A Study On Reticence In Non-English Major Postgraduate English Classroom

Classroom interaction plays a significant role in foreign language teaching, because learners can never learn a language well without speaking it. However, Chinese students' participation in English classroom interaction is not satisfactory and they tend to be reticent in classroom.Though researches have been carried out on students'reticence in English classroom, most of them were conducted in cross-cultural context. Some research carried out in EFL context was limited to college English classroom. Few of them concern postgraduates' English class. This study attempts to investigate the current situation of non-English major postgraduates'reticence in English classroom, to identify the contributing factors to their reticence, and to discuss the countermeasures to overcome reticence.282 Grade 1 postgraduates of non-English majors and 6 English teachers from Central China Normal University were involved. Classroom observation, questionnaire and interviews were employed in this research to collected data. Classroom observation showed that postgraduates'reticence was a common phenomenon in English classroom, which was also confirmed by the result of questionnaire. By analyzing the questionnaire investigation and interviews with students and teachers, student factors such as the other-orientation characters, learning anxiety, poor oral English proficiency and the habit of active listening instead of speaking; teacher factors like short wait time, unattractive or too difficult questions, too much teacher talk; educational factors like the course type and testing system were found to be the most important causes of postgraduates'reticence in English classroom. The teachers and students also gave their own suggestions for overcoming this phenomenon, such as making full preparation, improving teaching art, singling out students for questions, increasing group work, reducing teacher talk, allotting more grades for participation and creating a relaxed classroom environment, etc.The study also carries important implications for reducing postgraduates'reticence. For postgraduate themselves, they should try to develop self-confidence, improve oral English proficiency and change their passive learning habits. Meanwhile, teachers should make efforts to create a positive classroom atmosphere, reduce students'anxiety, give students more opportunities to speak English, optimize wait time and improve questioning techniques. Suggestions have also been proposed on the government and university's part such as to modify the course type, improve the testing system, and reform the teaching mode.