Page 173 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

160 Silence in Intercultural Communication

tion appears to assume a hierarchical power relationship with the lecturer, Dr.
Lucas, while her peers were found to use more solidarity-oriented strategies with
him. The exchange below shows an incident, during her paper presentation, in
which Aya’s deference towards Dr. Lucas can be clearly seen:

(48) [Interaction: Aya]
5 Lect: What would you say if I tho:ught (.) that
6 your nineteen twenty three was a mistake.
7 (0.2) I thought it should read ninety thirty
8 three. (0.5) Do you think that’s possible?
9 (1.0)((Aya looks through the paper))
-> 10 Aya: Possible.=Yes, ve(h)ry very possib[le].
11 Lect: [um]:
12 Lect: Cause (0.3) the nineteen thirties are
13 great depression. (0.4) in Australia >in
14 most of Europe most of north America<. (0.4)
15 an- it certainly in South Australia.(0.4)
16 They put fees on. (0.2) in high schools.
17 (0.2) I’d be very surpri:sed if that
18 shouldn’t be ninety thirty three.
19 (1.3)
20 But I could be wrong. (.) I ˚( )˚.
21 (2.4) ((Aya looks through the paper))
22 Lect: Maybe it’s not worth checking now, b[ut ]
-> 23 Aya: [sor]ry=
24 Aya: =Yea.
25 (0.3)
26 Lect: But if it is ( ) (0.2) thirty three=
-> 27 Aya: =Oh no I haven’t-,

In the excerpt above, Dr. Lucas points out that the year 1923 which Aya has on
her handout may be a mistake. Aya replies that it is “very very possible” after one
second in which she turns the pages of the article on her lap. It is unlikely that Aya
spotted the error during the one second pause in line 9, as she still tries to find
the relevant page in the article between lines 19 and 21. This suggests that even
without having strong evidence of her error, she deferred to Dr. Lucas’ suggestion.
In line 27, Aya also blames herself (“Oh no I haven’t”) for the confusion. Notice
also that her apology (line 23) and agreement with Dr. Lucas’ suggestion to check
the facts later (line 30 “Yeah”) overlap with Dr. Lucas’ turns, and her admission of
her shortcomings (line 27) latches onto Dr. Lucas’ turn (line 26). Aya’s deference
to Dr. Lucas was also noticed by one of her peers: