Qualitative Inquires Of Silence In Classroom Interaction For English Majors In A Chinese University

Classroom silence has become a widespread phenomenon in teaching places(Shi Guangjun,2017).Some scholars have shown that classroom silence will cause teachers and students to be emotionally depressed,leading to a depressing the classroom atmosphere and a less effective teaching results.However,some scholars have found that classroom silence is a prelude to students ’brilliant ideas(Zhou Jie,2012),a process of students’ awakening(Schultz,2012),even a means for students to defend themselves against authority mainly from teachers(Yang Xue,2019).This study attempts to present the phenomena of silence in the classroom interaction and explore the possible causes of silence among sophomore students majored in English in a local university in Henan Province.Cultural complexities of silence are also considered in the analysis.Classroom observation and semi-structured interviews are employed to collect the opinions and perspectives of the teachers and students that experienced in the classroom.It is found that English majors have experienced silence of various kinds.This is closely related to teachers’ instructional style,questioning strategies,methods of teaching language.Students’ language capacity,the need for face-saving,the habit of respecting teachers,and examination culture lead the students to keep silent.While taking notes,flipping books,reading PowerPoint and preparing for the speech should be also taken as a form of positive silence in classroom.My classroom observation indicated that the poor teaching effectiveness from teachers and language capacity from students can lead to negative classroom silence.If this type of silence is not reasonably cleared and guided,classroom teaching may fall into long-term collective silence and become a stumbling block for effective teaching.This research tries to explore the causes of classroom silence in English majors from four aspects: students,teachers,classrooms,and culture.Findings can be displayed as follows :(1)Students’ factors are the primary factors for learners to choose passive silence or active participation.(2)Teachers are the key factors for students to participate in class or maintain silence.(3)The classroom atmosphere is a potential active factor that affects students’ classroom participation or silence.(4)Cultural value orientations mentioned above have a profound impact on students’ classroom participation or silence.In summary,silence is a complex cultural phenomena.Teachers,students,classroom environment,and cultural value orientation influence each other and interact with each other,thereby affecting classroom teaching.This research aims at providing a broader perspective of dealing with the phenomena of silence in the classroom to help improve the effectiveness of English classroom teaching.