Silence as Passive Resistance
For the EFL teacher, determining whether a student's silence is a form of passive resistance or simply an innocent reaction to something else, can be a difficult task. Passive resistance is a means of expression for students dissatisfied with their class. In Japan, where silence is considered a virtue and can hardly be challenged on its own, students have learned to use passive resistance to cast their vote for or against a lesson activity.
Patience is the first skill an experienced teacher should use when confronted with silence. By challenging a student unjustly, a teacher can turn the natural hesitation of a learner into a point of contention, in effect raising the student's affective filter. 1 While silence is a warning flag for the EFL teacher, in the Japanese classroom it is not a red flag but simply a cautionary one, and there is no need to panic. As I have learned the hard way, overreaction is usually the cause of resistance, not the solution.
By getting feedback through other means, e.g. student journals, private consultations, compositions, alternative activities, etc., a teacher can determine a student's motivation and hopefully resolve or work around problems. As Japanese tend to distrust angry or extreme reactions, and because foreign teachers often lack the language skill necessary to understand a student's apprehension, the best policy is to assume the exercise to be at fault and not the student. In time students will recognize a teacher's efforts and attempt to overcome their inability to respond effectively.
I recommend placing students in a variety of interactive situations to determine the nature of their silence. Most will behave differently in small groups, or with members of their own sex or peer group, than when the whole class is listening. Students can often explain in writing, what they are too reticent to express verbally, so I often ask problem students to explain themselves in letter or composition form. When I clearly outline the class objectives and methodology, uncooperative students usually recognize their responsibility and react accordingly.
Games to encourage fluency in a non-threatening environment work well, as do lessons explaining the importance of speaking in Western cultures. However, silence has a long and respected history in Japan and will not disappear just because it is not conducive to language learning. Instead I suggest the foreign teachers in Japan open their peripheral vision to the variety and frequency of nonverbal signals and develop an inner criteria for imaginative and spontaneous interaction within the silences. Developing awareness to how Japanese students communicate their feelings silently will lead, I believe, to more efficient ways of relaxing students and engaging them in the lesson.
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1 ‘Krashen sees the learner's emotional state or attitudes as an adjustable filter that freely passes, impedes, or blocks input necessary to acquisition. A low affective filter is desirable, since it impedes or blocks less of this necessary input...’ from Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, A description and analysis, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.