Silence as right, choice, resistance and strategy among Chinese ‘Me Generation’ students: implications for pedagogy

Abstract

The topic of silence and 'the Chinese learner' has been extensively studied often in relation to cross-cultural adjustment, intercultural issues, learning styles, language ability and differences of classroom expectations. These studies have often led to recommendations to understand silence and 'the Chinese learner' in more complex ways. However, there is a real need to go beyond just recognising the complexity and myths underlying these two notions. This article consolidates the need to recognise diversity and fluidity among this group of students and the changing time and space in which silence experiences among them are contextualised and studied. It does so by revisiting established meanings of in-class silence obtained from a qualitative case study with 'Me Generation' Chinese students studying in Australia, while contextualising the phenomenon in both Chinese and Australian classrooms. Pedagogical implications building upon the discussion of silence as right, choice, resistance and strategy among these students are provided.

The pedagogy of studying abroad: a case study of Chinese students in the Netherlands

“…All interviews were fully transcribed and coded using the ATLAS.ti software programme. Some initial codes were created and developed based on the theoretical review (Ha and Li 2014;Zhou, Knoke, and Sakamoto 2005;Durkin 2008;Li 2017;Grimshaw 2007;Klemencic 2019), and others were included during analysis. The final list was adapted to better address and incorporate emerging themes, including 'comprehension in English', 'cultural differences', 'classroom participation', 'group learning', 'examination and assessment', 'critical thinking and creativity', and 'roles of lecturers'.…”

“…Being influenced by China's exam-oriented and highly teacher-centred education, Chinese students have experienced a range of problems when studying at western HEIs. Ha and Li (2014) discussed the issue of Chinese students in Australian classrooms being stereotyped as passive learners who are reluctant to speak up. Their research illustrated that remaining silent was more about a choice and a right for students, which should not be viewed as something negative.…”

“…Chinese students were the largest international student group in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the second largest in France, the Netherlands and Finland (EC 2018). While the existing academic literature has examined the experiences of Chinese students in English-speaking countries (Gu and Schweisfurth 2006;Grimshaw 2007;Ha and Li 2014), Chinese students coming to study in non-English-speaking European countries have not been given much attention. Currently, there is not much literature particularly about their pedagogical experiences in continental Europe.…”

Recontextualizing Quality Talk for an Eighth-Grade English Classroom in China

“…While the majority of researchers who examine ELLs of Chinese tend to focus on student population at postsecondary or postgraduate levels (e.g., Floyd, 2011;Grimshaw, 2007;Ha & Li, 2012), there exists a paucity of research that emphasizes English learning among younger learners.…”

The Segregation of Foreigners in U.S. Mainstream Classrooms

“…While these remedial strategies provide invaluable knowledge in enhancing the students' learning experience, the approaches have also exposed the unchallenged, taken-for-granted assumptions of U.S. academic practices. For example, silence is undesirable and problematic in the talk-oriented classroom [8,9]; therefore, those who stay silent need help to adapt to the mainstream classroom culture. Moreover, the ones stigmatized by deficit in communicative skills are expected to be responsible for asserting themselves and remedying the undesirable situation in classroom conversations.…”