Page 151 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

138 Silence in Intercultural Communication

(31) [Interaction: Aya ]

204 Lect: All high schools (0.4) were selective high
205 schools (0.3) until a:fter World War Two.
-> 206 (11.2)
-> 207 Aya: And the fourth one, (0.2) What assumptions
208 were made (.) about curricula (.)
209 appropriate to females and males?
In comparison, however, a typical example of an Australian student’s initiating
move to the next question in a similar context, in the same subject, is given be-
low:

(32) [Interaction: Aya]

1 Lect: It's a huge social revolution. (0.5) with
2 with all sorts of terrible consequences
3 (I think).
4 (1.6)
-> 5 Robin: Okay, (0.2) ↑what led to high schools
6 taking this approach to youth.
Robin initiates a shift to the next question after allowing a silent pause of 1.6 sec-
onds, which is significantly shorter than the length Aya allowed. The initiation of
the shift is also marked by “okay,” instead of more inexplicit “um” or “and” often
used by Aya. “Okay” here serves as a boundary marker to signal the shift in the fo-
cus of discussion (see Beach 1993; Dorr-Bremme 1990; Hatch 1992; Rendle-Short
2000; Schiffrin 1987; Sinclair & Coulthard 1975). The following excerpt shows
Aya using “and” in a similar context and being intercepted by Dr. Lucas.

(33) [Interaction: Aya]
169 Lect: Another (King) School Parramatta, what
170 he wanted (Fort street) today. But um
171 (0.3) it’s not to be so:.
172 (2.2)
-> 173 Aya: °And°
174 (0.9)
175 Lect: A love hate relationship=I would say ( ).
176 (2.3)
-> 177 Aya: Um (0.6) third question? (.) Um were the
178 early state high schools founded on
179 principals of universal or meritocra (.)
180 tic? Access.