Page 168 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence 155

5.5.1 Silence as a strategy to maintain positive face of the self

The Japanese students’ comments in the interviews suggested that silence is often
used as a strategy to avoid loss of their own positive face (see Chapter 4, Section
4.3.1). This strategy can generally be found in the low frequency of self-selected
turns in the case studies, especially in the cases of Tadashi and Miki. The discus-
sion in Chapter 4 showed that a lack of confidence in language proficiency as
well as an awareness of inadequate background knowledge were found to inhibit
voluntary participation. What is interesting is that none of the three Japanese stu-
dents gave lack of confidence as a reason for their overall silence. Rather, they
attributed their silence to inability: namely, lack of knowledge, understanding, or
interactional skills. The ‘inability’ explanations are valid in a number of ways, as
we have seen in the struggle with turn-taking above, and, as we will see later in
Section 5.6.2, there are topics which place Japanese students at a disadvantage due
to limited experience in, and limited cultural knowledge of, Australia. However,
there were also signs of face-saving silences found in the case studies. The excerpt
below shows an example, from Case Study 1, where Tadashi remained silent while
the lecturer, Ms. Hardy, tried to bring him into the discussion. This exchange
follows the ‘take-over’ of the turn specifically allocated for Tadashi, when he was
asked about the difference between a trade and profession (excerpt (26), (28)
above). He had not discussed the relevant part of the task, and by avoiding eye
contact with the lecturer when she cues for Tadashi’s participation, he manages
to maintain his face:

(44) [Interaction: Tadashi, Teaching as a Profession]
-> 99 Lect: That’s- that’s true. Can- (.) just come back,
-> 99a Lect: ((opens hand and point to Tadashi and WY))
100 (0.4)
101 Gary: [and] there is a secret ( ).=
102 Lect: [um ]
103 Lect: =there’s other parts.= [That’s right.]
-> 103a Tadashi: ((leans forward to look at the task))
104 Class: [huh huh huh] huh
105 ((class laugh and talk 1.3))
106 Lect: *[that I want you to bear with, (.)
-> 107 Quickly I know you- I] feel sa:me here
108 just for a few more minutes. (0.2)
109 hhhhh
110 (0.4)
111 Lect: Please, da [ha huh huh huh huh ] huh