Silence and Politeness in Chinese University Classes

摘 要: 纵观世界很多国家的学生都偏向于在课堂上保持沉默。有专家曾对这种现象提出了八种可能。本文针对中国外语类高校学生在课堂中保持沉默的原因做一简要分析,目的在于帮助教师正确理解学生的沉默现象,从而提高教学质量。

关键词: 学生; 沉默现象; 原因

中图分类号: G427文献标识码: A文章编号: 1009-8631(2010)03-0101-01

Abstract: students from many countries choose to be silent when questions are raised in classes. According to an expert, there might be eight reasons. This paper focus on the reason for the silence phenomenon of Chinese foreign language majors, with the aim of improving pedagogy.

Key words: students; silence; reason

Introduction

politeness is frequently observed and studied in many fields, including the field of linguistics. It refers to the means people use to show their realization of another person’s face. Politeness can be expressed through communicative or non-communicative acts (Fe’Lix-Brasdefer, 2006). Studies related to politeness have been done from different perspectives, among which silence and politeness is an important one. What constitutes politeness varies from culture to culture (Eastman, 1990). In one context, silence may be regarded as gold; But in another one, silence will be seen negatively (Armstrong, 2007). Verschueren (1985) raises eight causes of silence, 1. The speaker do not want to talk; 2. The speaker cannot decide what to say next; 3. The speaker cannot speak because of some strong emotions; 4. The speaker have nothing to say; 5. The speaker has forgotten what s/he will say; 6. Others are speaking; 7. The speaker wants to hide something; 8. The speaker is indifferent. Nakane (2006) run a research on the Japanese students who studied in the University of Melbourne, and he found the Japanese students frequently kept silent in classes to save face for themselves and also for teachers. Zhou, Knoke & Sakamato (2005) studied chinese students in Canadian universities, and they found students used silence as a strategy to maintain harmony. In India, children are also encouraged to learn by observing and listening to teachers quietly. (Heit, 1987). However, Liu (2002) interviewed three Chinese graduate students who studied in states. Based on the students, they kept silent as they were internally processing the knowledge or they had no interest in the topic. All these show there are various reasons for students’ silence in classes. Relevant studies are scarce in China, where many students prefer to keep silent in classes. Hence it is necessary and meaningful to find out the reason with the aim of improving teaching and learning.

Context

Chinese are deeply influenced by Confucianism, which emphasize the didactic and teacher-centered way of teaching (Zhou, Knoke, et al., 2005). Chinese believe as a member of a community, they should try to subordinate themselves to the group or society to maintain harmony (Yu, 2003). Chinese also value face, named as “mian zi” in mandarin. “To be polite” in Chinese discourse is to know how to attend to each other’s mian zi.

Methodology and data analysis

The students involved in this study are from Xi’an International Studies university. They are randomly selected from the English Education School. Their ages range from 18 to 21. Altogether 23 students were interviewed, including 6 males and 17 females. The methodology I used is semi-structured interview. All the interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. When asked about whether they had the experience of keeping silent in classes when questions were given, all the students answered yes. And most of them said the reasons for this were they were not sure about the answer, and they did not want to lose face in front of teachers and the class by giving wrong answers. When asked when they felt confused about a topic or when they found some mistakes in teachers’ instructions, whether they would point it out. Most said they might do so after class, for they do not want to threat teachers’ faces. One example is provided here.

(A is the interviewer, and B is the interviewee)

A: Have you ever kept silent in Classes? Why?

B: Yes. Because I am lack of confidence. When I am not sure about the answer, I’d prefer to keep silent. I do not want to be laughed at.

A: are you active or quiet in classes?

B: I try to be active, as I do not want to affect teacher’s emotion.

A: If mistakes made by teachers are found, will you tell him/her?

B: Yes. But only after class, as I do not want to make him/her lose face.

Conclusion

From the study, I find students from the English Education School of XISU keep silent in classes in order to save faces for themselves and teachers, as they are deeply influenced by Confucianism. The finding helps us to better understand why Chinese students always keep silent in classes. So that strategies may be used to enhance teaching and learning. But further studies are also needed to better the current research.

Reference

1. Armstrong, P. (2007). Observing Silence. 48th National Conference and the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE).

2. Eastman, C. M. (1990). Aspects of Language and Culture. Novato, Chandler & Sharp Publisher.

3. Fe’lix-Brasdefer, J. C. (2006). Linguistic Politeness in Mexico: Refusal Strategies among Male Speakers of Mexican Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics, 38, 2158-2187.

4. Heit, M.(1987). Communication Styles of Indian Peoples. AWASIS Journal, 11.

5. Liu, J.(2002). Negotiating Silence in American Classrooms: Three Chinese Cases. Language and Intercultural Communication, 2, 37-54.

6. Verschueren, J. (1985). What People Say They Do With Words. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

7.Yu, M. C. (2003). On the Universality of Face: Evidence from Chinese Compliment Response Behavior. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 1679-1710.

8. Zhou, Y. R., Knoke, D. & Sakamato, I. (2005). Rethinking Silence in The Classroom: Chinese Students’ Experiences of Sharing Indigenous Knowledge. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 9, 287-311.