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1、通过研究，我们发现造成英语课堂沉默现象的原因不仅在于老师的教学方式、态度以及学生的态度、个性、动机等方面，同时还会受到其他因素的影响，这些因素已经变成提高英语课堂效率的阻碍因素，甚至还会造成更大程度、更广范围的恶性循环。因此，解决课堂沉默问题是很必要的，不仅需要从师生双方探究原因，还要联系实际，最终打破沉默坚冰，构建和谐高效的英语课堂。关键词：英语课堂；学生沉默现象；课堂参与；实证调查 AbstractAccording to the New College English Curriculum Requirements （2007:25）, the student-oriented patt

2、ern has become the focus of classroom reform. More and more education workers shift their attention to the phenomenon of students silence in EFL classroom. However, most of the research in this area focuses on theories and lacks deep studies from the empirical perspective. So, based on relevant theo

3、retical research, this study takes students of Suzhou University of Science and Technology as our objectives and adopts a questionnaire to explore the factors causing students silence in EFL classroom.Results of the study demonstrate that the reasons of students silence are not limited to teaching m

4、ethodology, attitude on teachers side and attitude, personality, motivation on students side. There are also other related factors, which obstruct the efficiency in EFL classroom, and even can lead to a vicious cycle. Therefore, it is really critical to solve the problem. The exploration should be m

5、ade from both sides of teachers and students, thus to break the ice of silence and create a harmonious and high-efficient EFL classroom.Key words：EFL classroom; students silence; class engagement; empirical investigation ContentsIntroduction 11. Theoretical background and literature review 21.1 The

6、definition of silence 21.2 The characteristics of silence 21.2.1 Positive silence 31.2.2 Negative silence 31.3 Classification of silence 41.4 Relationship between silence and speech 51.5 The current situation of silence study at home and abroad 61.5.1 Studies at home 61.5.2 Studies at abroad 72. An

7、empirical study of students silence in EFL classroom 82.1 Research questions 82.2 Research methodology 92.2.1 Research subjects 92.2.2 Research materials 92.2.3 Research procedure 92.3 Data collection and analysis 102.3.1 Data collection 102.3.2 Data analysis 102.4 The findings 112.4.1 Teachers aspe

8、cts 112.4.2 Students aspects 122.4.3 Other aspects 123. Some implications and suggestions for students and teachers 133.1 For students 133.2 For teachers 14Conclusion 15References 17Appendix1: 19Appendix2: 21Students Silence in EFL ClassroomIntroductionIn recent years, the phenomenon of students sil

9、ence has attracted researchers attention. Most of them have studied the factors that influence students participation, such as teachers talk in ELF class, teachers questioning methods, etc, but few researches have explored from students psychological perspective which is actually far more worthy of

10、investigation.Due to the new requirements of College English Requirements （2007:25）, the pedagogical tendency in EFL class emphasizes on students roles and aims to create a student-centered teaching environment. Thus, many teachers have introduced various means to encourage students participation. I

11、t provides students with more opportunities but also much pressure. Students may employ silence as the form of communicative engagement and only a small proportion of students actively participate in class. On the other hand, many teachers consider silence as the opposite action or even the enemy of

12、 speech and few teachers have taken proper measures to resolve the problem. The misunderstanding or incomplete understanding of silence may lead to a vicious circle in ELF class. Meyer （Kevin 2009:16） put forward the conception of Hypothesized Link between Silence and Learning. Furthermore, she defi

13、ned silent engagement as a kind of communication. On this theoretical basis, more and more researchers divert their attention to the value of silence and explore the relationship between speech and silence in ELF class. The causes of students silence in ELF class are multidimensional due to differen

14、t research angles and purpose.In fact, silence has both negative and positive sides. As Dauenhauer （1980） claimed that “silence in its own right can be seen to make a positive contribution to the scope of the meaningful” （1980:104） Silence paves the way for the potency of language since silence give

15、s both birth and conclusion to speech.This thesis will be done on the basis of the previous studies related to the philosophy of speech and silence, factors influencing student participation and learning styles. In order to make the research have more practical significances, a series of surveys wil

16、l be done with the form of questionnaires. The data will be collected to analyze the theories and hopefully some of them can be put into practice and help to put forward some suggestions in future teaching in ELF class.1. Theoretical background and literature reviewSilence is a means of powerful non

17、verbal communication, however to interpret silence in the most proper way, various connected aspects should be considered, including subjective and objective factors. The subjective factors include the feelings, personality, mutual relations and the degree of caring, while the objective factors are

18、location, time, culture background etc. To dig out the root causes of students silence in EFL class, close attention should first be paid on the definition of silence. 1.1 The definition of silenceAccording to different purposes with various research frameworks, the definition of silence distinguish

19、es from one and another. Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary （Hornsby 2009:1408） defines silence as the following meanings: （1） complete absence of sound or noise; quiet; （2） refusal or failure to discuss something or answer questions about something;（3） complete quiet because nobody

20、 is talking; （4） a period of time in which everyone stops talking as a sign of respect and honor towards someone who has died; （5） failure to write a letter to someone, telephone them etc. Obviously, we must consider the actual situation to explain the proper meaning of silence.In Encyclopedic Dicti

21、onary of Applied Linguistics: A Handbook for Language Teaching （Johnson & H 2003: 287-288）, the notion of silence in communication is, as the case of speech, rule-governed, and it is also variable and cultural specific.To have a better understanding and conductive study, Bruneau （1973:36） defined si

22、lence in three forms: Psycholinguistic silence; Interactive silence and Socio-cultural silence. Considering the human communication functions, every type has its particular definition.As this paper aims to study students silence in EFL classroom, the definition of the interactive silences will be th

23、e core part. Interactive silence is the pausal interruption in dialogue, conversation, discussion, debate, etc. They can be related to affective, interpersonal relationships between people as well as to the exchange of information and/or problem solving （Bruneau 1973:29）.1.2 The characteristics of s

24、ilence If the ambiguous aspects of silence may be concluded clearly, further studies in this area can be made more smoothly. In high-context culture, silence usually indicates positive meaning, and it is a special way to communicate. However, in low-context culture, silence is negative for the most

25、part, and it is considered as a lack of communication. Jensen （1973:120-124） notes five different functions performed by silence. They are affecting, revelation, linkage, activating and judgmental. Basically, silence can be divided into two parts: positive silence and negative silence.1.2.1 Positive

26、 silenceSilence can affect people. In some embarrassing situation, silence offer people some time for reflection and buffering. Nonverbal language can express the deepest fears and most intense joys. Silence can be understood as respect, acceptance or kindness in church or library .To sum up, silenc

27、e, to some degrees, is the language of those strong passions: love, anger, surprise or fear. Silence is a common strategy to manage tense situations, especially for highly emotional people, who try to avoid using some improper words or exposing their ignorance.Silence has revelation function. It may

28、 impart some information while preventing the disclosure of other （Jensen 1973:120）. We can find clear implication in some situations. For example, silence can work as the conveyor of message in class, when students think about the answers to questions, the teacher often choose to be silent. Althoug

29、h the overall language environment is silent, students minds keep going on. We can call it revelation silence in this case. In some cases, a kind of silence is called “linkage silence”. In the social culture, silence can act as a bond among people. This kind of silence is positive as is used to maintain social space or prevent interruption. Such as the situation that two strangers in elevators or crowded buse