Page 137 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

124 Silence in Intercultural Communication

with verbal fillers used by “Western people.” As we can see in line 63 (“how can
I say it right”), Molly’s question is not totally clear, and Miki asks a clarification
question in line 67. Molly struggles to clarify her question and her re-phrased
question is followed by a pause of 3.6 seconds (line 76). This leads to Molly’s elab-
oration in lines 77–79, which is followed by a pause (line 80). This pause of 1.2
seconds then leads to another elaboration by Molly.

(15) [Interaction: Miki]

62 Molly: Do- do we: lik- do generally um: (0.6) I
63 don’t know how can I say it right do Western
64 people: (0.3) do their ow- do their own
65 fill-in: stuff?
66 (0.2)
-> 67 Miki: Do their, sorry?
68 (0.4)
69 Molly: L- like um (0.4) um? hu(h)h (0.2) li- do we
70 (0.2) instead of um:: li- >I don’t know< we
71 have pauses instead of um: (0.6) I don’t know
72 we have pauses instead of (0.5) um (0.2)
73 the: (0.2) those ( ) you know saying
74 something with: nodding or whatever, (.) do
75 we fill it in instead? (0.2) more?
-> 76 (3.6)
77 Molly: Er the are the:se backchannel:s(0.4)um(0.2)
78 after: like specifically a:fter sentences but
79 the person keeps(.)the speaker keeps talking?
-> 80 (1.2)
81 Molly: Because I think u:m (1.2) cause I- I
82 (really think) Western people they tend to:
83 put a lot of um fill-ins when they are
84 talking?
The example below is from the History of Secondary Education class in Case
Study 3, in which the lecturer asks the students about extra-curricula experiences
at high school. The example differs from the two above in that the Japanese stu-
dent, Aya, either overlaps (line 18) or responds without a pause (line 19), although
initially in a soft voice. But the soft voice and the ensuing one second silence led
the lecturer to paraphrase (lines 21–22), specially for Aya, a question which had
been initially directed at the whole group (lines 1–9). Comparing the responses
of Kathy and Aya, Kathy’s responses follow pauses of 0.4 and 0.5 seconds (lines
10 and 14), while Aya’s responses follow pauses of one second (lines 20 and 28).