Exploring the factors that influence students’ participation in English classrooms at Ibri College of Applied Sciences in Oman (original) (raw)
Related papers
(Hamouda, 2012) Made an investigation about, causes of Saudi students' reluctance to participate in the English classroom. At the beginning of this article, in the abstract, he talks about the causes he found through a survey he applied to know which these were. The abstract literally say: " EFL learners' reluctance to speak English in the classroom is a problem commonly found in a foreign language context. This study attempts to investigate the causes of the nonparticipation of students in EFL classrooms in a key university in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. One hundred, fifty-nine first-year non-English majors answered a 66-item questionnaire on reticence. 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. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications are discussed with the aim of enhancing the teaching and learning of spoken English in foreign-language contexts. " And the key words were: reluctance, participation, anxiety. Is not a secret that participation is one of the most important parts of the learning process, even more, in an EFL classroom or a second language classroom. The author of this article cited others authors who say, " 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. Students, who are actively involved, reported higher satisfaction and higher persistence rates (Tsui 1996: 146). The importance of learner participation is also stressed by Jackson (2002) who contends that participation provides the setting in which students can construct and shape identities as members of the classroom. Moreover, research has shown that participation in classroom activities is important in order for effective learning to take place (Tsui, 1996).
EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD CLASS PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL ENGLISH COURSES
Many studies have shown that students who actively participate in the learning process learn more than those who do not. On the other hand, there are still scholars who have remained skeptical about the whole process. In Iran, too, there are still doubts about not only what EFL students think about class participation, but also whether classroom participation should be graded or not. This study aimed to explored how Iranian students perceive class participation, investigate the relationship among the students’ perception toward class participation and their gender, identify the relationship among the students’ perception toward class participation and the type of their English course, and find out the EFL students’ perception about participation grade. The participants consisted of 189 randomly selected graduate students at medical and paramedical faculties of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences who answered the modified questionnaire on attitudes towards class participation. The results indicated that not only students do not have any interest in learning English but also professors their course instructors do have a great impact on their lack of motivation. Although our the study findings also showed that altogether the students are not motivated enough to even care about their class participation or whether their participation is graded or not, the literature is full of evidence that reveals that the course instructors have a significant role in encouraging or discouraging the students to participate in class activities. Pedagogical implications are also provided; some measures should be taken to enhance the students’ trust and hence motivation. It is important for course instructors at the university to encourage students to participate in classes by making them feel appreciated by using more verbal and nonverbal approaches
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE USE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION
Introduction With a growing need for spoken English among non-native English speakers, reticence research in second/foreign language learning situations has captured the attention of language theorists and educators in recent decades (MacIntyre et al.,2001). Because of global competition and industrial transformation, students must integrate their language skills and their specialized knowledge in order to obtain the edge in job market and stay in synchronous with the world as well. During different oral sessions, teachers use different activities and strategies to empower learners' speech, brush up their English and enhance them to well pronounce and utter properly; however, teachers still face some students' hindrances. Many students do not participate in class discussions, do not contribute and do not show any sign of progress which indicate that there is something wrong somewhere with students like anxieties, fear, shyness and linguistic problems; for example, lack of vocabulary, mispronunciation and grammatical mistakes, and also due to bad attitudes towards the topics and the lack of motivation.
An investigation on Iranian university students’ reluctance to participate in EFL classrooms
Journal of Scientific Research and Development, 2015
A problem commonly found in a foreign language classroom is students’ reluctance to participate. The present study was an attempt to find out the factors contributing to students’ nonparticipation in Iranian university EFL classrooms. The participants answered a questionnaire on students’ reluctance to participate as well as strategies used by students to participate in the class. Interviews with participants were conducted to confirm the findings on students’ nonparticipation in the classroom. The research findings showed that different factors influence students’ reluctance to respond to the instructor in oral English language classrooms such as instructor evaluation, lack of confidence, and low English proficiency. Moreover, EFL students employed different strategies such as write and say what they have written to participate in classroom oral activities. As a result, some measures need to be taken to exalt students to participate in oral activities. The findings of this study helps teachers and learners consider the linguistic and psychological factors in teaching and learning.
HOW DO WE HELP STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN THE CLASSROOM DURING ENGLISH CLASS
This action research aims to determine how a teacher can encourage the student's participation in the class that would likely be the concern by the researchers as pre-service teachers and will soon become teachers. The current study also aims to determine the possible teaching strategies that would mostly encourage learners to fully participate and give their full attention during class discussion. Furthermore, the study uses quantitative descriptive approach as research design. Researchers used predetermined survey questionnaire consist of 15 items and choose 15 respondents from University of Southeastern Philippines were selected through simple-random sampling. The results of the current study reveal that 8 out 15 of the students think that they are passive which hinders them to become participative students. In addition students' perspective in terms of the factors that would likely affects the classroom participation is the language problem followed by the cultural diversity, less experience in classroom participation and communication apprehension. However, most of the students strongly agree somewhat agree to the statement that they usually like to work with group and pair activities. Also teacher's active interaction with students most likely encourages students to participate in the class. The researchers recommend that in order for the students to participate in class teachers should incorporate group activities and paired activities in their lesson.
ABSTRACT: Foreign Language classes have not been sufficiently investigated probably due to the difficulty of finding a successful method of analysis. We propose a model of Communicative Discourse Analysis (CODAM) with a taxonomy of Verbal and Non Verbal acts in Initiation, Response and Follow Up moves (I, R, F) according to the intention of each speaker's contribution to communicative discourse. By applying CODAM to the corpus obtained from actual classes in Andalusia, we have been able to compare not only the extension of communicative discourse but also speakers' participation level and learners' use of English in the classroom. Keywords: FL classes, discourse analysis, students' L2 oral output, communicative acts, L2 teaching
STUDENTS' CLASS PARTICIPATION IN ENGLISH ORIENTED EDUCATION/ TRAINING PROGRAMS: THE EGYPTIAN CASE
This paper is an endeavor to contribute to probe the different variables affecting Egyptian Students' presentations and oral participation skills in English oriented educational/ training programs, and represents a modest effort to develop some recommendations that might help such students. The researcher wishes they could help in such arena, one to those responsible for the education/ training process, and the other one to those participating in such programs, whether in the presenter seat, or the audience one. The researcher used the explanatory design to focus on the question WHY and to identify any causal links between the factors or variables that pertain to the research problem. Quantitative data is first gathered and then supported by qualitative data to help explain the quantitative results. Data collection was conducted from 80 students from different English oriented programs. A triangulation of data collection methods is used for this research, consisting of a collection of survey sheets, observations during the presentations and interviews with the students and educators. Findings of the research revealed different factors that affect students' abilities, decreasing their self-confidence level and increasing their anxiety. Among all factors, negative reactions of the audience played the worst role. This paper could contribute in future researches in different Arab countries, taking into consideration the local variables that could differ from one society to another.
ABSTRACT In-class participation is increasingly becoming a requirement in many university courses and programs and helps students understand the material better and affects the attitude and motivation of the students positively. This study investigated the overall attitude of the Iranian university teachers towards in-class participation, and revealed some of the underlying reasons for the students’ reluctance to speak in class. 50 students majoring in Translation Studies volunteered to fill out the 20-item questionnaire and 10 of them accepted to be interviewed. Analysis of the data revealed that students have a very positive attitude towards in-class participation, but there were some personal, teacher and cultural factors which prevented them from participation in class discussion. It was found out that cultural factors were as important as the reasons related to the teachers’ behavior or students’ personality features. Being afraid of making public mistakes and the tense atmosphere of the class were the most important barriers. Furthermore, Iranian students considered it rude to talk a lot in the class or to interrupt the teacher, especially if he was old. It seems more than reasonable to suggest that language teachers who emphasize classroom participation and assign scores for that activity should find more creative and practical ways to create a relaxed and inviting atmosphere in the class and a friendly relationship with the students suitable for in-class discussion.
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2020
The growing interest in gender issues, relationships, family constructs etc can be seen in academia and elsewhere. The power of literary texts, plays, films and dramas in the formation and perception of women's images is immense. These perceptions change with time and ideology. Change in ideology, always mark a paradigm shift in the way we understand and interpret social, economic and political agendas. The introduction of Marxist ideology in a society is an example. Even though Education is most important to pursue the objective of women's empowerment, gender imbalance that prevails at various levels of schooling has been a hampering factor. Besides enrollment, gender disparity manifests in areas of class participation and achievement in primary education institutions. In Ethiopia, even if through several interventions, the enrollment of female students at various levels of schooling has dramatically been increased, questions like in class participation and achievement remain unanswered. This piece of writing, while investigating the issues of representation vs. participation has an objective of assessing why female students' participation in class is low compared to male counterparts. Applying feminist qualitative research, this study identified that shyness, language proficiency, family background, instructor's affiliation to active students, environment, and lack of value attached to participation in class were having impacts on female students participation in class. In contrast, representation in class compared to male counterpart was not a decisive factor. And the researcher concludes that, unless otherwise interventions to enhance females' education in Ethiopia further investigate the issues of in class participation and achievement, the so far efforts have been only tip of the iceberg especially at Waja Kero primary school in rural Ethiopia. Waka Kero primary classroom has been regarded as male public space. This has affected the academic achievement of female students, which in turn is likely to influence negatively their social, economic and political visibilities. As such, females' participation in the classroom activities becomes an inviting topic to be explored. The current study, thereby, aimed to unveil the reasons of highly inhibited and highly exuberant female students in the classroom. In so doing, observations and interviews were carried out on students studying at the primary school of Waja Kero. The findings revealed that inhibition, depreciation of participation, devaluation of speech in mixed environment, and peers' negative comments were the main factors hindering female students' participation. Factors that have been rated as strong promoters of participation, however, were: positive perception of participation, modern thinking, well-rounded knowledge about the topic, the type of topic studied, accessible teachers, and learner-centered approach.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS & COMMUNICATION, 2019
This study explores Sibel Tatar's contribution to the field of language teaching and learning. The main focus is to understand the functions and interpretations of silence from learners' insights through the prism of multidimensional factors such as learners' cultural, psychological and contextual perspectives to ensure a smooth teaching and learning. Tatar's interview with Turkish learners made us understand that there's more to silence than the word's literal meaning suggests-it is revelatory. Turkish learners have their own interpretations for their silence and to them, silence is logical. This study basically addresses the needs of the Turkish students and will help instructors to comprehend the background of learners' silence. Undoubtedly understanding the underlying causes of silence can come in handy in teaching. It also aims to elaborate the impact of learning behavior in the field of second language acquisition. It unfolds silence as an effective learning process. The study traces out the significance of learners' silence and found both silence and activity as quintessential learning tools. In order to clarify the connection of silent learners with their society and culture, I have taken ideas from Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory of cognitive development and quoted from different other journals and books of the related areas. I have tried also to justify the meaning and function of silence in Tatar's study based on my classroom observation in secondary schools and in tertiary level institutions. I have compared among the findings of learners' silence from many studies, analyze them and evaluate learners' needs.