(Un)willing to communicate?: Incorporating different modes of participation in the classroom

Zoe Barber

Categories of classroom participation

1. Class mode (whole class interacts or takes turns speaking in a discussion)

• Has been found to be the least effective for facilitating L2 oral production and ranks highest for L2 anxiety
• Quality of student response is often low due to time pressure
• Opportunities to participate are limited or forced

2. Small group mode (Pair work/group work)

• Has been found to be more effective for facilitating L2 oral production than class mode
• Has been found to improve students’ communication confidence and quality of responses
• May lead to off-task behaviour

3. Individual mode (independent work)

- Extremely time consuming for teachers, difficult to conduct intervention in real time

• May lead to boredom in students, off-task behaviour
• Quality of student response is extremely variable
• Few or no interactive components, no L2 oral production required
• (Bao, 2014; Bao & Nguyen, 2020; Bernales, 2016; Fushino, 2010; Ollin, 2008; Zhou, 2015)

Current Attitudes

• Silence is the classroom is bad
• Silence means students aren’t actively participating or don’t want to participate
• Silence means students aren’t developing L2 communication skills
• Silence means students aren’t interested, aren’t motivated, are lazy, or are incompetent
• Silence means students aren’t willing to try to communicate in the L2
• Teachers should try to convert student silence to student talk

(Bao, 2014; Bao & Nguyen, 2020; Hanh, 2020; Harumi, 2011, Shao & Gao, 2016,; Yashima et al., 2016a, 2016b)

Why are these attitudes common?

1. Silence and reticience are commonly conflated by native English speaker teachers

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• The majority of SLA and EFL literature has focused strongly on willingness to communicate (WTC) and L2 oral production as markers of motivation and active classroom participation

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• Lack of understanding of silent participation modes and cultural differences in classroom participation modes

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• Strategic and communicative functions of silence are not well understood by EFL teachers

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(Bao, 2014; Bao & Nguyen, 2020; Bernales, 2014; 2016; Delaney, 2012; Harumi, 2011; King, 2013a; 2013b; King & Aono, 2017; Shao & Gao, 2016; Zhou, 2015)

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What is WTC?

• “The readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2” (MacIntyre et al., 1998)
• SLA phenomenon thought to be strongly connected to L2 motivation, L2 classroom participation, and L2 acquisition.
• High L2 oral participation = High WTC
• Generation of WTC as a primary goal of language teaching
• Extremely complex phenomenon with a great number of interdependent variables and identified antecedents

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(Fadilah, 2018; Kang, 2005; Macintyre et al., 1998, Mystkowska-Wiertlak, 2021; Shao & Gao, 2016; Yashima, 2012 )

Willingness to…participate?

• Despite the volumious research on WTC since the 1990s, little practical progress has been made in the classroom context

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• WTC ignores differences between East Asian and Western learning modes and sociocultural dynamics

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• WTC ignores the practical, communicative, and learning functions of silence

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• L2 WTC is “easy to measure” but is it actually reflective of students’ participation?

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• Should we consider willingness to participate (WTP) instead?

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• (e.g. Bao, 2014; Bernales, 2014;2016; King & Aono, 2017; Shao & Gao, 2016; Takahashi, 2015)

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Cultural Differences in Participation Modes

Japanese Context

• “Attentive, cultivated silence” (Bao, 2014)
• Silent participation modes used to show attentive listening, respect for teachers, reflection on content
• Dominating class time is seen as rude, lack of self-control
• Asking questions is seen as a challenge to teacher’s expertise and authority, imposition on class time

Western Contexts

• “Dynamic verbal debate” in which students actively discuss with teachers and peers (Bao, 2014)
• Questioning behaviours encouraged
• Expectation to show critical thinking through verbal participation
• Verbal participation to show engagement

Silence as Participation

Silence is an important part of communicative behavior and L2 learning

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Important communicative and learning functions of silence in the classroom:

• Active listening & attentiveness
• Rehearsing and self-monitoring
• Self-repair of errors
• L2 cognitive processing (thinking time)
• Social discretion & respect

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(Bao, 2014; Bao & Nguyen, 2020; Ghavamnia & Ketabi, 2015; Kim et al., 2016; King 2013a; 2013b; King & Aono, 2017; Nakane, 2007)

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silent participation = mental participation

It is important for EFL teachers to acknowledge and incorporate mental participation modes to maximise their benefits in the classroom

• Enables teachers to use students’ silent learning to facilitate higher quality L2 oral production later.

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• Silent (mental) participation = gives students more time to practice and reflect on L2 learning in a low-stakes way

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• Provides opportunities for L2 internalization and knowledge retrieval during activities

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How?

• Incorporate mental participation when planning acitvities to faciliate reflective learning, rehearsing, and self-monitoring
• �Incorporate wait time into planning of class-mode instruction

(Bao 2014; Bao & Nguyen, 2020; Bernales, 2014; 2016; Ghavannia & Ketabi, 2015; Jaddhami, 2018; King 2013a; 2013b; King & Aono, 2017; Nakane, 2007)

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Ways to include mental participation

Build in opportunities for mental participation (silent learning) into your lesson by incorporating:

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• Individual brainstorming time (background knowledge activation)
• Research time (allows students to gain familiarity with an unknown topic and consider their opinion before the activity)
• Mental rehearsal (use of inner speech to plan responses and practice target language)
• Time to write down ideas (confidence building and planning)
• Time to listen to peers (active listening, ideas sharing)
• Reflection time (consider and internalize information presented by the teacher, plan responses)

Example Activities

Class mode

• Think-Pair-Share before eliciting responses
• Brainstorm topic on the board before eliciting responses
• Priming responses with suggested grammar and vocabulary, rehearsal time
• Give students topics in advance that you will “cold call” them on during discussion time.
• Research time followed by student-led discussions where students sit in a circle and speak among themselves without teacher interference (talking stick?)
• 3-5 minutes of silent time where students can write down their ideas before eliciting responses

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• Participation Surveys

Get students to fill in a participation survey at the end of the lesson where they evaluate the amount and kinds of participation they did.

Kaname

Today I listened a lot to my group member’s ideas because I didn’t have a good idea. I helped to write our sentences after. It is good that I could understand more this topic.

Souta

I answered my teacher’s question one time. This is good to me because I can hear teacher’s feedback, but I was very nervous. My group talked a lot so I thought I have a good answer today. Usually I only think sentences by myself that I could answer to my teacher, so it is good that I could speak more.

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Example Activities

Small group mode

• Teacher facilitated roleplays/scenario building
• Small group research, discussions, sharing of ideas

*Can be used in conjunction with class-mode activities , e.g., Students may have reflection time and then collaborate with their group to develop questions to ask other students/teacher.

• Collaborative responses in which students answer worksheets with their pair/group after discussion. Teacher may mark later or go around the class and elicit answers
• Review quizzes such as Kahoot or Quizziz than can be played as a team to review class content
• Group reading summaries. Instead of having students read one long text individually, have them read a single paragraph and summarize the contents. Group members then present their summary to each other and answer questions.

Student Voices

• “During class I’m worried I will make a mistake in front of everyone”
• “Even if I think I know how to say something, I still want to say it so the teacher can check my English”
• “It is important to communicate with other members in class about learning because they might have different ideas”
• “When I share my thoughts with other members, I can notice my level. Sometimes they can help me improve my English, sometimes I can help them”
• “I know what I want to say but it takes a long time to make the sentences, and I use too much time”
• “Sometimes I don’t have any idea about the topic. I don’t know what I can say”
• “I prefer to wait until someone else talks first. I can check I understood correctly”
• ”I worry other members will judge my opinion if I answer the teacher, for example agree or disagree questions”

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Class Mode-Group Mode Hybrid������ �Online Written Response

Shared Research

Ideas Sharing and Collaborative Learning

Joint decision making and cross-group interaction

Participation modes activated

• Participation via gathering and sharing information
• Participation via active listening and reflection
• Participation via consultation and feedback from teacher and peers
• Participation through collaboration
• Participation through joint decision-making
• Participation through shared control
• Participation through student empowerment

References

Bao, D. (2014). Understanding silence and reticence: Ways of participating in second language acquisition. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Bao, D & Nguyen, T. (2020). How silence facilitates verbal participation. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3(3), 188-197. https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v3i3.3004

Bernales, C. (2014). Exploring ”willingness to communicate” in the FL classroom: A qualitative and quantitative study. Proquest Dissertations Publishing.

Bernales, C. (2016). Conflicting pathways to participation in the FL classroom: L2 speech production vs. L2 thought processes. Foreign Language Annals, 49(2), 367-383. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12200

Delaney, T. (2012). Quality and quantity of oral participation and English proficiency gains. Language Teaching and Research, 16(4), 467-482.

Fadliah, E. (2018). Willingness to communicate from Indonesian learners’ perspective. Journal of ELT Research, 3(2), 168-185. http://doi.org/10.22236/JER_Vol3Issue2pp168-185

Fushino, K. (2010). Casual relationships between communication confidence, beliefs about group work, and willingness to communicate in foreign language groupwork. TESOL Quarterly, 44(4), 700-724. https://doi.org/10.5054tq.20110.235993

Ghavamnia, M., & Ketabi, S. (2015). Voices from the voiceless: Iranian EFL students’ attitudes towards English. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching , 9(2), 202-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2013.849708

Hahn, N. (2020). Silence is Gold?: A study on students’ silence in EFL classrooms. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(4), 153-160).

Harumi, S. (2011). Classroom silence: Voices from Japanese learners. ELT Journal, 63(3), 260-269. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccq046

Kim, S., Ates, B., Grigsby, Y., Kraker, S., & Micek, T. (2016). Ways to promote the classroom participation of international students by understanding the silence of Japanese university students. Journal of International Students, 6(2), 431-450. https://doi.org/10/32674/jis.v6i2.365

King, J. (2013a). Silence in the second language classroom (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

King, J. (2013b). Silence in the second language classrooms of Japanese universities. Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 325-343. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams043

References cont.

King, J., & Aono, A. (2017). Talk, silence, and anxiety during one-to-one tutorials: A cross-cultural comparative study of Japan and UK undergraduates’ tolerance of silence. Asia Pacific Education Review, 18(4), 489-499). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-017-953-8

MacIntyre, P., Clement, R., Dornyei, Z., & Noels, K. (1998). Comceptualizing willingnessto communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-562. http://www.jstor.org/stable/330224

Mystkowska-Wiertlak, A. (2021). Fluctuations in willingness to communicatie during a semester: A case study. The Language Learning Journal, 49(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1469660

Nakane, N. (2007). Silence in intercultural communication: Perceptions and performance. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Ollin, R. (2008.) Silent pedagogy and rethinking classroom practice: Structuring teaching through silence rather than talk. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(2), 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640802063528

Shao, Q., & Gao, X. (2016). Reticence and willingness to communication(WTC) of East Asian language learners. System, 63, 115-120.

Takahashi, J. (2019). East Asian and native-English speaking students’ participation in the graduate-level American classroom. Communication Education, 68(2), 215-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2019.1566963

Yashima, T. (2012). Willingness to communicate: Momentary volition that results in L2 behaviour. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan, & M. Williams. (Eds.), Psychology for Language Learning (pp.119-135). Palgrave Macmillan

Yashima, T., Ikeda, M., & Nakahira, S. (2016a). Talk and silence in an Efl classroom: Interplay of learners and context. In J. King. (Ed.). The Dynamic Interplay Between Context and the Language Learner (pp. 104-126). Palgrave Macmillan

Yashima, T., MacIntyre, P., & Ikeda, M. (2016b). Situated willingness to communicate in an L2: Interplay of individual charactersitcs and context. Language Teaching Research, 23(1), 115-137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816657851

Zhou, N. (2015). Oral participation in EFL classroom: Perspectives from the adminstrator, teachers, and learners at a Chinese university. System, 53, 35-6. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j-system.2015.06.007

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