Pahlavannezhad, Mohammadreza, Sattar Barrak, Raid. (1405). Silence as a Discursive Strategy in Educational English Conversations: A Pragmatic Perspective. سامانه مدیریت نشریات علمی, (), -. doi: 10.22054/ilt.2026.89871.947
Mohammadreza Pahlavannezhad; Raid Sattar Barrak. "Silence as a Discursive Strategy in Educational English Conversations: A Pragmatic Perspective". سامانه مدیریت نشریات علمی, , , 1405, -. doi: 10.22054/ilt.2026.89871.947
Pahlavannezhad, Mohammadreza, Sattar Barrak, Raid. (1405). 'Silence as a Discursive Strategy in Educational English Conversations: A Pragmatic Perspective', سامانه مدیریت نشریات علمی, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22054/ilt.2026.89871.947
Pahlavannezhad, Mohammadreza, Sattar Barrak, Raid. Silence as a Discursive Strategy in Educational English Conversations: A Pragmatic Perspective. سامانه مدیریت نشریات علمی, 1405; (): -. doi: 10.22054/ilt.2026.89871.947
Silence as a Discursive Strategy in Educational English Conversations: A Pragmatic Perspective
1Full Professor in Department of Linguistics. Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
2PhD Candidate of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
چکیده
This study investigates silence as a discursive strategy in educational English conversations from a pragmatic, Conversation Analysis (CA) perspective. Drawing on 15 hours of naturally occurring classroom interaction from fourth-year undergraduate EFL seminars at the University of Al-Qadisiyah (27 students, ages 21-22), we examine how silence is positioned and oriented to within three key sequential environments: post-question gaps, pre-dispreferred responses, and repair spaces. Video-audio recordings were transcribed using ten Have’s (2007) conventions with fine-grained timing and multimodal notes (e.g., gaze, gesture). Analyses show that post-question gaps, when coupled with withheld evaluation or minimal continuers, are treated as invitations to elaborate, redistributing epistemic work to learners. Brief delays before disagreement operate as face-management buffers, licensing hedging and reason-giving that render stance shifts pedagogically productive. Silences surrounding trouble in hearing/understanding function as repair slots and search spaces, supporting concise teacher repeats and learner recognition/uptake that secure intersubjectivity with minimal disruption. Across environments, the pragmatic import of silence is evidenced through next-turn proof in participants’ subsequent actions. We argue that silence in these classrooms is not absence but a recipient-designed resource that coordinates knowledge, face, and progressivity. Implications include micro-pedagogical practices and CA-informed materials that normalize repair and elaboration.