With the integration and understanding of cultural, intercultural communication is widely used. Among them, the nonverbal communication plays a certain role. Body language is a vital part in the nonverbal communication. In different cultures, the meanings of body language are not entirely the same. Therefore, while making some kind of verbal communication, we also need to understand the meanings of speaker’s gestures, movements, facial expressions and body language, so as to make the communication smooth and graceful.

We ought to pay more attention to the nonverbal communication in cross-cultural communication. On the one hand, although the early theoretical results in the study of nonverbal communication were available for reference, some conclusions were not mature enough or changed because of the development of the times and strengthened communication. The study of nonverbal communication needs synchronic study (Saussure had proposed language research including the synchronic and diachronic study) to update the results of previous studies; on the other hand, nonverbal communication has its unfixed characteristics compared with verbal communication, especially the study of nonverbal communication in intercultural communication. Chinese and foreign scholars rarely did the systematic and comprehensive study on nonverbal communication in intercultural communication. In cross-cultural communication, the study of nonverbal communication can help to establish a good communication relationship, to capture the information of the communication objects, and to timely adjust the communicative activities. The development of study on nonverbal communication in intercultural communication has helped foreigners and Chinese carry out better business communication. Nonverbal communication in business is also a very important and practical role that language can not replace. In the economic globalization today, it can be helpful to facilitate transnational cooperation if we can make full use of non-verbal language. Because the enterprise with different cultural background cooperate with each other more frequently in the international market and the staff come from different countries, it will be the most economic way to learn cultures of different countries and use the language and nonverbal language integrated. 

This paper uses the theory and methods of comparative linguistics, discourses of the body language within English and Chinese cultural background of a comprehensive, bi-directional, multi-angle comparative analysis. Comparative analysis of the material is mainly based on the daily life examples where the body languages are actually used, as well as the examples collected from the Western classics. This thesis collects large numbers of examples, selects typical cases, and analyzes them in-depth.

This paper will compare English and Chinese body language from the perspective of intercultural communication and combine the social culture theory and intercultural communication theory to analyze the similarities and differences of English and Chinese body language. And also this paper will explain the reasons from two aspects of religious culture and national culture. Finally, this paper will summarize the barriers in intercultural communication and put forward some communicative principles in the use of body language.

This paper will compare and analyze the English and Chinese body language in detail from many aspects such as the comparison of similarities and differences, the reasons, the barriers and the principles, hoping to give the readers a systematic and comprehensive look. I hope that this paper can be of great help to later researches and provide reference for cross-cultural communication.

2. Literature Review

Many scholars believe that Aristotle is the originator of the study of human body language, but in fact, the official research began with Charles Darwin. His research on body language was reflected in the “emotional expression in human and animals”, which was published in 1872. The book explains the relationship between the action of animals and the behavior of human. Early twentieth century, some semioticians in Europe and the United States conducted the research on body language  from the perspective of symbol, the main works included “Physique and Character” by Kreschmer, marking the official start of study on body language. (Barthes,1967:5)