Page 33 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

20 Silence in Intercultural Communication

“important sociolinguistic norms concern not only complex turn-taking rules but
also the content of such talk” (p. 286).
Furthermore, different sociolinguistic norms apply to the role of teacher in
the classroom. In Asian cultures, students are not to challenge their teachers, but
are expected to attend and receive knowledge. Jones (1999) points out that stu-
dents who come from cultures where they are “expected to behave as a respectful
and silent recipient of the teacher’s knowledge” (p. 248) may apply the same be-
haviour to the new educational environment of Western universities. She goes on
to argue that “inappropriate deference” (p. 249) may be adopted by Asian students
in the Western classroom, resulting in their marked passivity and silence (see also
Thorp 1991; Ballard & Clanchy 1991; Milner & Quilty 1996).
Different structures of classroom communication and communicative styles
which affect the silence of Asian students are also associated with an emphasis on
different types of knowledge. Ballard & Clanchy (1991) claim that Asian cultures
place value on the conservation of knowledge while Western cultures have an in-
clination towards the extension of knowledge. They argue that Asian cultures rote
learn through memorisation and repetition whereas in Western cultures critical
and analytical approaches to learning are emphasised (see also Milner & Quilty
1996). These claims suggest that discussions which take a critical and analytic
approach to content in the Western classroom may be considered irrelevant, or
make students from Asian cultures feel uncomfortable, again bringing on their
marked silence.
Finally, the value given to modesty and the importance of ‘face’ are also cited
in the literature as crucial factors in understanding Asian overseas students’ si-
lence. It is argued that volunteering answers or being voluble in class is likely to
be regarded as lacking in modesty. Anderson (1992: 103), for instance, refers to
a Japanese proverb “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down” when he com-
ments that Japanese students “are hesitant to talk in settings where they will stand
out in front of their peers.” On Hong Kong Chinese students’ silence in the ESL
classroom, Tsui (1996) also argues that students’ silence may result from their
inhibition due to a “maxim of modesty” in the classroom (p. 158).
However, in contrast to this valuing of modesty is a fear of loss of face. It has
been suggested that Asian students often regard asking questions as wasting time
and lacking consideration for other students (e.g. Milner & Quilty 1996; Thorp
1991), or as a face-threatening act for themselves because questioning can be inter-
preted as a lack of ability or intelligence (Milner & Quilty 1996). Citing the study of
Japanese children’s acquisition of communicative styles by Clancy (1986, discussed
above) along with a study of Japan-US intercultural communication by Bowers
(1988), Anderson (1992) argues that in Japanese communication there is a stron-
ger responsibility for the listener to interpret the message correctly than for the