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6 - Ways of Addressing Classroom Silence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2023

Dat Bao
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
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Summary

The chapter addresses the question of what every teacher should do to cope with undesirable silence in the classroom as it impedes a vibrant climate of open discussion and mutual learning. A case study of unhappy silent learners in context is then presented to demonstrate how one might suffer from poor silence and what can be done to improve such situations. The discussion addresses the question: What should teachers do when many students in the class are silent? What is the best solution to the lack of participation? It does so by highlighting that one best answer to all problems related to silence is non-existent. Instead, before the teacher copes with problematic silence in the classroom, it is important to consider the diverse ways in which students exercise silence. Through empirical data, the author demonstrates that silence is the consequence of their struggle in three distinct ways. They struggle with themselves, with the present and with the past. Each of these dimensions is unpacked in the chapter together with concrete suggestions on how to cope with them.

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Chapter
Information
Silence in English Language Pedagogy
From Research to Practice
, pp. 87 - 104
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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