Silence in Intercultural Communication

Perceptions and performance

Ikuko Nakane | University of Melbourne

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027254108 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027291776 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

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
Published online on 1 July 2008

https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.166

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements | p. ix

Transcription conventions | pp. xi–xii

Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 1–4

Chapter 2. A review of silence in intercultural communication | pp. 5–39

2.1 Overview
2.2 Preliminaries: Silence in communication
2.3 Silence in intercultural communication
2.4 Silence in multicultural classroom contexts
2.5 Silence of overseas students from Asia in the Anglo-mainstream classroom
2.6 Silence in Japanese communication
2.7 Summary: An overview of silence in intercultural communication
2.8 Interpreting silence

Chapter 3. The sociocultural context: Silence and talk in Japanese classrooms | pp. 41–67

3.1 Japanese high school classroom study
3.2 Linguistic domain
3.3. Socio-psychological domain
3.4 Cognitive domain
3.5 Summary: Japanese classroom practice and silence

Chapter 4. Perceptions of silence: From a macro-perspective | pp. 69–99

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Linguistic factors contributing to silence
4.3 Socio-psychological factors contributing to silence: Politeness orientations
4.4 Cognitive factors contributing to silence
4.5 Intentional and unintentional silence
4.6 Summary: Perceptions of silence in intercultural communication

Chapter 5. Performance and perceptions of silence: An empirical view | pp. 101–195

5.1 Introduction
5.2. Methodology of the case studies
5.3 Talk and silence in the case studies: Comparison of performance and perceptions
5.4 Linguistic factors contributing to silence
5.5 Socio-psychological factors contributing to silence
5.6 Cognitive factors contributing to silence
5.7. Summary of the chapter

Chapter 6. Re-interpreting silence in intercultural communication | pp. 197–208

6.1 Introduction
6.2 What is 'silence'?
6.3 The roles of factors affecting silence at different levels of social organisation
6.4 Rethinking 'the silent East': Perceptions and performance

Appendix 1 | p. 221

Appendix 2 | pp. 223–224

Appendix 3 | p. 225

Appendix 4 | pp. 227–228

Appendix 5 | pp. 229–231

Appendix 6 | p. 233

Author index | pp. 235–236

Subject index | pp. 237–239

“[...] 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

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