Full Description
Silence is a key pedagogical issue in language education. Seen by some as a space for thinking and reflection during the learning process, for others silence represents a threat, inhibiting target language interaction which is so vital during second language acquisition. This book eschews stereotypes and generalisations about why so many learners from East Asia seem either reluctant or unable to speak in English by providing a state-of-the art account of current research into the complex and ambiguous issue of silence in language education. The innovative research included in this volume focuses on silence both as a barrier to successful learning and as a resource that may in some cases facilitate language acquisition. The book offers a fresh perspective on ways to facilitate classroom interaction while also embracing silence and it touches on key pedagogical concepts such as teacher cognition, the role of task features, classroom interactional approaches, pedagogical intervention and socialisation, willingness to communicate, as well as psychological and sociocultural factors. Each of the book's chapters include self-reflection and discussion tasks, as well as annotated bibliographies for further reading.
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1. Seiko Harumi and Jim King: East Asian Perspectives on Silence in English Language Education: An Introduction
Chapter 2. Dat Bao: Silence, Talk, and In-betweens: East-Asian Students' Responses to Task Challenge in an Australian University
Chapter 3. Seiko Harumi: Approaches to Interacting with Classroom Silence: The Role of Teacher Talk
Chapter 4. Jim King, Tomoko Yashima, Simon Humphries, Scott Aubrey and Maiko Ikeda: Silence and Anxiety in the English-medium Classroom of Japanese Universities: A Longitudinal Intervention Study
Chapter 5. Kate Maher: A Cognitive-behavioural Theory-based Approach to Examining L2 Learners' Silent Behaviour and Anxiety in the Classroom
Chapter 6. Michael Karas and Farahnaz Faez: Communicative Language Teaching and Silence: Chinese (pre-service) Teachers' Perspectives
Chapter 7. Simon Humphries, Nobuhiko Akamatsu, Takako Tanaka and Anne Burns: Silence in Japanese Classrooms: Activities and Factors in Capacities to Speak English
Chapter 8. Jian-E Peng: Willing Silence and Silent Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in the Chinese EFL Classroom: A Dynamic Systems Perspective
Chapter 9. Amy B M Tsui and Rintaro Imafuku: Silence in EFL Classrooms Revisited
