CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The study focuses on the sociolinguistic aspect of communication, which is silence. Silence is not merely the absence of sound; it communicates something different according to when and where the silence takes place.

1.1 Background to the study

The concern about studying the communicative function of silence in discourse has increased recently especially in Western societies. Many linguists have found that silence is as significant as speech, since they complement each other. As such, various countries in the world are characterized by different cultures and languages; each nation has its own culture, language, norms, values and beliefs, which differ from those of other nations in respect to communication. In Asian and Nordic countries for example, there are different listening cultures where silence denotes careful thought. These cultures think that pauses (silence) in a conversation keeps the interchange calm. In some cases, silence can be a way to allow everyone to save face. In these cultures, what is not said can be as important as what has been said.

There are two types of communication; verbal and non-verbal. Verbal and non-verbal elements in messages may conflict with one another. However, the non-verbal part plays an important role in the creation of meaning because the use of non-verbal codes varies across cultures. It is worth taking a detailed look at this aspect of communication (Cleary, 2008:20).

Silence as a non-verbal communication is extremely important in mode of communication. Perniola (2010) viewed silence as combining both action and contemplation. Silence is an action when it is reflected as an attitude with a particular meaning, and a contemplation when it reflects the psychological or spiritual state of the user. On a similar note, Jaworski (1993) viewed silence as ‘activity’ reflecting a meaning following certain attitudes or behavior, as ‘state’ when it reflects the psychological condition of the user who expressed or framed it using artwork.

The other type is formulaic silence, which is viewed as ‘a customary act of saying nothing in reaction to specific stimuli’ (Jaworski, 1993, p. 59) sometimes ‘accompanied by other non-verbal behavior such as bowing, smiling, waving and so on’ (Jaworski, 1993, p. 78) or a type of silence used during some rituals. In discussing his typology of silence, Kurzon (2007) stressed the need for identifying factors, which might influence silence and its actual practice.

In Western culture, open arms, a smile and a generally relaxed body is a sign of welcome. The gesture of shaking hands when one person meets another, hugging or kissing the cheek of an individual is a form of greeting. Both these patterns of behaviour indicate friendliness and the absence of a weapon in one’s grasp. This means that the interaction also influences another person’s body posture and habits of mind (Charles, Clydem and Donna 1997:54). Silence can convey multi-meanings, such as “impressions, attitudes, emotions, and intentions with illocutionary force” (Nakane, 2003, p. 20).

Sociologically, silence cannot be regarded as non-communication but may be regarded as a negative response to communication. To make clear understanding about silence as a mode of communication, silence in communication can be taken for agreement. Silence can signify something quite different in another context. One can find many instances to which silence denotes anger, disagreement, an attempt to self-control, fear and a wide variety of other emotions. This is to clear people’s misconception about silence as a tool for communication. Silence is a statement in itself and conveys meaning in communication.

Silence helps to define the distinction between personal expressive and standard communicative actions in the entire process of communication. As a non-verbal communication, silence is typically based on conveying the message without the use of verbal words.

One piece of communication that accompanies non-verbal reactions is silence. One can convey approval, disapproval, anger or other messages through a silent response. Silence could simply be an absence of speech through which communication occurs (Agyekun, 2002; Sadeghi, 2015). It forces one to be quiet and get messages across in fewer words. These fewer words can result in stronger messages. When one is quiet, the focus is on what the other person is saying, as well as on the non-verbal communication, which aids in listening and comprehension of what is really being said.

One can consider an adage which says “speech is silver; silence is golden.” This can be interpreted to mean that silence, which is omitted in the definitions given earlier, can do, if not more, what speech does in discursive interactions. It has been observed that during construction, distribution and reception of text in a social interaction context, there are several instances silence plays important and meaningful roles. In the use of some languages, there have been situations in which silence serves as a message carrier among interlocutors. These are actually of much interest to discourse analysts and therefore of great importance to find out such instances (McCarthy, Matthiessen and Slade, 2010 and Halliday 1985). According to Jorgensen and Phillips (2002), the word discourse “. . . is the general idea that language is structured according to different patterns that people’s utterances follow when they take part in different domains of social life.” Apart from the fact that discourse could be based on any of the domains of human life, specifically in linguistics, it has to do with “Any coherent succession of sentences spoken or . . . written” (Matthews, 2007).

• Research questions

1.3.1 Main research question

The main research question here is; of what role does silence play in communication?

1.3.2 Specific research questions

• What are the various meanings of silence in communication?
• How is silence perceived and practiced during discourse?
• Does silence affect the mainstream in casual conversations?

1.4 Objectives of the study

1.4.1 Main objective

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the role of silence as a tool for communication.

1.4.2 Specific objectives

• To understand the various meanings of silence in communication.
• To show how silence is perceived and practiced in discourse.
• To ascertain the effect of silence in casual conversations.

1.5 Hypotheses

• H0: Silence, as a tool for communication, does not play a significant role in communication.
• H1: Silence, as a tool for communication, plays a significant role in communication.