipped with knowledge of the five elements of a “performance” when meeting a family member in Chinese culture, she would not have surprised her possible future in-law so abruptly and been subsequently rejected as an outsider:
Specified place: The family friend is supposed to be treated as family at home and vice versa.
Specified time: Meeting a friend’s family for the first time;
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Specified script/gesture: Family friends are supposed to refer to the elders as “aunts” and
“uncles” as a sign of respect even if they are not related; additionally, hugging a person at the first meeting usually never occurs.
Specified roles: A respected senior of the family and a young family friend.
Specified audience: Nick Young and other people.
As a Chinese-American, Rachel demonstrates a fair command of Chinese behavioral culture: She is aware of the Chinese etiquette of addressing her boyfriend’s mother by kinship terms to show her respect. However, her preparation for Chinese culture is insufficient and thus, her American default nonverbal behaviors betray her immediately in many ways. First, her instinctive hug is not expected by Nick’s mother and makes the latter very uncomfortable.
Moreover, she first addresses Nick’s mother as Mrs. Young, the American etiquette to address someone before being permitted to use the first name, and then comes to realize that referring to her interlocutor as “Auntie” is what custom requires here. Realizing that her ways of behaving was inappropriate in Chinese culture, Rachel nervously explained to Nick’s mother, “I’m still learning the lingo.” Rachel’s failure in her first interaction with Nick’s mother, the Chinese matriarch, is partly blamed to her lack of instant availability of recalling cultural memories to navigate her verbal and nonverbal expressions in Chinese contexts; instead, she is caught up between Western and Chinese culture, and in most cases, her default American behaviors win out.
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Annie Ma, a Chinese American writer shared what her mother always said to her, “No matter how well you speak the language, just the way that you present yourself, the way you dress, the way you carry yourself as a Chinese American, is very different from the way people carry themselves in Asia.” 6 Many Chinese-Americans including Rachel can resonate with Annie’s mother. For Chinese audiences, the way Rachel presents herself through gestures, facial expressions and American-accented Mandarin is so different from native Chinese, making her a
“foreigner.” Considering the following examples:
Americans like to speak with many hand
gestures in face-to-face conversation, whereas
Chinese people are generally restricted in their
gestures and consider excessive movements
Figure 11 Hand Gestures dramatic and aggressive. When Rachel talks to people, she tends to move her hands, wrench her arms, and shrug her shoulders quite vigorously to express her feelings and emotions. It is not that hand gestures have no productive part in interpersonal communication; people use their hands universally when speaking. Americans who
6 Quoted in Vongkiatkajorn, Kanyakrit, and Julia B. Chan. n.d. “‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Can’t Be Everything—but It’s Still a Win.” Mother Jones (blog). Accessed May 8, 2019. https://www.motherjones.com/media/2018/08/crazy-rich-asians-cant-be-everything-but-its-still- a-win/.
36 like talking with their hands should somewhat suppress their desire to do this so that they will not annoy their Chinese conversationalists. Especially, when talking to people of high social status such as superiors, teachers, and seniors, excessive hand movements are considered impudent.
Besides, the facial expressions of Americans
look quite different from those of Chinese people.
One of the particular cases is the American’s
“megawatt smile.” When Americans laugh, they
Figure 12 Facial Expressions open their mouths widely with a high angle, showing many teeth, accompanied by the lift of eyebrow in a way that looks exaggerated in the view of
Chinese.
In comparison, the smiling of Chinese is more subdued, especially for women. Smile without revealing the teeth, or xiào bú lù chǐ (笑不露齿), used to be a basic social etiquette for
Chinese women. One observation made by Dai (quoted in Zhuo, 2013, p.180) is that “younger women in Beijing prefer the production of dental to palatals due to the smaller opening of the mouth, which in turn reduces lip movement and gives off a more feminine appearance of the speaker.”
Nowadays, when Chinese women laugh, it is fairly common to see them cover their mouth to conceal their teeth as it is still considered ungraceful to laugh out loud or openly. In American culture, covering one's mouth when laughing has an entirely different connotation, including that
37 you are making fun of someone else or you are trying hard not to make fun of someone. Even though a smile goes a long way, Americans in cross-cultural communication need to pay attention to their facial expressions, i.e., how one can be perceived differently from what they intend due to the cultural expressions of nonverbal elements.
As a Chinese-American, it is not surprising that the way Rachel presents herself makes her look foreign to Chinese. She is purposely staged to be the target character of cultural tension in the film. However, to the China audience of Crazy Rich Asians, there is a struggle with the singularity of Asian-lived experience that differs from Chinese-American lived experiences. More often than not, the former err toward the latter. Many of the behaviors that other Asian characters constantly use in conversations are typically American rather than Chinese or Asian. This time, however, different from the way they think of Rachel as “exotic,” native Asians seems to take naturally as default, which further reminds us how default behavior can be ignored by natives living it.
For an extreme example, in the Singapore Changi Airport, the bride Araminta and groom
Colin rush through the crowd to welcome their best friend Nick and his girlfriend Rachel. The bride-
to-be Araminta jumps into Nick’s arms and hugs him
excitedly, wrapping her legs around him as they spin
in the middle of the airport terminal. Also, Araminta
Figure 13 A Spinning Hug and Colin greet Rachel, whom they meet for the first
38
time, with the most westernized greetings – a squeeze
hug. This is a jaw-dropping scene for a Chinese native,
even those who have been previously exposed to
Western culture for years, to see how Nick and his
Figure 14: A Squeeze Hug female friend Araminta can publicly hug each other as intimately as can only happen between lovers in Chinese culture, and at that most likely in private.
The attitudes of Americans towards the interaction between Nick and Araminta are various. Some considered it an extreme case and rarely seen in American culture, whereas some believed that “it’s not a big deal since she (Araminta) is obviously very excited”. In any case, to avoid causing a misunderstanding in Chinese culture environments, Americans learning Chinese have to learn to perform greeting a friend at various degrees of enthusiasm based on the judgment of relationships.
For a first meeting, people typically greet friends with a wave, a nod, or a formal handshake.
Chinese people wave quite vigorously, with either one hand or two hands. Chinese rarely hug someone of the opposite gender, unless they are particularly close or when someone is departing or returning after a long while. Even if a hug is initiated, it is more likely to be a short hug without any chest touching. The truth is, they probably are still not so comfortable with bodily contact. Besides, public display of affection, especially the way Araminta hugs Nick, is considered to be very dramatic, and invites stares and is generally frowned upon.
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In another scene, we see another
performance of greeting a person. When Nick and
Rachel wander through a food market, Nick meets
an acquaintance, a street vendor he has presumably
Figure 15: Hugging an Acquaintance patronized in the past, Nick greets the elderly vendor
as “uncle,” as required in Chinese culture. Then the next thing is surprising: Nick and the vendor hug each other enthusiastically and tightly in such a western way that most Chinese would feel as inappropriate and uncomfortable to onlookers.
Culture frames how one behaves. For an American greeting a person, if hugging is the intuitive gesture, I would argue that shying away is the first reaction of most Chinese. Seeing how
“Asians” in this film are enthusiastic with hugs, we further realize how default behaviors can be unnoticeable for people living with it. Hugging in these contexts is an example of ineffective performance of greeting. This nonverbal behavior and cultural backgrounds do not match in an acceptable way to audiences of Chinese culture.
The following scene offers an effective
western performance of greeting that matches its
context. In Western culture, it is normal for people
Figure 16: Greeting a Stranger to make eye contact with strangers or to smile at
40 strangers on the street as a gesture of acknowledgment to each other in a shared space. If a stranger smiles to you and says “Hi,” people are expected to give them an even brighter smile and say “hi” right back. In this scene, in the airplane from America to Singapore, when Nick passes a stranger in the airplane bar, he nods to the person with whom he has eye contact with and proposes a distant toast. The other person, a Caucasian man, also raises his glass and nods to Nick in response.
Without any verbal utterance, the intention of all gestures is perceived and accepted by both of them as a western form of greeting strangers since the setting is on an international airplane and the interlocutor is a westerner.
If, on the other hand, an American were to encounter a Chinese person on the street in the context of Chinese culture, they need to learn that greeting a stranger is inappropriate. The “insiders are different from outsiders” or nèi wài yǒu bié (内外有别), governs the degree of courtesy in
Chinese culture. If a Chinese person knows you, this makes you part of a relationship and an
“insider,” and they treat you in a friendly manner. If a Chinese person does not know you, as some
Americans have complained, they treat you “coldly.” For example, they do not hold the door for a stranger, or they push their way on a bus, or they cut a line at a ticket center. Thus, neither eye contact nor any kind of greeting is expected from strangers, and Nick’s behaviors would confuse many Chinese as Chinese do not generally greet passerbys. Furthermore, when Chinese go out of
41 their way and avoid eye contact with them, Americans have to learn not to get annoyed and berate
Chinese people with whom they are unfamiliar with as “rude” or “uncivilized.”
In this Chinese family, whether a mother
cleans up your room, a husband fetches you a drink,
a cousin keeps your girlfriend company, “Thank
you” is the instinctive reaction of people showing
Figure 17: Gratitude is Verbal their appreciation to family members. Each of these performances can only be interpreted as appropriate to the frame of Western culture. In the West, the idea of verbalizing gratitude has been made automatic in that people say “Thank you” all the time to all persons for any favor. However, Chinese people think it is a certain responsibility to help families and friends, so “xiè xiè ” is rarely used among them. If people say xiè xiè to their interlocutors, they basically establish a barrier, suggesting they are not close enough to not say xiè xiè.
The following scene speaks to how
Chinese do not say “xiè xiè” to people whom they
are close with. When Astrid and her husband split
on the way to a family wedding, Ah Ma, the Figure 18: Gratitude is Not Verbal
42 grandmother and the family’s most respected senior who rarely attends events like this, shows up and accompanies her at the wedding. When Astrid says in Chinese, “xièxiè nǐ Ah Ma,” or “Thank you, Grandma,” and her grandma tells her, “yì jiā rén bù yòng shuō xiè a,” meaning “family never says thank you.” To some extent, Ah Ma is probably the only person in this film that can be recognized as authentic “Chinese.” Not only because she speaks perfect Mandarin, but also because of the way she carries herself consistently as a Chinese in this film. Others are just Chinese or Americans wandering in and out of the borders of Eastern and Western cultures. What
Americans need to learn is to be careful with xièxiè as it functions differently from how “Thank you” functions among English-speaking people. Not saying xièxiè does not imply impoliteness and saying xièxiè can sometimes stir up a backlash in Chinese culture.
Crazy Rich Asians also provides other examples of appropriate nonverbal behaviors and interpersonal etiquette in Chinese culture. For instance, the hospitality of Chinese hosts is showcased when Rachel visits her college classmate Peik Lin. Peik Lin’s mother invites Rachel to sit for some “simple food,” whereas she actually serves a multi-course banquet. The significance of relationship or guānxi is displayed when Peik Lin’s mother tells Rachel to call her “Auntie
Neenah” instead of “Mrs. Goh.” Moreover, the film also shows the social rule of accepting by refusing when Nick invites Peik Lin’s to the party at his home. Peik Lin pretends to refuse the invitation twice and finally accepts it since Nick “insists.” The “face” issue is also explored here.
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The rich girl Astrid is always hiding newly-purchased luxury jewelry from her unsuccessful husband so that the latter will not feel hurt and lose face.
To summarize, Crazy Rich Asians is a rich source for discussing the use of nonverbal elements, both successful and unsuccessful, in cross-cultural communication. Firstly, the fact that
Chinese audiences do not resonate with Chinese characters depicted in this film as much as does the Chinese diaspora in North America reveals the challenge of making meanings over cross- cultural communication. Besides, the nonverbal elements the Chinese actors unconsciously portray that mark them as foreign to the native Chinese perspective, further suggests how default behaviors from a base culture can affect the effectiveness of performance in another culture. Last but not least, the visual resources of the films, as can be seen from the screenshots, can help reveal the nonverbal elements in both vivid and subtle ways that a close analysis should inform those teaching and learning foreign languages.
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Chapter 4: A Pedagogical Discussion
Through the film scenes presented above, we have seen people performing nonverbal behaviors that subtlely and powerfully convey intentions and create meaning in communication.
Culture-specific nonverbal behaviors are presented in Chinese cultural environments, including the main aspects of spatial use, body language, physical touch, and paralanguage. As the film scenes elucidate, cultural differences are enormous in many aspects of nonverbal communication, in the same way as the considerable differences between Chinese and English verbal communication. Drawing from detailed film data, the previous chapters show a proficient command of nonverbal behaviors that are unique to Chinese society and that can allow CFL learners to communicate effectively with their Chinese counterparts by demonstrating the expected authentic cultural behaviors. The challenge of creating meaning in cross-cultural communication and the consequences of those created meanings are explicated by examples of nonverbal communication that succeeded or failed in the cross-cultural production Crazy Rich Asians. I maintain that a significant portion of the nonverbal language is unique to Chinese society and should thus be included as a necessary component in CFL instruction. For CFL learners, equipping themselves with knowledge of nonverbal language is of the same significance as compiling
Chinese vocabulary, grammar, and useful or common sentences so that they can become more
45 responsive and fluent in Chinese cultural environments. In light of the ignorance of cultural- specific nonverbal behaviors in CFL instruction, there is a need for a pedagogical framework that can sensitize and prepare CFL learners to better function in Chinese culture. Informed by the performance theory proposed by Walker (2010), this chapter proposes first a performance-based pedagogical approach for teaching and learning cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors respective to Chinese culture, and second, a procedural learning phase of cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors is presented and discussed.
4.1 Performance-based Approach of Nonverbal Behaviors
Currently, nonverbal behaviors are rarely discussed and utilized in CFL instruction. Even if they are touched upon, they are treated mainly as forms of isolated and static cultural facts instead of a meaningful and dynamic series of actions. For instance, CFL learners may have been prescribed an inventory of what one should or should not do in the target culture, just as in the way a tour guide may act for tourists. However, when they participate in Chinese cultural environments, they find that only knowing the “tour guide” is widely insufficient to act appropriately in the full complexity of real situations to satisfy their communicative goals and some may even feel frustrated that Chinese language and culture are so apparently unpredictable.
The following exchange between the author and a student of advanced-level Chinese who is studying in China shed light on the difficulties many CFL learners have:
46
Author: “Have you had any experiences when a Chinese person in China offered you something? What kind of actions did your Chinese interlocutors do (nonverbally) that made you realize that they were serious in their offer, and not just acting out of conventional sake of politeness?”
Student: “I’m not sure. It’s hard for me to tell and I often don’t pay that much attention.
Whether the offer is sincere or not, I’m more focused on what I want to do or more likely do not want to do.”
Although the student had demonstrated a high level of language skill, it is evident from the conversation that he was apt not to recognize the subtlety of meanings that are often conveyed implicitly by behavior, or was simply uninterested. Facing uncertainty and unfamiliarity, he chose to focus on what he wanted rather than what was expected in the target culture. Although native speakers tend to maintain a lower expectation towards non-native speakers and show more patience and understanding in their performances, they still consider this “foreignness” a burden of communication and thus hesitate to establish more trusted social relationships (Zhang, 2016).
In a culture that is predominantly context-based, even behaviors as simple as a greeting, such as a handshake, nodding, or bowing, ought to be viewed in light of a variety of considerations in the specific context, such as the roles of the interlocutors, the time and space, and the audience involved.
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The performance theory that considers language and culture as performative elements proposed by Walker (2010) has been used as a cultural framework to examine the nonverbal dimension of communication in the above examples. I advocate this performed culture approach to teach and learn nonverbal behaviors as it creates “a pedagogical environment where situated knowledge is presented, and observable behavior is performed” (Jian & Shepherd, 2010, p. 108).
In a performance-based language classroom, a communicative event is carried out under specific cultural frameworks and broken up into performative elements. Classroom participation includes the performance of both language and action from students. The learning process requires a dynamic interaction between both students/actors and teacher/director rather than static input and passive observation found in traditional classrooms.
Take the performance of a communicative event “Self-Introduction” for example:
Table 8: Performance of Self-Introduction
Interpretation Time Place Role(s) Script Audience Using Honorifics When At a Two A: Lǐzǒng nín hǎo, Other and gestures to two conference business wǒ shì lái zì é zhōu people acknowledge persons persons of dà de Chén nuò, zhè around. hierarchy and meet for different shì wǒ de demonstrate respect the first social míngpiàn? (give the to social status. time status. card with both hands and bow slightly) B: (Take by one or two hands and have
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a quick look) Xiǎo Chén ní hǎo! A: Hi Manager Li, I’m Nuo Chen from the Ohio State University. And this is my card. (give the card with both hands and bow slightly) B: (Take by one or two hands and have a quick look) Hi Xiao Chen!
The theme of this performance is to introduce oneself and exchange business cards with a person of higher social status in a business-oriented situation. The student who plays the role of the lower social status is expected to employ honorific words such as “nín hǎo” and gestures, such as using both hands to give and receive cards while at the same time bending over slightly to demonstrate respect to the Chinese interlocutor. The other person does not need to behave the same way considering his or her social status.
The performances of students in the classroom are usually problematic in the beginning and require the language teacher to give corresponding instructions. Some students/actors may act well but misuse verbal expressions, while others may demonstrate a good command of verbal skill but neglect the required actions. In either case, the performance fails somewhat in conveying what is intended and thus is thought to fall short of the expectation of the Chinese interlocutor. Under
49 these circumstances, a well-prepared instructor will detect problems immediately, give feedback, and model the performance wherever needed. After observing the performance of the instructor, students are required to have additional practice and rehearsal until they acclimate their linguistic and behavioral performance to an acceptable degree of proficiency.
For students, the process of going from an inexperienced to an experienced performer of the target language and culture could be frustrating and even embarrassing. Students must adapt to learning with the discomfort of the unfamiliar, the embarrassment of making mistakes, frustration, and even feelings of anger when misunderstood, and gradually improve performances required in the target culture. The classroom experience is a necessary and useful preparation and rehearsal for possible future encounters in the target culture, both culturally, mentally, and emotionally. When it is time for them to participate in the real situation in the target culture, they should have already performed many possible interactions and experienced many instances of failure and recovery, which in turn enables them to adapt their language and behaviors to the new situations more effectively.
4.2 Procedural Learning Phases
Focusing on the mastery of four-character Chinese idioms or chengyu, Zhang (2016) laid out a three-phase learning process that includes recognition, comprehension and reaction, and production for students of Chinese. To achieve mastery of using chengyu in Chinese culture, Zhang
50 argues that CFL learners usually need to go through the above three phases. This idea of procedural learning phases also roughly conforms to the different levels of command of culturally-specific nonverbal behaviors by students of Chinese. Thus, these are adapted into a new framework of learning nonverbal behaviors in this paper.
4.2.1 Observing Nonverbal Behaviors
The initial learning phase is to instill in students of Chinese the idea of the cultural parameters of nonverbal behaviors. As these behaviors operate mainly on a subconscious level, most people tend to neglect the existence and significance of nonverbal elements in interpersonal communication. At this level, students are required to observe how they carry themselves differently from the way Chinese present themselves in daily life, e.g., gestures, postures, eye contact, and other nonverbal behaviors. If there are not many chances for learners to interact with
Chinese natives, students can also watch performances of Chinese actors from selected Chinese films. The purpose of this learning phase is to help CFL learners identify the cultural features of nonverbal behaviors. Acting on the recognition of nonverbal behaviors is not expected by students at this level.
4.2.2 Recognizing Nonverbal Behaviors
The initial phase is to train CFL learners to recognize the cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors and what is intended by them when they are encountered in Chinese cultural
51 environments. At this stage, students of Chinese are expected to be aware of cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors such as personal space, facial expressions, gestures, eye gaze, touch, etc., and what meanings these cues imply in Chinese culture. To name a few examples: eye contact in
Chinese tends to be indirect and short as a sign of respect for the interlocutor. Chinese women like holding hands or linking arms as a display of friendship. Chinese adults may pat a toddler or small child not their own to show affection, Chinese students slightly bow to a teacher to show respect,
Chinese people, especially women, cover their mouths when laughing in avoidance of laughing too loud or openly.
At the same time, CFL learners also learn that what their default nonverbal behaviors intend may have different interpretations in another culture. For instance, hugging among friends and family is not widely accepted in Chinese culture, maintaining eye contact might be perceived as a gesture of disrespect or challenge, and a firm handshake could suggest an aggressive personality.
Students at the recognition level of nonverbal behaviors can identify cues that are new to them and have a basic command of their corresponding intentions. However, they would likely not react appropriately.
4.2.3 Associating Action to Nonverbal Behaviors
Being able to recognize what is intended by cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors does not mean learners of Chinese can respond to them appropriately. At this level, students’ learning
52 focuses on the development of the instant availability of recalling related memories of nonverbal behaviors based on previous failed and recovered performances, so that they can give an appropriate and timely response at this time. For instance, when a Chinese woman tries to link the arm of an American female friend, the American woman recognizes it as a sign of friendship and will not instinctively pull away. On the other hand, when an American wants to hug a Chinese friend after a party, he or she may have to assume the intention in the Chinese culture not to hug and choose instead to wave goodbye.
4.2.4 Production of Nonverbal Behaviors
Spontaneous usage is the ultimate goal of learning nonverbal behaviors. Just like the acquisition of any other skill, achieving the expressivity of nonverbal behaviors requires repetitive practice and abundant experience in using them. For instance, after many times of performing the task of self-introduction in a business setting in the classroom, an American student may have been very comfortable with producing the following series of actions that are expected and appreciated in the Chinese culture:
Use both hands presenting business cards to the interlocutor.
Receive business cards with both hands.
Take a quick look at the information on the card.
Address the interlocutor by title.
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Place business cards on the table when seated.
By producing and properly performing cultural-specific nonverbal behaviors when interacting with Chinese, the American shows a good understanding of expected Chinese behavioral culture. This helps create the assumption for the Chinese interlocutor that the American is very sincere in interacting with Chinese and potentially increase the odds for developing a trusted relationship.
4.3 Conclusion and Future Study
This study brings to light new information about nonverbal behaviors in Chinese language instruction, previously underestimated but demonstrably a significant dimension of cultural diversity. Performed culture approach, with its emphasis on both performing language and actions, is a powerful tool for teaching nonverbal behaviors in the field of CFL. Due to the limited time of any given language program, it is not realistic for any program to train its students to master all nonverbal behaviors required in Chinese culture. The intuitive goal here is for students to learn the framework for recognizing, understanding, and then putting previously unrecognized nonverbal behaviors into practice. There are still some issues that await future research. The study has not been able to identify a systematic repertoire of nonverbal behaviors specific to Chinese culture for students to learn and refer to. Also, how to guide students go through the four learning phases of nonverbal behaviors and hopefully achieve a fluent use of nonverbal behaviors is not clear. Future
54 research is required to provide a more precise and detailed pedagogical instruction of nonverbal behaviors for both the instructors and students of Chinese.
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