Student Corner Reinterpretation of Silence
By Baek Seung-mi
Americans like to talk and to argue with one another, Kent Nerburn, the author of “Neither Wolf nor Dog,” said. He describes a poignant story of a Native American elder and thereservation life in the western Dakotas in the book. Nerburn tells through Dan, one of the book’s main characters, that Americans do not pay attention to what others say and they feel uncomfortable when they are in silence.
“I (an Indian) remember one teacher (an American) telling me I needed to learn how to think. She really didn’t care about my thinking. She just wanted me to talk. She thought talking meant thinking. And the longer I talked, the happier she would be. It didn’t even matter what I said. I was just supposed to talk.” This excerpt from the book is an Indian experience that Dan took in school. Silence has a power more than words and it is one of the main means of communication for Indians, the book said.
According to research by Richard Johannesen, a professor at Northern Illinois University, the meaning of silence can be interpreted differently in various cultures and countries. Silence in Asia can be a decisive act and talking may indicate rudeness in certain situations. On the other hand, Western cultures’ people in general consider silence as socially disagreeable.
Dr. Wong Ngan Ling, a professor of language and linguistics at the University of Malaya in Malaysia, wrote a report: “Communicative Functions and Meaning of Silence: An Analysis of Cross-Cultural Views.”According to this report, Asians think of silence as one of the main factors in communication, meanwhile Americans see talking as the main theme in communication.
Wong let participants in her research choose what they believed as was more important, silence or speech. According to the results, 40 percent of Japanese respondents answered that “Silence was golden.” High context cultures likeAsia think non-verbal communication can be more important rather than words. High contextcultures involve implying a message in that which is not uttered. High context communication is indirect, reserved as well as understated. Meanwhile, 43 percent of British respondents answered the same question that “Speech was golden.” British communication originates in a culture of low context. Low context cultures’ people are in general open, direct and prefer to use explicit communication.
People in low-context cultures see silence as dull and rude. Interestingly, Japanese respondents of Wong’s report said they do not use silence to indicate boredom in a formal situation. They use silence as a sign of consent with others in a formal situation. Meanwhile, the British said that they can use silence to indicate both respect and boredom. Nevertheless, Asian and Western countries have similarities; the closer they are to someone, the more they use direct and open communication.
How about making eye contact?
In Western societies, such as America, people use eye contact when they talk with someone. Making eye contact is a sign of friendliness, interest and respect. In Asian cultures, this body language can be seen as rude. In Asia, people consider that when young people make eye contact with an olderperson, the older may interpret this as rudeness. Also, when parents scold their children, it is good manners not to make eye contact. Instead, their children look away or look down with a sign of respect as well as admitting their faults. The differencebetween Western and Asian communities about this body language’s interpretation originates in their different cultures: While Asian societies have non-touching cultures and a high sense of respect about the older, Western communities have high contacting cultures.
People have met a foreigner at work, at school and as a friend. The relationship with a foreigner will be frequent as globalization has spread out around us.The meaning and the interpretation of non-verbal languages can vary according to people’s cultures. Thus, we need to perceive others’ behavior with social- cultural understanding.