Page 35 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

22 Silence in Intercultural Communication

performed by local students, Japanese students and lecturers. The structure of
silence of non-local and non-native speaker students in their encounters with lo-
cal students and lecturers in the classroom needs to be discussed empirically and
more systematically.
Finally, the silence of Japanese students themselves has not been given a fo-
cused discussion in this review of silence in classroom contexts. However, as ref-
erence to the silence of Japanese students in the existing literature has been made
throughout this literature review, a specific section for the discussion of silence
of Japanese students was considered unnecessary. Educational practices in Japan
which are often mentioned in literature on Japanese students’ silence will be dis-
cussed in greater detail in Chapter 3.

2.6 Silence in Japanese communication

2.6.1 The ‘silent Japanese’

The Japanese are one group who are often described as attaching strong values
to silence, and as making abundant use of silence (Barnlund 1975; Clancy 1986;
Davies & Ikeno 2002; Doi 1974; La Forge 1983; Lebra 1987; Loveday 1982). Lebra
(1987) states that “there are many indications that Japanese culture tilts toward si-
lence” (p. 343), and even goes on to say that “Japanese silence stands out not only in
comparison with Southern Europeans or New Yorkers but with East Asian neigh-
bours like Koreans and Chinese as well” (p. 344). Doi (1974) also makes a strong
statement that “Japanese just don’t talk much” (p. 22). This prevalence of silence is
often explained by the values attached to silence in Japanese culture. Lebra (1987)
presents four dimensions of silence in Japanese communication: truthfulness, so-
cial discretion, embarrassment in expression of love, and defiance. The first two
dimensions are related to a strong valuation of silence. As Clancy (1986) puts it,
the “Japanese have little faith in verbal expression or in those who rely upon it” (p.
214). This is supported by researchers such as Barnlund (1975), Kunihiro (1976),
Loveday (1982, 1986), Lucas (1984) and Pritchard (1995). This emphasis on silence
over verbal expression is further illustrated by numerous sayings and proverbs, as
listed in Loveday (1986): “To say nothing is a flower”; “Mouths are to eat with, not
to speak with”; “Close your mouth and open your eyes”; “Honey in his mouth, a
sword in his belly”; “Even a lie can be expedient” (p. 308). Furthermore, it has been
pointed out that the aesthetic value of silence has been explored to a great extent in
Japanese literature and arts (Saville-Troike 1985; Lebra 1987). Summarising Lebra
(1987), Maynard (1997) claims that silence in Japanese is “a communicative device
that can express many intentions and feelings” (p. 154).