Page 88 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 4. Perceptions of silence 75

The student who gave the second comment also mentioned that it is not only
the speed of each utterance but also the turn-taking which he finds too fast. The
following comment from a Japanese student on a web discussion page set up for
students enrolled in a linguistics course illustrates how Japanese students regard
1
the speed of interaction in Australian classrooms.
I am a Japanese and one of the surprising thing when I came to Australian uni-
versity was how much Australian students express their opinions during the lec-
ture. In [course name] class, it’s even more than other classes. I often find the way
students express their views is as if bullets are shooting. I mean very quick. For
Japanese student, sometimes it’s very hard to because of language handicap and
it’s speed and moreover, we don’t get used to this style of approach.
(Verbatim, my emphasis)
Another Japanese student’s experience suggests, at least from his point of view,
that native speakers may sometimes silence non-native speaker peers:

(9) If I struggle a bit, then often it was like, ‘all right, then,’ and the door was closed
for me. [20:87 F9]

These reactions to the speed of interaction suggest that norms of interaction prac-
tised in Australian classrooms may be different from those into which Japanese
students had been socialised. As we have seen in Chapter 3, there is almost no
competition for the floor in Japanese high school classes. In fact, one of the Japa-
nese interviewees said he was not very good at jumping into discussions in his
first language of Japanese either. Even after they arrive in Australia, Japanese stu-
dents seem to have less social contact outside class with local Australian students
than with international students from Asian countries, and this they consider to
be detrimental to their interactive competence in class. For example:
(10) If I had more Australian friends, my listening would get better. As you know,
because most of my friends are international students, I don’t worry about my
English and I enjoy communicating with them even if my English is wrong.
[30:1-2 F7]

The Macquarie University survey (Braddock et al. 1995) also indicates a strong
demand from international students for help with their interaction skills, includ-
ing the desire for knowledge of Australian slang. This indicates that it is the inter-
active skills required for discussions with local Australian-English speakers which
are difficult to improve.

1. The access to this web page was allowed through personal contact with the lecturer in
charge of the course (the language retains its original form).