Page 91 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

78 Silence in Intercultural Communication

the floor for a period of time, while students listen and take notes. It is possible,
however, to find students interrupting or jumping in to ask questions or make
comments.
Among these participant structures, Japanese students did not describe
themselves as silent when they were nominated by the teacher individually (1),
interacting with the teacher in one-on-one situations (2) or giving a presentation
(6). Some of the Japanese students said that the only time they spoke is when they
were nominated by the lecturer:
(13) Usually I end up observing. If I am nominated, I say something. [28:97 F4]

(14) [...] normally the only time I open my mouth is when she [the lecturer]
nominates me and ask ‘What do you think [the student’s name]?’ or ‘How
about you?’ [2:140 M1]

One-on-one private talk was found to be preferred and more frequent than public
interaction:
(15) It’s no problem to talk one-on-one or privately, but I don’t like talking in
public. [28:43 F3]

In the interviews, active participation by Japanese students in small group discus-
sion (3) was referred to. One of the students even mentioned that she often takes
a leading role in small group discussions to keep the discussion on track. The ab-
sence of Japanese students’ participation in whole class discussions (4) contrasts
with their participation in small group discussions:

(16) Well... in group discussion, I talk a lot, but usually, I don’t know, in open, open
discussion, what can I say, I am left behind. [30:93 F7]
These tendencies for participation reflect the Japanese high school classroom
practices (discussed in Chapter 3) in which students rarely volunteer in public,
on-the-record contexts but take a relaxed approach to conversing with the teacher
and peers in unofficial, off-the-record contexts.
With regard to the discussion after a student’s own presentation, it appears
that the mode of participation in this participant structure is passive, as implied
in the following comments:

(17) I: And when people started to talk in these presentations in Asian Studies
courses, how do you respond to it as a presenter?
F5: How? Well, I just listen. (giggle) [17:165 F5]