Silent Students Research Articles

Silence in teaching and learning: A proposed task for teachers to be silent in reading class

In most second-language classrooms, students are expected and encouraged to spend a significant amount of classroom time speaking. However, students’ passivity in learning is not only a root of silence, but teachers’ classroom styles are also viewed as a major cause of learner silence. This leads to the necessary need for teachers to have a good understanding of silence as a pedagogy that can motivate silent or reticent students to be active and to speak more. This implies that teacher plays an important role in motivating the silent students’ learning by keeping silent students from feelings of being shy, ignorant or rebellious. For these reasons, this paper is going to review some viewpoints on silence and propose a task of using silence in reading class which the teachers of English can apply in their reading class.

A case study of emergent leadership in whole-class discussion of controversial issues

Teachers are increasingly called on to employ dialogic practices to promote active and equitable student participation in academically challenging classroom discourse. However, vocal students who dominate whole-class discussions might threaten or even overthrow the ideal of equitable participation. Situated in a fourth-grade Chinese elementary classroom participating in an intervention seeking to implement dialogic teaching of controversial issues in Morality and Law, the current study examined the discursive patterns of an emergent student leader to reveal her attempts and struggles to actively take part in discussions, the teacher’s management of her dominant participation, and the scaffolding she provided for her less capable peers. We suggest that future professional development on dialogic teaching should better prepare teachers to effectively manage discrepancy in students’ oral participation, focusing on both vocal and silent students. We also call for more research to investigate the possibilities and strategies for students and teachers to share or co-manage leadership in dialogic teaching.

Sceptical teacher and silent students: a case study of teacher changes during a teacher professional development programme

ABSTRACT This study focuses on an intervention programme designed to foster collectivity in classroom dialogue during sixth-grade language arts lessons, incorporating a coaching-based approach grounded in real classroom experiences. Specifically, we examine how this programme affected the beliefs and practices of a sceptical teacher in relation to increasing the participation of all her students in the classroom discourse. Centred on a case study of one teacher, the research uses multiple data sources, including video-recorded lessons and reflective interviews. The analytical approach is interpretative, taking into account the role of the researcher in influencing the observed phenomena. The intervention involved a video-stimulated reflection on a lesson leading to an impasse because the teacher could not work with all of the students due to her deficit beliefs about the students. In our analysis, a distinctive cyclical model encompassing six steps was introduced to delineate the evolution of the teacher’s beliefs. This model emphasises the crucial role a researcher plays in teacher learning, particularly in providing emotional support and aiding in the collaborative construction of teaching methodologies. Video recordings combined with ‘reflexive noticing’ made it possible for the teacher to recognise alternative interpretations of silent student interactions, thus challenging the previous deficit models. Recognising an impasse – an emotionally intense point of confusion – is essential in the process of belief alteration. The research suggests that while reflection is important, it alone is not sufficient; genuine change arises from teachers’ efforts to address and navigate confusion and impasse in their practices.

Rethinking the Long Standing Phenomenon of Silent Chinese Students Supported by the Cultural Dimensions Theory of Hofstede

This article examines this phenomenon after studying the previous literature on silent students. With the surge in the number of Chinese students, more and more foreign universities have their presence, so the characteristics of Chinese student groups have become a favorite research direction of many Western scholars. The main arguments of this paper are 1) The impression of Chinese students can be summarized by the following keywords: silent, passive, and inflexible; 2) Although the descriptions are close to reality, most of the current research is limited to criticizing and judging arbitrarily, which makes these studies inevitably one-sided, self-righteous, and therefore lacking a comprehensive attitude; 3) Different cultural heritage and historical backgrounds will cause significant differences in the characteristics of local people; 4) The characteristics of Chinese students must not necessarily be negative. Consequently, this article reconsiders this problem from another perspective of cultural dimension theory. In the analysis process, this paper shows the differences between Chinese and Western cultures with the help of Hofstedes cultural dimension theory. It makes a comprehensive analysis based on Chinas socioeconomic and political conditions. Therefore, this paper contributes to putting forward some suggestions to improve the current education situation, emphasizing the significance of family and social education for students growth and character development.

Distance learning during the pandemic era: Russian instructors’ experience

The article focuses on studying Russian university instructors’ experience acquired during the emergency remote learning period in 2020–2021. The need to adjust the development route of the distance learning system determines the topicality of the research. The novelty of the article is determined by significant gaps in scientific literature concerning studying, generalizing, and comprehending such experience.The study employed quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and processing. Russian university instructors (N = 57) filled in an online questionnaire which aimed to identify the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning. Corpus linguistics methods were used to outline the most common key themes, which made it possible to identify the frequent words employed to describe positive and negative experiences. Responses to open-ended questions were examined using contextual and content analysis.The most significant positive aspects of the online format identified by the respondents included travel time saving, extending the repertoire of teaching strategies and access to visual methods of presenting information thanks to the online platform technological capabilities. This enabled instructors to involve usually silent students in active communication. Moreover, the respondents cited safe communication during the spread of a viral disease as well as students’ constant access to information resources. As for disadvantages, respondents mentioned a marked deterioration in interaction with students due to the lack of personal and/or visual contact, technical communication problems, and labor intensity. Other often cited drawbacks were difficulties in developing practical skills and effectively monitoring students’ knowledge and psychological state, learners’ decreased motivation as well as health problems.Based on the results of the study, the article concludes that it is necessary to improve instructors’ professional competencies and improve technical facilities of educational institutions. This would provide access to and usage of multifunctional distance learning management systems and programs that permit videoconferencing, file sharing and demonstrating multimedia presentations and online materials.The research is relevant as it is important to study and summarize instructors’ positive and negative experience to improve professional development programs, make decisions on purchasing and using equipment and software, and change university development agendas.

‘It’s kind of like a middle ground’: students’ strategic management of silence in multicultural group work

ABSTRACT Silence is commonly observed in multicultural group work (MGW) and classrooms, and silent students are often labelled with culture or language-related evaluation. This study explores how silences work in online MGW with a focus on turn-taking and sequence organisation. Drawing on data derived from naturally occurring interactions, the study examines how silences are repaired, managed and manipulated as locally derived interactional events. Findings suggest that silences in MGW are relevant to various local contingencies at an interactional level and can be employed by the speakers as a resource for specific interactional purposes.

Introduction: Combining learner psychology and ISLA research: Intersections in the classroom

This article explores intersections between two subfields of second language acquisition research: learner psychology (LP) and instructed second language acquisition (ISLA). Despite the common goal of discovering second language (L2) learning processes and products, the two inquiries have taken distinct paths. We argue that it is necessary to unite the knowledge and methods in the two inquiries, in order to answer theoretical and practical questions pertaining to classroom L2 teaching and learning. We make the case that the L2 classroom may be an ideal venue to explore the intersections of the two fields. Three intersections will be discussed. First, research can address the relationship between LP and interactional behaviors during classroom activities that have been investigated in ISLA research. Second, the roles of teachers, the classroom environment, and instruction – the primary variables in ISLA research – can be examined in relation to LP in the classroom. Third, research can target LP as a dependent variable in experimental designs that ISLA research often employs. LP is a primary concern of L2 teachers who face a range of LP (unmotivated students, silent students, anxious students, etc.). Some teachers are also concerned about the potential negative impact of a certain instructional technique on LP. Thus, combining LP and ISLA perspectives helps answer various pedagogical concerns, whether these are related to particular LP issues, or the impact of instructional techniques on LP. Throughout the article, we propose future research topics and make pedagogical recommendations addressing LP in the classroom.

THE FACTORS OF STUDENTS’ SILENCE IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE AT ELEVENTH GRADE OF SMKN 1 TEMBILAHAN

The phenomenon of silent students often occurs in the learning process of English, especially in English speaking classes, where students do not respond to the teacher when the learning process is running, so this interferes with the smooth learning process. This study aims to determine the factors that cause students to be silent when learning in English speaking class and determine the dominant factor in the eleventh grade of SMKN 1 Tembilahan. This research is a quantitative descriptive study. This research instrument uses a questionnaire that contains 20 statements. Moreover, the total population is 459 students, and the total samples taken 25% of the total population, as many as 116 students. The sampling technique in this study was random sampling. The sample used in this study was the 11th-grade students of all departments in the SMKN 1 Tembilahan school. Based on calculating students' responses to 20 questionnaire statements, it was found that ten factors caused students to be silent when learning English. They are inadequate vocabulary, the inability to manage vocabulary, lack of understanding of English grammar, unconfident in their abilities, afraid of making mistakes, lack of pronunciation, feeling nervous while speaking, getting difficulty in understanding English material, afraid of being criticized, and feeling embarrassed to speak in front of the class. While the dominant factor comes from the indicator (students' proficiency), which has 4 points, the first point is that grammar understanding is still lacking, then the second point is a lack of self-confidence, and for the third and fourth points, they have the same point which is about vocabulary. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the ten statements above are the factors that cause students to stay silent in learning English and the dominant. They come from the indicators (students' proficiency) in the eleventh grade of SMKN 1 Tembilahan, as the researcher explained above.

Memikirkan Kembali Strategi Mengajar Dosen

The silent students in the class discussions. What is the cause, is it because they are not confident in front of their classmates or their lecturers? How do they see lecturers, as people, who will help them learn, or as people who will embarrass them in the lecture? What should be the right learning strategy, how lecturers should help students to be active in class. Meanwhile, the students are not elementary school students, but the adults who study in the college. They should be more courageous in expressing their opinions in various class discussions. This study argues the more harmonious the relationship between lecturers and students is, the more successful students are in completing their studies, and the more professional the lecturers are.

Silent students and the patterns of their participation in classroom talk

ABSTRACT Background This study is concerned with the ways that patterns of student participation in classroom talk are constructed, focusing on silent students who participate in whole-class conversation to a limited extent. Methods We conducted an ethnographic survey in two ninth-grade classes. We made video recordings of the lessons and interviewed the students and teachers. We observed eight focal silent students—four high-achieving and four low-achieving. Findings Participation patterns of high-achieving and low-achieving silent students diverge. High-achieving silent students are often called on by the teacher, and they give extended answers to difficult questions. Low-achieving silent students are called on rarely. High-achieving silent students use silence to consolidate their position as exceptionally capable students; low-achieving silent students use it to consolidate their position as less capable. However, it is possible to engage low-achieving silent students if the teacher notices their momentary spontaneous urge to participate and creates space for their voice in the classroom. Contribution The paper focuses on the silent students who are often overlooked in studies on classroom talk. It calls for specific attention paid to low-achieving silent students who are limited in their learning opportunities and thus facing educational disadvantage.

The social practice of silence in intercultural classrooms at a UK university

ABSTRACT The paper offers an examination of the dynamics between silence, agency and power for students and instructors in intercultural classrooms at a UK university. Silent students are often stereotyped as passive learners or incompetent in critical thinking, lacking interest or having insufficient understanding. Despite the devaluation of silence, research reveals its significant role in pedagogy and its foundations in culture. The paper explores second language (L2) postgraduate international students’ classroom experiences and voices behind the silence in comparison with their peers’ and instructors’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ lack of vocal participation. Challenging talk as the privileged form of classroom communication mode, we argue for a better understanding of L2 international students’ participation and call for recognition of the pedagogical merits of silence and legitimate some forms of it as a pattern of participation.

Beyond Oral Participation: A Typology of Student Engagement in Classroom Discussions

Classroom discussions represent a common learning activity for students in schools. The prevailing discourse has focused on how to encourage as many students as possible to participate actively in classroom discussions with the assumption that only vocal students are engaged learners. The present essay critically challenges this position by drawing attention to how silent students may be similarly, if not more, engaged emotionally and cognitively than vocal students in classroom discussions. It uses the conceptual apparatus of the integrated perspective of student engagement to hypothesize a typology of six student learning patterns in discussions, namely, Silent-Acting, Silent-Feeling, Silent-Cognizing, Vocal-Acting, Vocal-Feeling, and Vocal-Cognizing. The typology is derived from examining interactions between the three dimensions of student engagement (behavioural, emotional, and cognitive engagement) and two types of student participation in classroom discussions (vocal versus silent participation). Implications for building a more inclusive classroom learning environment and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Mluvit, či nemluvit? Participace na výukové komunikaci očima vokálních a tichých žáků a jejich učitelek

This study is based on the well-known fact that different students in the same classroom participate differently in classroom discourse. Some students are vocal, often and willingly raise their voice, whereas others remain silent. Although many studies are dealing with student participation patterns, the inner perspective of students and their point of view are explored very rarely. We conducted an ethnographic inquiry in language arts lessons in four ninth grade classes. We took video recordings of lessons as well as interviews with students and their teachers. In this study, we analyse interview data with the aim to understand classroom discourse participation patterns and to identify meanings of these patterns as perceived by students and their teachers. We focus on differences between vocal and silent students as well as differences between high-achieving and low-achieving students. Our analysis shows that student participation behaviour is linked to learning opportunities that students gain. Also, student participation behaviour has a noticeable impact on how competent and intelligent appear to themselves and their teachers. Concerning this, silent low-achieving students are heavily disadvantaged.

Iranian EFL Teachers' Emotional Intelligence and their Use of Speaking Strategies

The study was designed to investigate the differences among Iranian EFL teachers in terms of emotional intelligence (EI) and their use of speaking strategies. To this end, 90 EFL male and female teachers teaching English at 9 institutes in Behshahr, Sari, and Amol cities in Mazandaran Province (north of Iran) were randomly selected. The research data were collected through the Bar-On EQ-I scale and teachers' use of speaking strategies questionnaire. Results on Independent Sample t-test reported significant differences in teachers' EI across gender. One-way ANOVA revealed differences in teachers' EI across years of teaching experience. Furthermore, results on Kruskal Wallis Test indicated differences in teachers' use of each speaking strategy regarding their level of EI. Based on the findings, teachers with a higher level of EI preferred to focus on both accuracy and fluency and apply story-telling activities to create more successful interaction. While teachers with a lower level of EI preferred to focus on accuracy, they liked to apply information-gap activities. They preferred to offer implicit feedback through reformulation and tended to design groups and pairs to make silent students interact in the classroom. Moreover, both groups preferred to correct their learners later.

Places for silence and stillness in schools of today: A matter for educational policy

In this paper, it is my intention to not only explore the notions and significance of places for silence in education today, but also to develop insights into diverse understandings of silence – such as aspects of power in silence and issues of silent students – to inform school practices and educational policy. The discussion will be illustrated by some students’ experiences of a place in the school’s playground – the silent place known as the Peace Area. The students at this playground emphasised the significance of a silent place, a place of stillness, to visit during one’s time at school. A place for relaxing together with friends, but also a place to be alone with one’s thoughts. The students clearly expressed their desire to withdraw to a silent and peaceful place during the school day. But, how many places of silence and stillness are there in the schools of today? As humans, we are, in our daily life, more or less surrounded by different forms of sounds and noise, but also of silence and stillness, even though we do not always recognise or hear the silence. Silence can also be experienced and understood in various ways: pleasant and something to be longed for or unpleasant and unwelcome – or even in some cases as something to be feared. An essential question to raise for future educational policy is not only to what extent students can be in a place of silence and stillness during the school day, but also whether places of silence and stillness are appreciated in today’s schools.

Yearbooks Redux: "The Kitten"

Yearbooks Redux:"The Kitten" James Marten "There is a great deal to be learned about youth culture, both within and outside of the school, from the seemingly simple high school yearbook. … Yearbooks hold up a mirror to the students, their community, and their perceptions of the larger world. Few sources are written by and for young people in the same way as the high school yearbook."1 Last issue's object lesson by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg showed how the 1980s farm crisis rippled through the yearbook produced by the students of Harlan Community High School in Iowa. I want to follow up that fascinating object lesson with a very personal object lesson of my own. Last Christmas, while going through a box of family ephemera, my sister Jane and I came across a handmade yearbook from 1942, edited by our mother, Mary Lou Schlobohm, when she was an eighth grader in the one-room District 83 school near Aurora, South Dakota. As the lone eighth grader, she was naturally the editor of the yearbook, as well as the typist. Their township school was located about a mile north of the quarter-section farm where Mary Lou's father, William, farmed and her mother, Ruth, kept house (she was a former country school teacher). The students named their yearbook The Kitten, not for the cuddly pet, but for a game that for some reason became very important to them in 1941–1942. Kittenball resembles softball, but is played with a giant, rather squishy ball (the modern softball is twelve inches in circumference and has a hard surface, compared to the soft, sixteen-inch kittenball). Their season apparently consisted of a single game against another country school, which they lost, although as the yearbook went to press, there was hope that a rematch could be scheduled. There were only eight students in the school, but kittenball was a game that kids of any age could play. It helped that Mrs. Ishmael, the teacher (whom the students "like[d] very much"), covered first base. [End Page 307] Click for larger view View full resolution Materially, The Kitten bears little resemblance to most yearbooks being published by junior high and high schools in the 1940s. It is bound in lightly finished, quarter-inch plywood boards with rubber-covered rings. There's a photo of their school and "The Kitten" and "1942" fashioned out of black tape. The black and white photos are fastened to heavy construction paper with those black triangles that one sees in old photo albums. The text is typed directly onto the paper; blank pages were provided for students to inscribe with good wishes and signatures. Yet there are similarities between this crude yearbook and more polished publications. Each student is featured in a photograph of them standing against [End Page 308] the school's white siding; the pictures seem to have been taken on a typically windy spring day on the prairie. Each picture was accompanied with a brief list of favorite pastimes and special characteristics. My mother's listing, not surprisingly, perhaps, is the longest: she was the prettiest girl, best student, best girl student, best musician (she played piano by ear), most lady-like girl (there were no other girls older than ten), most silent student, most representative girl, and most popular student. Other kids were most athletic, wittiest, and most gentlemanly. A different page surveyed the students' favorite games and subjects. One of the two fourth graders, Bonnie Lou Kirby, "likes to swing, play ball, jump rope, New Orleans, Hop Scotch, and Pump Pump Pull Away," while the other, Kenneth Starman (he lived on the quarter section across the road from the school that would later be the farm on which my uncle, aunt, and cousins lived), had a similar set of interests, along with spelling and taking exams. Other kids liked the game "I Send," while the lone seventh grader, another Starman, also liked building birdhouses. Although I have no evidence to support this, "I Send" may have been an alternative name for "Red Rover," in which two lines of players with hands locked face each other, with individual kids racing to break through the opposing...

Iranian EFL faculty members’ attitude towards silent students

Given the point that attitude has the three dimensions of cognition, affection and behavior and that teachers’ attitude towards the students strongly affects their teaching and students’ learning, this study was an attempt to determine EFL faculty members’ attitude towards silent students in Iran. To this end, 97 EFL faculty members were selected through stratified random sampling from Isfahan, Shiekhbahaee, Khorasgan, Sobhesadegh, Najafabad and Amin universities located in the province of Isfahan. In this descriptive survey study, the data were gathered by a 5 point Likert-scale researcher-made questionnaire (with 60 items; 23 items are related to the cognitive dimension of attitude, 23 to the affective dimension and 14 to the behavioral dimension) whose validity was confirmed by four experts in the field of psychology and teaching English. Moreover, its reliability, based on the Cronbach’s alpha, was calculated to be 0.892 showing that it is of high acceptable reliability. The obtained data were analyzed by one-sample t-test. The results showed that the EFL faculty members’ attitude in terms of cognitive and behavioral dimensions was positive and above average, while their attitude in terms of emotional dimension was average. And finally, their total attitude was positive and above average.

Spain and the Lost Legal Generation: Spain's Dysfunctional University System is Also to Blame

For the last fifteen years I have taught final year law students at a Spanish state university on a regular basis. While it is extremely difficult to generalize about matters such as the following, I believe that the typical profile of the different groups of students I have taught over the years has been relatively homogenous in terms of quality and performance. Along with a minority of highly motivated and able students, at the beginning of every academic year the classes are mostly made up of silent students who area priorireluctant to accept individual responsibilities in the learning process. Having presented this seemingly harsh appraisal with no preamble, one of the aims of this essay is to set out a series of arguments that enable us to go beyond the glib self-righteousness of blaming the students for all their woes. In my opinion, it is the Spanish higher education system that is the mainly to blame for many of the factors currently holding law students back. The following factors contribute to this outcome.

Voices from the voiceless: Iranian EFL students' attitudes toward English

Some recent research has focused on the students' silence and inviting more student voice. This paper investigated the reasons behind Iranian undergraduate students' silence in English classes and stepped further to give voice to those students' attitudes toward English with the belief that inviting and including student voice could improve the overall participation of silent students in English courses. One hundred freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students majoring at the University of Isfahan volunteered to take part in this study. From among them, 60 students who indicated they were silent in English classes were asked to complete a survey adopted from Life. In addition, 20 of the students were interviewed to pinpoint the intentions behind their silence. Thus, the paper took an in-depth look at the reasons for the Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' silence, drawing from detailed examination of the students' own accounts, comparing and contrasting them. The results of this study explicitly states reasons behind the silence of the EFL students in English classes. It also put forth various solutions that could easily be implemented in pedagogical settings by English instructors to break the silence of EFL/English as a Second Language (ESL) students.

Silent and vocal students in a large active learning chemistry classroom: Comparison of performance and motivational factors

Active learning is becoming more prevalent in large science classrooms, and this study shows the impact on performance of being vocal during Socratic questioning in a General Chemistry course. 800 college students over a two year period were given a pre and post-test using the Chemistry Concept Reasoning Test. The pre-test results showed that there was no initial difference in conceptual understanding of chemistry among students who actively participated on a regular basis and those who did not. However, on the post-test those vocal students who consistently attempted to respond to questions in class showed significantly greater learning gains than those silent students who rarely or never tried to answer questions. The motivation for participating for many students was initially the minimal extra credit for answering questions. Once students started answering questions, they saw the educational value in getting feedback, enjoyed the engagement of the Socratic dialogue, and realized the benefit of putting chemistry concepts into words. Also tied to participation during class was the need to complete the reading assignments before class. Students who read prior to class were more able to participate and were then continually incentivized to stay current with the class readings. The active learning environment did benefit all students by providing cognitive and social dimensions during class, and those students who participated frequently learned more chemistry.