Page 54 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

chapter 3

The sociocultural context

Silence and talk in Japanese classrooms

Before looking at the studies in silence in Japanese-Australian interaction in the
classroom, which is the core of this book, I will discuss silence and talk in Japanese
classroom practice in this chapter, with an aim to set the context for the inter-
cultural studies. The discussion here is primarily based on my study on silence
in Japanese high school classrooms. While the main focus is silence in Japanese
classroom practice, references will also be made to comparative studies of Japanese
and Australian classroom cultures relevant for my discussion and important as
background information for the intercultural studies discussed later in the book.

3.1 Japanese high school classroom study

During two visits to Japan in 1999 and 2001, I carried out classroom observa-
tions in two Japanese high schools. In an ethnographic approach to intercultural
communication, it is crucial to look at participants’ culturally patterned “ways of
speaking” (Hymes 1974b) as well as wider social organisation, values and beliefs,
and norms of behaviour (Scollon & Scollon 1995). Thus, the Japanese high school
classroom study was undertaken in order to provide some insights into the cul-
turally pattered norms of students educated in Japan, especially in terms of class-
room communication styles, teaching and learning styles, attitudes to learning,
relationship between teacher and students, and so on. 1
In June 1999, four sessions in different subject areas were observed for 90
minutes each at a co-educational private high school in Tokyo. In January 2001,
six sessions in different subject areas were observed for 50 minutes each at a co-
educational public high school in Tokyo. For reasons of confidentiality, I refer
to the private school as Fuji High School and the public school as Tokyo High
School.

1. Over half of the Japanese participants in my Australian university studies (in Chapter 4
and 5) came to Australia without university classroom experience in Japan, and those who had
university classroom experience in Japan had completed their high school education in Japan.