Page 192 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence 179

23 Chris: And it was interesting cause um (0.2) there
24 was a there was a bit of difference in our
25 marks and we ‘oh oh:’ (0.2) and actually
26 get ( ) my teacher was obviously
27 somewhat quiet because we do hers.
28 (0.3)
This type of recounting of one’s own experience was frequent among the local
Australian students. In example (29) (Section 5.4.2), Tamara recounts her expe-
rience as a student of being in a class of mixed students levels (line 11 onwards,
“my history teacher, ... I remember we used to...”). In the same excerpt, Kylie also
attempts to tell her own experience (line 17, “we did two...”). Similarly, as men-
tioned earlier, the Teaching as a Profession class was full of stories from the stu-
dents’ experiences in their teaching practicum. Tadashi, however, did not make
this type of contribution at all in either of the two classes.
Australian students’ comments were not limited to their own experiences,
but often related to their own life and people around them outside university. For
example, in the Teaching as a Profession class, a student argued with another stu-
dent regarding his comment that a profession is “knowledge based” while a trade
is “obscure” (example (28), Section 5.4.2) by referring to what her own father does
as a tradesperson. In the case of Tadashi, these types of comments were not made,
but rather his contribution was dedicated to neutral, technical and impersonal
matters. For example, when Tadashi and his peer partner Wong Young were asked
to give comments in example (51) (Section 5.4.2), Tadashi offered a comment “to
be paid for” to explain the meaning of “profession” (lines 26 and 29). The question
he was responding to was “What is a profession?” which was followed by “What
distinguishes profession from trade?” and “What does it mean to be a profes-
sional?” Ms. Hardy recalls that incident and commented on Tadashi’s response:

(73) [Interview: Ms. Hardy]
[...] that was quite a detailed - I remember that question - there was a lot
wanted from that question there. And to just make those sort of observations,
they’re very thin.

(74) [Interview: Ms. Hardy]
[The responses from Tadashi and Wong Young are] bit shallow. (laugh) And -
and yeah the fact is you see I let them go. That’s - I do that all the time. I let -
I let them go and defer to someone who has much more to - to hear.
In fact, Ms. Hardy had taught Tadashi and Wong Young in her class in another
subject the previous semester, and she described the type of contribution obtained
from Tadashi and Wong Young in her comment below: