Foreword by Zoltán Dörnyei 1. Introduction 2. Major Theoretical Frameworks of Silence 3. An Interdisciplinary Overview of Silence in Japan 4. A Critical Analysis of Japan's Language Education System 5. A Structured Observation Study into L2 Classroom Silence 6. An Interview Study Into Learners' Perspectives on L2 Classroom Silence 7. A Naturalistic Stimulated Recall Study of Specific Silence Events 8. Summary and Conclusions Appendices