Page 160 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence 147

The coding results show that Miki actually volunteered her comments a few times,
but Dr. Telfer was correct that Miki never asked a question except for confirma-
tion questions in her Presentation Discussion.
The above comment by the lecturer suggests that voluntary questioning and
commenting is expected from students, and those who speak only when selected
by others may be perceived as “unconfident” and “shy.” This perception can have
particular consequences. In the excerpt below, Miki is supported by the lecturer
in securing a turn:
(38) [Interaction: Miki]

36 Tomo: So I think (.) the students who come
37 from Japa:n or uh Korea China or
38 ( ), um:: might find
39 ( ) difficult I think.(0.3)
40 (Yeah.)
41 (0.2)((Miki moves her gaze away from Tomo))
42 Miki: ye[ah] ((tilts her head; gazes towards Lect))
43 Lect: [Mi]ki, wh[at do you thi]nk.
44 Miki: [when I am in]
45 Miki: when I (0.3) when I am asked to: (0.2) give
46 my own opinion,(0.3) I have to take some
47 time to think (0.5) what my opinion is,
48 (0.3) why I (do) this (0.7) argument,
49 cause (0.6) even when I was writing (0.3)
50 something in Japan for school (0.2) work for
51 homework, (0.4) I wasn’t asked to: (.) give
52 (0.3) my opinion.
In this Cross-cultural communication class, the class discussion was on classroom
discourse across cultures. Tomo, a visiting scholar from Japan, comments on Asian
students finding it difficult to express their own opinions. At line 42, Miki says
“yeah,” moving her gaze towards the lecturer, which seems to indicate her wish to
make a comment. The lecturer catches the gaze and immediately nominates her, as
if she is trying to secure the turn for Miki. Miki’s willingness to comment can be
detected by her early and overlapping start in line 44. Thus, she may not have need-
ed the encouragement in this particular occasion. It is possible that the lecturer
acted on the assumption that Miki needed to be encouraged. As mentioned before,
Dr. Telfer commented that Miki’s Australian peers “do not need encouragement.”
The results above suggest that lack of participation by self-selection affected
the perceptions of the Japanese student’s marked silences. However, these silences
were not explicitly associated with lack of competence by the lecturer. Neverthe-