Summary and conclusions

Abstract

This final chapter of the book is divided into three main sections. It begins with a summary of the principal research findings for each phase of the project. As the mixed-methods investigation into Japanese university students’ silent behaviour presented here is novel (both in topic and research design terms), I accompany the discussion of the investigation’s major findings with a brief recap of some of the methodological challenges I faced when investigating the intangible phenomenon of silence. The subsequent section of the chapter outlines the study’s limitations and provides numerous suggestions for future research. Where appropriate, the ideas that I provide for further silence-focused investigations take into account the current project’s drawbacks. This part of the chapter also includes discussion centring on potentially fruitful strategies for future DST-orientated research into language learner silence. To end the chapter, I address the study’s practical implications and tentatively discuss practical pedagogical strategies which could prove effective in combating learner silence and oral unresponsiveness in the language classroom.