Page 47 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

34 Silence in Intercultural Communication

In the context of intercultural communication explored in this book, the
Japanese and Australian participants bring with them sociocultural norms of in-
teraction which they have acquired through socialisation into their native com-
munities (cf. Gumperz 1982). Such norms of interaction are essential elements
of sociocultural background which is likely to have an impact on participants’
communicative behaviour in intercultural communication. In my research into
silence in Japanese-Australian classroom interaction, such information was ob-
tained from a study of Japanese high school classroom practice (see Chapter 3),
interviews of Japanese participants in Australia and other written materials col-
lected in Japan and in Australia (see Chapter 4).
However, it is easy to fall into the trap of ‘cultural differences’ – to interpret
communicative behaviour according to cultural stereotypes. There is a common
assumption in sociolinguistics that participants in interaction modify their com-
municative behaviour in cross-cultural encounters (e.g. Giles et al. 1973; Giles
& Smith 1979; Neustupný 1995, 2004). Thus, what is important for analysis of
intercultural communication is not finding cultural differences to explain the par-
ticipants’ behaviour but understanding in what context and in what way partici-
pants modify or assert their cultural norms, or accommodate to the other party’s
cultural norms. It is for this purpose that I conducted three classroom case studies
involving microanalysis of recorded classroom interaction and follow-up inter-
views with participants. Later in Chapter 5, I aim to demonstrate what contextual
factors specific to a particular ‘situated activity’ affect participation in interaction
and how these factors are intertwined in negotiation of participation at the ‘situ-
ational’ level of social organisation. For example, as we will see later, the same
student may be silent in one context but articulate in another because of different
levels of rapport among classroom participants or different structures of partici-
pation organised by the lecturer.
Finally, it is also crucial to take into consideration variables at the individual
level. Participants may remain silent where talk is expected, due to factors such
as lack of language proficiency, introverted personality and gaps in knowledge.
Other impact on participation may relate to individual differences in the level of
familiarity with a topic. The impact of factors at the individual level will also be
shown in Chapter 5, where I discuss the case studies, in relation to various other
contextual factors as well as sociocultural factors.
My attempt to capture as many types of silence as possible that may become
salient in intercultural communication required a combination of a macro-level
approach (ethnographic interviews) and a micro-level approach (case studies in-
volving microanalysis of naturally occurring interaction). As a consequence of
this attempt, combined with triangulation of analytic approaches, I arrived at
the framework proposed above. In the following chapters, the framework will