Silence in Intercultural Communication
Perceptions and performance
| University of Melbourne
How and why is silence used interculturally? Approaching the phenomenon of silence from multiple perspectives, this book shows how silence is used, perceived and at times misinterpreted in intercultural communication. Using a model of key aspects of silence in communication – linguistic, cognitive and sociopsychological – and fundamental levels of social organization – individual, situational and sociocultural - the book explores the intricate relationship between perceptions and performance of silence in interaction involving Japanese and Australian participants. Through a combination of macro- and micro- ethnographic analyses of university seminar interactions, the stereotypes of the ‘silent East’ is reconsidered, and the tension between local and sociocultural perspectives of intercultural communication is addressed. The book has relevance to researchers and students in intercultural pragmatics, discourse analysis and applied linguistics.
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 166] 2007. xii, 240 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgements
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ix
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Transcription conventions
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xi–xii
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Chapter 1. Introduction
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1–4
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Chapter 2. A review of silence in intercultural communication
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5–39
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2.1 Overview
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5
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2.2 Preliminaries: Silence in communication
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5
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2.3 Silence in intercultural communication
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12
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2.4 Silence in multicultural classroom contexts
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16
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2.5 Silence of overseas students from Asia in the Anglo-mainstream classroom
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18
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2.6 Silence in Japanese communication
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22
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2.7 Summary: An overview of silence in intercultural communication
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30
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2.8 Interpreting silence
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31
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Chapter 3. The sociocultural context: Silence and talk in Japanese classrooms
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41–67
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3.1 Japanese high school classroom study
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41
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3.2 Linguistic domain
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43
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3.3. Socio-psychological domain
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52
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3.4 Cognitive domain
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60
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3.5 Summary: Japanese classroom practice and silence
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66
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Chapter 4. Perceptions of silence: From a macro-perspective
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69–99
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4.1 Introduction
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69
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4.2 Linguistic factors contributing to silence
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72
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4.3 Socio-psychological factors contributing to silence: Politeness orientations
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84
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4.4 Cognitive factors contributing to silence
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91
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4.5 Intentional and unintentional silence
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97
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4.6 Summary: Perceptions of silence in intercultural communication
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98
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Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence: An empirical view
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101–195
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5.1 Introduction
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101
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5.2. Methodology of the case studies
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103
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5.3 Talk and silence in the case studies: Comparison of performance and perceptions
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107
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5.4 Linguistic factors contributing to silence
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115
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5.5 Socio-psychological factors contributing to silence
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154
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5.6 Cognitive factors contributing to silence
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171
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5.7. Summary of the chapter
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193
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Chapter 6. Re-interpreting silence in intercultural communication
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197–208
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6.1 Introduction
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197
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6.2 What is 'silence'?
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197
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6.3 The roles of factors affecting silence at different levels of social organisation
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199
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6.4 Rethinking 'the silent East': Perceptions and performance
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203
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References
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209–219
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Appendix 1
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221
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Appendix 2
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223–224
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Appendix 3
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225
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Appendix 4
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227–228
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Appendix 5
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229–231
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Appendix 6
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233
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Author index
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235–236
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Subject index
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237–239
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“[...] Nakane's work fills an important gap in the field by providing an in-depth understanding of silence in the multicultural classroom context. The book is particularly relevant for graduate students interested in carrying out research in the area of silence, intercultural communication and classroom discourse. Because the book explicates the intricate nature of silence, it would also be of interest to lecturers teaching students coming from a variety of countries, cultures and educational backgrounds and to native-English-speaking students studying in multicultural classrooms.”
Sibil Tatar, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, in Discourse & Communication, Vol. 3(1), 2009
Cited by
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2008. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED (Through December 18, 2007).
Language in Society 37:3 ► pp. 485 ff. 
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2015.
In The Semantics of Chinese Music [Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts, 5],
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2018.
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2015.
In The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction,
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TESOL Quarterly 43:2 ► pp. 203 ff.
Ghavamnia, Maedeh & Saeed Ketabi
2015. Voices from the voiceless: Iranian EFL students' attitudes toward English.
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 9:2 ► pp. 102 ff.
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Communication Education 69:2 ► pp. 155 ff.
Ha, Phan Le & Binghui Li
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2015. The Perceived Value of Silence and Spoken Words in Malaysian Interactions.
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2019. Intersections of silence and empathy in heritage practice.
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Matei, Mădălina-Georgiana
2013. The Linguistic Mechanisms of Trauma Discourse.
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Moghaddam, Azadeh Sharifi, Golnaz Chavoshi & Vahideh Abolhasani Zadeh
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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 136 ► pp. 250 ff.
Nakane, Ikuko
2012.
In The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication,
► pp. 158 ff.
O’Connell, Daniel C. & Sabine Kowal
2012.
In Dialogical Genres,
► pp. 167 ff.
Perez, Isabelle
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Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 18:1 ► pp. 127 ff.
Rober, Peter & Paul C. Rosenblatt
2017. Silence and Memories of War: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Family Secrecy.
Family Process 56:1 ► pp. 250 ff.
Ryan, Jonathon & Leslie Forrest
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Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching ► pp. 1 ff.
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2020. Social Cognition of Temporality and Environment: Lingua Franca
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 06 november 2020. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Communication Studies
BIC Subject: CFG – Semantics, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General