Page 144 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence 131

(23) [Interaction: Miki]

34 Lect: =if we are not giving you so much (0.3)
35 backchanneling, does that- (0.8) give you an
36 odd impression at all does that (0.5) trouble
37 you in a conversation, (0.2) [if you don’]t
-> 38 Miki: [that would]
39 Lect: get enough backchannel.=
-> 40 Miki: =that would give me um (1.2) how do you say
41 I would get (1.5) I would think people cannot
42 understand me if they don’t give me (1.4)
43 yeah. ˚backchannels.˚
Hence, the “fractures” between Miki and her Australian peers caused by the paus-
es over one second seem to result from differences either in strategies to hold the
floor (that is, verbalisation/vocalisation or silence), or in proficiency (that is, lan-
guage processing speed). In Japanese high school classrooms, long pauses follow-
ing individually directed questions were very commonly observed (see Chapter
3), and there is no need for verbalisation/vocalisation to hold the floor, since no
other students attempt to take over the turn, or the students expect their teacher
to speak for them. In the Australian context, however, silence seems to be inter-
preted as an intention to relinquish the right to speak or as a ‘cry for help.’ The
lecturer in Miki’s class shares her interpretation of the Australian students’ take-
over of Miki’s turn:

(24) [Interview: Dr. Telfer]
[...] I mean, by saying, by saying you spilled the...or whatever, by ..trying to
help her, they are also at the same time saying “I knew what the question was.”
It’s an assertion of ... they keeping up to that with the conversation as well as
assisting up Miki. I think.
. . . .
I think there’s two things going on at once. I think there was a genuine
concern, a number of Australian speakers that... they should, because, here we
are in Australia, here it is non native speakers, here we are in a course in
[intercultural communication], we should be helpful.
The lecturer’s interpretation of Miki’s silence appears to be that it is a proficiency-
related inability (“trying to help her” “non-native speakers”). It is interesting to see
the lecturer mentions intercultural awareness as part of the motivation for taking
over. A comment by Bill, one of the peer students, reveals a similar perspective: