Silent voices: Investigating the causes of non-participation in EFL classrooms

Audia Anggraini

Abstract


This paper explores students' silent behaviour in the EFL classroom. The research investigates the reasons behind students' silence in the classroom, or lack of verbal participation in the classroom. The participants for this study consisted of 8 students who attended EFL classes at Abu Bakar IT High School and data was collected through observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed various causes of silence in the classroom: anxiety, introverted or shy personality, lack of language skills, lack of self- confidence, classroom atmosphere, teacher's teaching methods, and difficulty in understanding. Together with the theoretical discussion, the empirical evidence revealed by this study might help teachers to gain a higher awareness and deeper understanding of students' silent behaviour. This study aims to inform other researchers and EFL teachers to find out the reasons behind students' silence during EFL classes and it is hoped that this study can help improve the efficiency of English language teaching and learning in senior secondary schools.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.12928/iucee2024.v3i1.14633

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