Page 135 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

122 Silence in Intercultural Communication

16 references you can get (0.4) o:nly certain
17 percentage of students (0.3) in: (0.4) yes
18 that (0.3) bell curve thing?
19 Lect: ((writes on the board 3.2)) that’s right.=
20 Tamara: =Mm ↑hm.
21 Lect: The bell curves? (1.0) so I can only get
22 uh certain number between ninety in a
23 hundred,=
24 Tadashi: =Mm:.=
25 Lect: =and eighty in a hundred.
26 Tadashi: Mm:.
-> 27 (0.5)
-> 28 Tadashi: Yes in a (0.4) standard (.) or criteria
29 referencing, .hhh u:m as long as the students
30 performs well, (0.2) you can (.) you can
31 have as many (0.2) students as possible (0.5)
32 in say (0.3) between ninety to one hundred.
Although line 27 does not seem to be a directly elicited response, it is obvious
from the context (in which Tadashi is asked to explain the differences) that he is
expected to continue after line 25. The two pauses may appear to be a delay from
an Australian participant’s perspective, considering the unmarked frequent over-
lapping talk and latching around transition relevance places (TRPs) in discussions
(see examples (17), (28) and (29) below, for example). Thus, in situations where
he has to compete with Australian peers, for example in an open floor situation,
Tadashi may miss opportunities to secure his participation. In fact, he referred
repeatedly in his interview to this “problem” of “not knowing the right timing to
participate.” In another course, he made an arrangement with the lecturer to be
nominated to give an answer so that he could secure his speaking turn.
The following excerpt from Case Study 2 shows a 4.2 second inter-turn pause
after Molly, Miki’s Australian peer, asks her a question. Miki had given a presen-
tation on backchanneling in Japanese and in American English, and Molly has
been asking Miki about “Westerners” using “fill-ins” more often than the Japa-
nese. The exchange in the excerpt occurred after a series of attempts by Molly to
elicit a response from Miki (see example (15) below). The long silent pause puts a
considerable amount of pressure on Miki, and her uncertain response is followed
by a longer silence of 6.0 seconds. The lecturer, sensing Miki’s discomfort, tries to
divert attention by shifting the topic in line 142.