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Abstract
In this article, I discuss the characteristics of comprehending silent participants and strategies for teaching them how to signal understanding and participation. The general term for students' classroom silence is communication apprehension a situationally specific social difficulty for many children and adults. Because oral language is essential to classroom learning, silent students suffer from a clear academic handicap because their behavior is misinterpreted as a sign of low intelligence, alienation, or a lack of skills. Four teaching strategies are discussed: identifying the sources of students' silence, developing alternative means for obtaining students’ responses, setting routines for students to indicate their participation, and developing collaborations and communities of learning among students.