译者在翻译时应时刻保持语境意识。本文把Hatim和Mason提出语境三个层面理论作为理论基础,指导肢体语言的翻译。表面上非言语交际描述的翻译是文本间的翻译,而实质上是两个不同非言语系统之间的转换。本文全面阐述了非言语交际的定义,特征,研究状况并探究了肢体语言翻译中存在的问题：一是缺乏对非言语交际中文化信息的意识;二是忽视了上下文中非言语交际描述的功能。因此,如何提高译者翻译肢体语言时的语境意识是本文的核心。

Functions of nonverbal communication in the context are often neglected. Body language

can serve six primary functions: repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating reinforcing and contradicting. And these functions of body language are not isolated from one another, and many of the same communications can serve two or more functions---sometimes at the same time. Let's look at an example about description of one common gesture: When Tom won the first prize in the composition competition, we all patted him on the back.

Version 1:当汤姆在作文竞赛中获一等奖时，我们都拍了拍他的背。

In the English culture, the behavior of “pat one on the back” is one gesture of praise or

approval which substitutes “Congratulation!” In Version 1, the substituting function of this gesture is neglected by translator. The reader may be confused by this behavior if not complementing necessary information. Therefore, the following version will be much better.

Version 2:当汤姆在作文竞赛中获一等奖时，我们都拍了拍他的背向他表示祝贺。

2.5 Summary

From the above review of definitions, characteristics and translation problems of body

language, we can get a general and brief view of the goings-on in this specific field of body language studies. Fruitful as these previous studies are, their limitations should be admitted here that their investigations of body language only reveal one side, one aspect or one typical form of body language. They mostly can only provide a partial answer to the translation of body language description. They fail to systematically account for how to translate body language efficiently and shed light on the contextual awareness. These problems are just what we intend to explain by investigating the translation of the description of body language from the perspective of context.