Silence in Teaching and Learning: Perspectives of a Nepalese Graduate Student

Abstract

The nature of silence is complex in any classroom with international or domestic students. Instructors sometimes fail to recognize that the classroom silence of foreign students is unlike their native counterparts. With an insider perspective, this article explores the concept of silence among international students by examining the existing body of literature relating to cultural norms. It also suggests a number of ways of dealing with silent students in a diverse classroom setting.

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

—Lao Tzu