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Chapter 2. A review of silence in intercultural communication 39

marked speech by participants. Norms of relevance are an element which overlap
the socio-psychological and cognitive domains.

2.8.3 The relationships and weight of factors

As can be seen from the discussion above, the factors listed in the model are not
completely independent from one another but can be mutually reinforcing. For
example, silence may result when, as a consequence of lack of language proficien-
cy, participants cannot find an appropriate linguistic expression, but this can in
turn affect their confidence and lead to inhibition about participation, which can
be explained as second language anxiety. As for silences due to time required for
cognitive processing, if the need for thinking time is longer for some participants
than for others, silence can also be regarded as a result of a gap in time required
for cognitive processing which varies across different speech communities.
In addition, as has been mentioned, these aspects of communication have
overlapping elements. For example, language processing time is not only affected
by lexico-grammatical proficiency but also by the thinking speed of individuals
which is not necessarily related to language proficiency. Perceptions of linguistic
competence can also be related to both the linguistic and the socio-psychological
aspects of communication. Silence which is likely to occur due to a gap in so-
ciocultural norms of relevance can be considered to come from what constitutes
‘knowledge’ in both cognitive and socio-psychological terms.
Although the model manages to show what factors are involved in the con-
struction of silence in intercultural communication, it is not always possible to
claim which of these are more significant than others, or are regarded as being
more significant. In my research, as will be shown in the following chapters, some
participants explain silence with lack of language proficiency, while others give
sociocultural difference as an explanation. The case studies will also demonstrate
that each case of silence varies in its causal factors and their relative weights. By
investigating patterns of use and interpretations of silence by members from dif-
ferent communities and comparing such patterns with the results of a microeth-
nographic analysis, it is possible to suggest which factor is likely to be playing a
major role in the construction of a particular case of silence in a specific context
of interaction.