Task

Reporting on body language

Task

Reporting on body language

Skills building 1:

Anticipating a response

Try to find out some behavioural

differences between Chinese and

westerners.

Understand how to predict the answers

to the question while listening.

Where do they live?

When did this take place?

Information you expect to have

name of a place

a specific time

Question

How long have they been in this country?

a time period

Which hand do Arabs eat with?

left or right hand

Why would you like to write a book

about customs?

A reason or reasons

Decide if the statements below are true or false, and then listen to the interview to check your answers.

1. In china a person who invites you to dinner might be upset.

2. It is polite to eat with your left hand in Arab countries.

3. In Japan you can use lots of soap in the bath.

T

F

F

4. Making a slurping noise while eating spaghetti in Italy is okay.

5. When eating noodles in Japan, making a slurping noise is okay.

6. It is better to wear your shoes in a Chinese, Japanese or Korean house.

7. When you are late for a meeting, there is no need to say sorry.

F

T

F

F

8. In England it is usual to talk about the weather when you start a conversation.

9. In the West, when you are complaining, it is usual to say worry first.

T

T

TapescriptInterviewer: Good morning, Ms Wang. Can you talk to us about your new book?Ms Wang: Yes, I decided to write a book about customs around the world. One reason is that the first time I took a foreigner home to meet my mother, the

foreigner did not try all the dishes she offered him. My mother was very upset and thought the foreigner didi not like her food. The foreigner thought he should not eat everything as he did not want to look greedy. I realized there are some differences between cultures that people might find interesting.

Interviewer: So what is included in the book?Ms Wang: Many different behaviours, gestures and rules. For example, in Arab countries it is not polite to eat with your left hand. Interviewer: Have you heard any funny stories about people getting the customs

wrong?

Ms Wang: There are always stories about foreigners going to Japan and using soap in public baths. That is a really bad thing to do because the Japanese wash with soap first and only get in the bath when they are already clean. I also wrote about Japanese

people going to Italy and slurping their spaghetti. Western people think that it is terrible to make a noise when you are eating, but in Japan the Japanese believe that slurping shows you enjoy your noodles. Another example is wearing shoes in the house. People in China, Japan and Korea always take their shoes off when they go inside someone’s house, while in England

you would not take your

shoes off unless you were

in your own home.

Interviewer: Do you have advice for

business people in your book?

Ms Wang: Oh yes, one piece of advice is

that no matter what country

you are in, if you are late for

a meeting, you should say

sorry. It doesn’t matter how

important you are! Another

thing is that in England

you can always start a

conversation by talking

about the weather.

Interviewer: I understand that

complaining is different in

the West. Is that right?

Ms Wang: Actually, yes. As strange as

it may seem, Westerners always say sorry before they complain. People would find you quite rude if you did not.Interviewer: Thank you, Ms Wang. That was very interesting and good luck with the book.Ms Wang: Thank you.

Step 1: filling in a chat

1. good 2.telling the true

3. Yes 4. No

5. Hello or goodbye 6. crazy

7. where you are (you place)

8. good job 9. OK

Skills building 2:formulating written

questions

Remember the following points when

writing questions.

Get to the point!

Give all the necessary information.

Use simple language.

Sample answers

2. Last night, we watched a television

show on CCTV 8. Did you see it? If

so, did you like it?

3. I finished a book last night. How

about you? What happened in the

last book you read?

Step 2: surveying your classmates

1. a 2. b 3. a 4. a

5. You and your friend are taking photos in a park. You are posing and your friend is holding a camera. After a flash, your friend holds up his hand with fingers pointing up and palm facing out. Index finger and thumb make an ‘O’.

a. He is saying 'OK'. b. He is asking you to pose again. Other:_________________________

6. Your daughter and you are going shopping. You want to buy a new skirt for your daughter. You pick up a blue one and show it to her. She shakes her head from side to side.Then you pick up a red one. She nods her head up and down. Your daughter:

a. likes the blue skirt. b. is satisfied with the red skirt you chose.

Other: __________________________

7. All of your family are enjoying a big

dinner on Mid-Autumn Day. After

the meal, you lean back and pat your

stomach with the palm of your hand.

You mean:

a. Oh, I am full. It's quite delicious.

b. I have got a stomach-ache.

Other:_______________________

Skills building 3: Organizing a report

Answers

8 4 2 6 3 5 1 9 7

Writing a report on body language

Step 3

Introduction

Procedures/Method

Results/Findings

Conclusion

Sample answersThis report is about body language used in both China and the United States. It looks at how the same gesture is used in two different countries and how the gesture expresses different meanings in the two countries. It also states the similarities and differences of body language in these two countries.

The information was collected from my classmates through a survey. In order to conduct the survey, I created some situations sand answers for some common gestures for my classmates to respond to. After collecting their answers, I recorded their answers and analyzed the statistics.

From the outcome of my survey, we can

see that for most of the gestures, people

in both countries share the same

meaning, as with the gestures of the

head nodding up and down, the head

shaking from side to side and thumbs

up. There are also some differences

in the meaning of some gestures. For

example, there are differences in the

meaning of the gesture of waving,

when the palm faces out and the hand

moves left and right. In the USA it

means ‘Hello!’, but in China it means

'N0.', a negative answer. Nowadays,

some young Chinese also use

this gesture to greet others. So with the increase in cultural, educational and economic exchange between the two countries, the differences in body language between the two nations will become smaller and smaller.These results suggest that people from different cultures more or less can

understand each other by using these

gestures. It seems that in the future

we can make full use of body language

to help us convey our ideas or feelings

when we talk with foreign friends.