Dealing with learner reticence in the speaking class

Abstract

This paper describes an oral English course for non-English majors at a university in the People's Republic of China. In the first year of the course, the students were very resistant to participating in group-based speaking activities, and their end-of-year results were disappointing. In the second year, the teacher decided to involve the students actively in designing their course and planning activities which would meet their needs and reasons for wanting to speak English. The aim was to increase their motivation and overcome reticence by getting them to talk about what and how they wanted to learn. It was expected that both their confidence and their ability to speak English would improve through more personal engagement with the course. The effectiveness of this approach was assessed using self-evaluation forms, classroom observations, and tests which showed significant progress in the students’ speaking.

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