An Investigation Into College Students' Reticence In EFL Classroom

With the development of English as a world language, people in China are becoming more and more aware of the significance of communicative competence in English learning. This is reflected in the new College English Curriculum, in which training of oral English has become an important course in English teaching. Nevertheless, although most students are aware of the importance of spoken English, they still tend to keep reticent and are unwilling to participate in the classroom activities. Such students' silence in class impedes the effective improvement of their spoken English and makes it difficult for students to enhance their communicative competence.The present study aimed to investigate the college students' reticence in EFL classroom. The subjects in this study were 182 sophomores from Jiangxi Normal University. By using questionnaire, interview and classroom observation, this study attempted to find out the current situation of student classroom reticence in college and examine the main factors contributing to student reticence in English classroom. In addition, it also explored whether there are any significant differences in students' silence in English class between high proficiency students and low proficiency students. Based on the data collected from the questionnaire, the interview and the classroom observation, this study has resulted in the following findings.First of all, the study shows that most students in this study keep reticent in English classroom, and they speak English only when they are singled out to answer questions. Only a few students are willing to interact with their teachers and answer their teachers' questions and participate in the classroom activities. Secondly, the results show that major factors influencing students' reticence in class are motivation, anxiety, English proficiency, individual's belief, low self-efficacy and personality class atmosphere, cultural factor, and teaching mode. Finally, there are significant differences in students' silence in English class between high proficiency students and low proficiency students. High proficiency level students are more active in participating classroom activities while students with low proficiency level are more reticent.On the basis of the findings above, the researcher put forward some pedagogical implications for both teachers and students on how to cope effectively with students' silence in classroom. First, it is urgent for students to improve their oral English proficiency. Students need to take every chance to speak English and teachers need to give students as many opportunities as possible to practice their oral English. Secondly, it is necessary to enhance students' learning motivation. Teacher should provide positive comments about the students' performance. Thirdly, teachers should help students reduce their anxiety. They should organize various classroom activities that are less stressful to language learners. Last but not least, it is advisable for teachers to create a relaxing environment in English classes.