Page 98 - Silence in Intercultural Communication

Chapter 4. Perceptions of silence 85

The fear of negative evaluation due to lack of sufficient preparation for class or an
inadequate grasp of the subject matter were given by other Japanese students as
causes for their silence. Below is an example:

(29) How can I say, something ‘wrong,’ in Japan, saying something ‘wrong’ is well
not quite bad, but somehow it’s like shameful, if you say something wrong, you
feel embarrassed, and that sort of thing I still have with me. So yeah I hate
saying something wrong, in front of people. [28:48 F3]

What is important to note here is that this is unlike the standard interpretation
of politeness strategies as ways to save the addressee’s face, as in the study of the
silences of hearing-impaired people by Jaworski & Stephens (1998), where silence
was used in group conversation to avoid imposition on others to slow down or
speak louder for them. In my study, the Japanese student silence described above
is employed to protect their positive face, which “includes the desire to be ratified,
understood, approved of, liked or admired” (Brown & Levinson 1987: 62). From
their point of view, the threat to their own positive face is too great for them to
participate.
For example, one student, discussing student participation in a postgraduate
teacher training program, stated that she would not speak if she lacked experience
in the specific areas discussed in class, whereas some of her peers, although less
experienced, would participate:
(30) Even someone who is not so much older than me, they would acknowledge
their lack of experience, but they have spent longer time as students than
teachers and they talk about it… Yeah. I find more people who speak out even
if they don’t have enough experience. [20:35 F9]

On the other hand, she said she spoke more often about education in Japan, since
she had relevant knowledge and experience as the only Japanese student in the
group.
Interestingly, being aware of the consequences of silence, and in order to en-
hance confidence, and thus their own positive face, some students went to class
with prepared comments or responses to questions which would be asked in class.
One student spoke to the lecturer after one class and asked for the questions for the
next class so that he could prepare his comments at home. He also asked the lectur-
er to nominate him for these comments so that he would not miss out by failing to
jump into the discussion. Another student made an arrangement with a classmate
to have a question and an answer ready before his presentation. Opportunities for
preparation allowed the Japanese students to avoid saying something ‘wrong’ both
in terms of content and language and thus to reduce the risk of face loss.