Silence in the Second Language Classroom

Reviews / Votes

'This book...tackles the meaning of silence in the second language classroom. To say 'the meaning of silence' is, at first glance, to imagine a Zen koan. However, the author does an excellent job, using dynamic systems theory, of challenging the reader to consider why Japanese students are silent and sets up a framework to investigate the phenomenon.' - Joseph Tomei, Asian Englishes 'This is a book written for all language teachers as I am sure all will come up against baffling moments of silence in the classroom. Such silence varies greatly from classroom to classroom and from learners to learners. Not always is it detrimental but it can become so. How should a teacher understand this and deal with it? Silence is a phenomenon that varies widely culturally and King's book helps us look into a society with norms that may differ greatly from ours and are therefore more difficult for us as teachers to understand.' - Tanya Roy, The Linguist List