Page 175 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

162 Silence in Intercultural Communication

The excerpt below is part of the excerpt from Case study 1, already shown
in Section 5.4.2. It shows Tadashi remaining silent (line 33) after being counter-
questioned by the lecturer.

(51) [Interaction: Tadashi, Teaching as a Profession]

17 WY: U:m (0.5) my definition of a profession is:
18 u:m (0.4) actually (0.2) a occupation,
19 (0.2)
20 Lect: Mm hm?
21 WY: Uh: but um (0.4) who got thi: (0.5) um e-
22 expert on (a special) field?
23 Lect: Mm: hm?=
24 WY: =Yeah.
25 (0.4)
26 Tadashi: An- to be paid for (too).=
27 WY: =Yea:h.
28 Lect: And what? Sorry?
29 Tadashi: Um to be paid for?
30 (0.3)
31 Lect: Paid for?=So what to do with
32 (discriminating) a profession and a trade.
-> 33 (1.5)((Tadashi looks down, hands on chin))
34 Kylie: [You have to study to]
35 Gary: [You have to use ni]fty ja:rgon (.) if
36 you are a professional (0.2)
Judging from the simultaneous participation by the two students in lines 34 and
35, Tadashi’s silence is interpreted as an indirect message that he does not know
the answer. Tadashi mentioned in the follow-up interview that he did not have
confidence and he was not sure, but he also said that he had not discussed all the
issues in his task. The length of his silence seems long enough to entitle others to
speak (cf. Jefferson 1989) and his non-verbal behaviour also suggests that he is
not sure of the answer. Silence in combination with these indicators can be inter-
preted as an “off-record” politeness strategy.
In the next example (also presented in Section 5.4.2), an Australian student,
Molly, asks a question in relation to Miki’s presentation on backchanneling across
cultures. Initially, Miki asks a clarification question (line 67), but after that, she
remains silent while Molly tries to elicit a response from her.