Page 116 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence 103

5.2 Methodology of the case studies

5.2.1 Japanese participants

Three Japanese students, who will be referred to as Tadashi (male), Miki (female)
and Aya (female), and who were studying in mainstream programs at the Univer-
sity of Sydney, participated in the case studies. Tadashi and Aya also participated
in the ethnographic interviews discussed in Chapter 4. Information relevant to
these three participants, regarding the classroom sessions in which they were
observed and the hours of these observations are shown in Table 5.1 (for more
biographical information about the participants, see Appendix 4). All names are
pseudonyms, and the names of courses have been modified for confidentiality.
All of the sessions observed took place at the University of Sydney during the
period July 1999 to October 1999. Either seminar-type lectures or tutorials were
targeted since relatively greater opportunities for interaction could be expected in
these types of classes.

5.2.2 Classroom observation

Following the practice of ethnographic research, participants were observed in
the classroom and fieldnotes were taken. In Miki’s class (Case Study 2), the class-
room data collection took the style of participant observation (see Berg 1998;

Table 5.1 Japanese participants in classroom case studies
Study no. & Gender Age Years of Courses Subject names Hours
Participant residency in of the classes observed
Australia observed and (recorded)
recorded
1 Tadashi M 27 8 Bachelor of 1. Teaching as a 3 hrs 20mns
Education Profession (3 hrs
LOTE (Lan- 2. Curriculum 20mns)
guages other and Examina- 5 hrs
than English) tions (4 hrs)
2 Miki F 24 2.5 MA Japanese Intercultural 20 hrs
Studies Communication (8 hrs)
3 Aya F 23 6.5 BA Japanese & 1. History of 5 hrs 40mns
Education Secondary Edu- (4 hrs)
cation
2. History of 2 hours
Japanese Litera- observation
ture only