Participation or Non-participation? Understanding Learner Silence in Class Discussions

초록

Learner silence is often considered as the opposite of participation in language classrooms. However, growing research suggests that silence can serve diverse interactional functions. This qualitative case study examined how two Korean undergraduates in an online intercultural communication class experienced and interpreted silence. The study drew on semester-long classroom observations to identify participation patterns and on semi-structured interviews to elicit students’ emic accounts. The analysis showed that silence does not necessarily indicate non-participation. Both participants closely monitored the discussion and prepared potential contributions. Their superficially similar non-participation, however, stemmed from the interaction between (a) affective and ideological positioning and (b) interactional constraints. While both participants missed opportunities to speak due to challenges in multi-party interaction in L2—such as topic shift and turn-taking difficulties—they differed in how they interpreted this experience. One participant, Jiyoung, was oriented to a proficiency hierarchy, where she often mentioned social comparison, anxiety, and a perfectionistic orientation to accuracy. In contrast, the other participant, Yuna, interpreted her silence as a concern for conversational flow and avoidance of redundancy. By demonstrating the interactions between learners’ interpretations and linguistic challenges, the study offers a more nuanced under standing of learner silence in class discussion.

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