An Exploration of Causes of Saudi Students' Reluctance to Participate in the English Language Classroom

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EFL learners’ reluctance to speak English in the classroom is a problem commonly found in a foreign language context. The research findings indicate that a considerable number of students were reluctant to respond to the teacher and remained silent in oral English language classrooms due to many causes such as low English proficiency, fear of speaking in front of others, negative evaluation, shyness, lack of confidence and preparation, and fear of making mistakes. The study also indicated some strategies used by students to participate in the class such as rehearsing what they say and preparing the ideas and questions.

As involvement and participation are essential for language acquisition, the more utterances the learners offer, the better their spoken language is and vice versa. When students produce the language that they are studying, they are testing out the hypotheses which they have formed about the language. When they respond to the teacher’s or other students’ questions, raise queries, and give comments, they are actively involved in the negotiation of comprehensible input and the formulation of comprehensible output, which are essential to language acquisition.

The linkage between classroom participation and students’ academic achievement is

undeniable. Students’ oral participation can help students fill the gap between what they want to say and whether they are able to say it.

            The result of this research showed that students are reluctant to speak in the class because they feel uncomfortable to speak in front of the class, students feel nervous when

speaking English without any preparation, students feel their heart pounding when they are called upon to answer a question in English class, they  did not know what to say’ during the class discussions, felt afraid of asking a question to instructors during class, lacking confidence in subject matter, fear of making errors, negative lecturer traits and afraid of being criticized and embarrassed in front of classmates.

Source:            An Exploration of Causes of Saudi Students' Reluctance to Participate in the English Language Classroom

By Arafat Hamouda