Understanding Silence and Reticence

Reviews / Votes

Bao's book is a worthy contribution to the literature. Written in a clear style, it stresses the usefulness of silence and engages the reader to reassess his/her view of silence in SLA ... This book offers excellent insights for both the novice SLA student and the seasoned researcher. * Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL * This is an important and original book which deserves wide attention ... both among researchers and teachers. * ELT Journal * 'Speech is silver, silence is golden' is an age old adage forgotten in the modern day education. Dat Bao explores the potential role silence has in the classroom by analysing its types and functions both for the learners and the teacher. The book is a new concept in pedagogy well conceived and articulated. Written in a highly readable, non-technical language, this book tells us that silence has a special place in the language learning process; it supports learning in ways that often escape our attention. Silence is not to be frowned upon, the author says. Rather it has to be skilfully managed to improve learning.