Exploring Factors Causing Students' Reticence In Business English Class

In recent years, it has been a common phenomenon for Chinese college ESL/EFL students to keep reticent in Business English class. Many eastern and western researchers have been devoted to the study of reasons causing students'reticence and passivity in foreign language class especially in General English class, but few attempts have been made to specifically explore the factors causing students'reticence in Business English class. What factors lead to students'reticence in Business English class? What techniques or methods can be adopted by the college Business English teachers to enhance students'class participation? The present dissertation, focusing its attention on the two questions, strives to explore the factors resulting in students'reticence in Business English class and to examine the importance of the factors. Based on the previous theories and empirical studies, such as characteristics and objectives of Business English and theories of SLA especially factors influencing L2 learning, a 52-item questionnaire is designed and distributed to 46 students. Structured interview with 7 Business English teachers and semi-structured interview with 10 students are carried out in order to examine their subjective explanations for the factors influencing students'class participation. It is discovered that a complex mix of social-cultural, classroom teaching, affective, speciality of Business English and teacher-students rapport as well plays a significant role in determining the level of students'class participation, or rather they are the causes resulting in students'reticence in Business English class. In light of these findings, some implications and suggestions in terms of Business English enhancement are proposed for college Business English teachers.