Page 139 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

126 Silence in Intercultural Communication

ing an unmarked phenomenon, while one second may be felt as marked. There
are more examples (see below) of Australian English speakers allowing 0.4–0.8
seconds of inter-turn pauses with one another, and of the Japanese students tak-
ing one second or more to respond, or of allowing their turns to be taken over by
their Australian peers.
The excerpt below is from the smaller class, the Curriculum and Examina-
tions, in Case Study 1. This is an example of elaboration by the lecturer after a
short pause, but also shows an Australian student taking over the Japanese stu-
dent’s turn. At the beginning of the excerpt, the lecturer asks a question, which
is assumed to be directed at Tadashi, as he is referring to the number of language
courses offered in the old High School Certificate exams, which was mentioned
the week before, when Tadashi was the only participant.

(17) [Interaction: Tadashi, Curriculum and Examinations]

1 Lect: u:m (0.4) now (1.0) you’ve got (0.3) u:m (0.3)
-> 2 I don’t know if you remember (0.5) the figure
3 I gave you and ( ) in the old HSC*
4 now how many: uh: languages courses.
-> 5 (0.4)
6 Lect: There are hundred and forty nine HSC
7 courses, how many languages
8 cour[ses].
9 Kylie: [thi]rty ei[ght]?
-> 10 Tadashi: [uh:]:
11 Kylie: [thir]ty eight?
12 Tadashi: [ uh:]
13 (0.3)
14 Lect: no there are thirty eight langu[ages],
15 Tadashi: [(lan]guage)=
16 Lect: =but each language is more than one [cour]se.
17 Tadashi: [ye:h]
18 Kylie: ah [that’s right. yeah that’s right yeah]
19 Lect: [many languages ha[ve mo]re than one]
20 Tadashi: [ uh: ]
21 Kylie: [that ’ s]
22 Lect: [course.]
23 Kylie: right.=
24 Tadashi: =uh huh huh=
-> 25 Lect: =all right? (.) do you remember?