Teaching french: Voices and silences

Abstract

In the midst of voices, in the pauses when emerges silence as part of a conversation, one is left to wonder if it is only an empty, shapeless moment where nothing is expressed. Yet, this article deliberately posits the phenomenon of silence as inextricable from the voices of teachers and as a meaningful part of the phenomenological project - Voices of Teachers. Teaching French in Victoria. It does so through a phenomenological interpretation of data obtained through semi-structured interviews of eight teachers online, on the phone, and in person. Even if the very nature of silence leaves one always having to deduct and induct meaning from the unspoken at such moments of a conversation, findings show that silence is not to be viewed as a polar opposite to the voices of the participants but rather as an active performance which calls for an intentional analysis. Furthermore, the literature review on the topic of silence revealed that the area is largely undertheorized. Most of theories read were aimed at the pedagogical use of silence in classrooms, but few talked about the silence performed by teachers in the education sector. The article propounds and recommends that there is a need to bring to the fore the silence about teaching on the part of the teachers and to incorporate it as part of the phenomenon of teaching French.