Table Of ContentSilence in English Language Pedagogy
Silenceinlanguagelearningiscommonlyviewednegatively,withlanguage
teachersoftenstrugglingtointerpretlearnersilenceandidentifywhetheritis
part of communication, mental processing, or low engagement. This book
addressessilenceinlanguagepedagogyfromapositiveperspective,translat-
ingresearchintopracticeinordertoinformteachingandadvocategreateruse
ofpositivesilenceintheclassroom.Thefirsthalfofthebookexaminesthe
existingresearchintosilenceand,thesecondhalfprovidesresearch-informed
practicalstrategiesandclassroomtasks.Itoffersapplicableprinciplesfortask
designthatutilisesrichresources,whichincludevisualarts,mentalrepresen-
tation, poetry, music, and other innovative tools, to allow both silence and
speech to express their respective and inter-related roles in learning.
Comprehensiveyetaccessible,itisessentialreadingforacademicresearchers
andstudentsinappliedlinguistics,TESOL,andlanguageteaching,aswellas
forlanguageteachersandeducators.
datbaoisSeniorLectureratMonashUniversity,Australia.Heiseditor-in-
chief of the Journal of Silence Studies in Education. Notable publications
includeUnderstandingSilenceandReticence(Bloomsbury,2014).
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Silence in English Language
Pedagogy
From Research to Practice
Dat Bao
MonashUniversity,Victoria
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781316519868
DOI:10.1017/9781009019460
©DatBao2023
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisions
ofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytake
placewithoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress&Assessment.
Firstpublished2023
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Bao,Dat,author.
Title:SilenceinEnglishlanguagepedagogy:fromresearchtopractice/DatBao,
MonashUniversity,Victoria.
Description:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2023.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2022055097|ISBN9781316519868(hardback)|ISBN
9781009011273(paperback)|ISBN9781009019460(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Englishlanguage–Studyandteaching–Foreignspeakers.|
Silence.|Secondlanguageacquisition.
Classification:LCCPE1128.A2B3132023|DDC428.0071–dc23/eng/20221205
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022055097
ISBN978-1-316-51986-8Hardback
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oraccuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhis
publicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
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Contents
ListofFigures pageviii
ListofTables ix
1 EmbracingSilenceinEducation 1
1.1 WhySilenceandPedagogyNeedEachOther 2
1.2 SilenceAsanEmergingTheme 3
1.3 EarlyAppealsforSilenceinEducation 5
1.4 TheChallengeofDefiningSilence 8
1.5 PedagogyintheFaceoftheSilenceDebate 11
1.6 TheNeedtoViewSilenceinContext 13
1.7 StructureoftheBook 14
1.8 ConcludingInsights 16
2 ThePresenceofSilenceinSecondLanguageAcquisition 17
2.1 LookingbeyondtheSilentPeriod 17
2.2 VariousAttitudestowardsSilenceinSLAWorks 20
2.3 InterpretingViewsonSilenceinSLAResearch 24
2.4 CurrentGapsinSLAResearchonSilence 30
2.5 ConcludingInsights 31
3 TrendsinSilenceResearch 33
3.1 HowSilenceResearchEvolves 34
3.2 OverviewofDistinctiveTrendsinSilenceResearch 34
3.3 ResearchintotheDynamicsofInnerSpeech 36
3.4 AQuestfortheCauseofSilence 39
3.5 Counter-SilenceInterventions 41
3.6 ResearchintoLearnerandTeacherViewsonSilence 44
3.7 ResearchintoProductiveSilence 47
3.8 AchievementsandWeaknessesinSilenceResearch 49
3.9 ThePaucityofResearchontheSilentPeriod 50
3.10 ConcludingInsights 51
4 ElementsThatShapePedagogyforSilence 53
4.1 UnderstandingtheAssociationbetweenSilenceandSpeech 53
4.2 EmbracingSilenceinPedagogy 55
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vi Contents
4.3 FivePrinciplesofProductiveSilence 57
4.4 LearnerStrategiesinProductiveSilence 63
4.5 AProposedModelforClassroomActivities 68
4.6 RecommendationsforTeacherDevelopmentProgrammes 71
4.7 ConcludingInsights 72
5 ProblematisingSilence 74
5.1 RethinkingWaysofInquiry 74
5.2 ConceptualisingNegativeSilencewithoutPrejudice 74
5.3 SilenceAsCulturalImmobility 75
5.4 SilenceAsSubjecttoMisjudgement 77
5.5 SilenceAsMindWandering 79
5.6 SilenceOutofContext 80
5.7 SilenceAsResistancetoPoorPedagogy 81
5.8 SilenceAsaLackofResponse 82
5.9 SilenceThatIsNecessarybutAbsent 83
5.10 SilenceArisingfromDemotivationalDilemmas 85
5.11 ConcludingInsights 86
6 WaysofAddressingClassroomSilence 87
6.1 SilenceAsaStrugglewithOneself 89
6.2 SilenceAsaStrugglewiththePast 90
6.3 SilenceAsaStrugglewiththePresent 92
6.4 ARewardingSystemThatWorkswithPragmaticLearners 96
6.5 AHumanisticSystemThatWorkswithReflectiveLearners 97
6.6 APreparativeSystemtoMinimisetheOccurrenceofNegative
Silence 97
6.7 EightDimensionsofSupportforUndesirableSilence 98
6.8 ConcludingInsights 103
7 OnlineSilence 105
7.1 IdentifyingtheConcept 106
7.2 ScholarlyAttitudestowardsOnlineSilence 107
7.3 SomeChallengingCharacteristicsofOnlineLearning 110
7.4 DimensionsofOnlineLearningExperiences 116
7.5 TwoDirectionsofOnlineSilence 116
7.6 PainfulOnlineSilence 118
7.7 HelpfulOnlineSilence 122
7.8 ConcludingInsights 127
8 CopingwithUndesirableOnlineSilence 129
8.1 TheChallengingNatureofOnlineLearning 129
8.2 WaysofCopingwithPainfulSilence 131
8.3 ConcludingInsights 138
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Contents vii
9 SilenceinELTTaskDesign 140
9.1 WhySilenceinTasks 140
9.2 TheUnexploredRelationshipbetweenTaskDesignandSilence 140
9.3 AJourneytoExploreSilenceinTasks 143
9.4 Study1:IdentifyingTaskTypesinELTCourseMaterials 145
9.5 Study2:LearnerResponsestoLanguageTasksinAustralia 148
9.6 Study3:IndonesianandFilipinoStudentsRespondingto
LanguageTasks 149
9.7 Study4:Cross-CaseAnalysis 151
9.8 Study5:ExploringtheDistributionofTaskTypeinaCoursebook 155
9.9 ExamplesofTasksRequiringMoreSilenceThanSpeech 157
9.10 ExamplesofTasksRequiringMoreSpeechThanSilence 158
9.11 ExamplesofTasksInvolvingBothSilenceandSpeech 160
9.12 RecommendedTasksforCreativeSilence 160
9.13 ConcludingInsights 173
10 SomeIdeasforSilenceResearch 175
10.1 EstablishedThemes 175
10.2 EvolvingThemes 176
10.3 InactiveThemes 183
10.4 Under-ExploredThemes 186
10.5 ConnectingSilenceResearchwiththeTeachingProfession 193
10.6 ConcludingInsights 194
References 196
Index 242
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Figures
1.1 AscreenshotfromanERICdatabasesearchofthekeyword
‘silence’ page2
3.1 Theevolvementofsilenceresearch(1970s–2020s) 35
3.2 Thecontinuumofthoughtandspeech 37
3.3 Somefunctionsofinnerspeech 38
3.4 Dimensionsoflearnersilence 40
3.5 Twotypesofclassroomexperiments 44
3.6 Theicebergoflearnersilence 45
3.7 Tasksforinvestigatingproductivesilence 47
4.1 Theproductivesilencewheel 57
4.2 Themultiplefunctionsofproductivesilence 59
4.3 Conditionsforproductivesilence 60
4.4 Amodelforproductive-silenceactivities 69
6.1 Thedimensionsoflearnerstrugglewithsilence 89
6.2 Acycleofteacherandlearnermutualinfluence 96
6.3 Examplesofteacherandlearnermutualthoughts 96
6.4 Supportprovidedforlearners’verbalparticipation 99
7.1 Theconceptualisationofonlinesilence 108
7.2 Dimensionsofonlinelearningexperiences 117
9.1 Atask-typepyramid 154
9.2 ‘IfIwasarobot’.Source:FunnyJunkwebsite 167
9.3 ‘IfIwasarobot’template 168
9.4 ‘IfIwasacat’ 169
9.5 ‘IfIwasawitch’ 170
10.1 Thedistributionofresearchimpactinsilencestudies 176
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Tables
2.1 ThedistributionofunderstandingsofsilenceinSLAbooks page21
7.1 Typesofonlinesilence 118
9.1 Commontasktypesinlanguagelearning 146
9.2 Differingresponsestofluencytasks 152
9.3 Onehundredandforty-sevencognitivetasks 156
9.4 Sixty-sixfluencytasks 156
9.5 Comparingtwotasktypes 156
9.6 AtaskintroducedbyMaley(2018,p.46) 163
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