Page 105 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

92 Silence in Intercultural Communication

These students went on to explain such abilities of Australian students by refer-
ring to the way they were educated:
(44) F4: You know, they are so quick. They are ready, and very quick.
F3: Yeah. So quick. I suppose it’s because they are used to it, or even because
they have been educated that way.
F4: It looks like it. [28:122-124 F3 & F4]

The two students in the excerpt above also indicated that the Australian students
react rapidly to questions and cues in the classroom because Australian children
are trained to make their own choices and express their own opinions, while Japa-
nese children are trained to listen to adults and not to assert themselves against
them. In fact, this view is often repeated by Japanese expatriates living in Austra-
lia. Nichigō Press, which is a Japanese community newspaper in Australia, often
notes in its columns on education in Australia that choice-making, expressing
opinions, and acknowledging different perspectives of individuals are character-
istics of Australian education both in the home environment and in schools. These
characteristics are often compared with those of Japan and regarded as positive
models. In one issue, the Sydney Japanese School principal was interviewed for a
column called “Australian Education.” The column reported:

What he [the principal] realised in particular through exchanges with local
schools is local students’ ‘attitudes to clearly state their own thoughts and ideas,
and to listen to what others say.’ (Nichigō Press, April 2000, p. 74)

Such views are indeed supported by the analysis of interaction in Japanese high
school classrooms (discussed in Chapter 3). Not many classes are structured to
allow students to express their own ideas and opinions, and even if encouraged,
students are reluctant to do so. As indicated in the survey results, the Japanese
students’ frustrations at not being allowed enough time to think does not seem
to be acknowledged as a relevant factor by Australian teaching staff. It is certainly
difficult for lecturers to make a clear distinction between the cognitive processing
time required for formulation of language and for reaction to the content of the
stimulus. However, it seems that the gap in ‘reaction time’ may not be recognised
by lecturers but instead may be perceived as a consequence of other factors such
as a lack of language proficiency, lack of confidence, or the hierarchical teacher-
student relationship. The complexity of silence in multicultural classrooms where
participants who bring different sociocultural backgrounds meet and negotiate
participation may be overlooked in this respect.