TITLE:
Students’ Passiveness in Speaking English: The Culprit behind the Silence in the Classroom
AUTHORS:
Rhonda Vail G. Leyaley
KEYWORDS:
Speaking Skills, Passiveness, Pronunciation, Speaking Strategies
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
9,
2023
ABSTRACT: This
study focused on the pre-service students’ passiveness in the classroom.
Despite their chosen profession where speaking the English language is a
requirement, they are not interactive in the classroom when English is used as
the medium of communication. The objective of this study is to identify the
causes of their passiveness and the strategies they employ to overcome it. The
data for this study were collected using a questionnaire distributed through
Google Forms. The respondents’ answers were further validated through small
group discussions. The findings indicate the following: Technical factors: the respondents
moderately agree that insufficient sentence organization and inaccurate
pronunciation contribute to their passiveness in the classroom; Psychological
factors: the respondents strongly agree that internal factors such as
nervousness, lack of confidence, and fear of making mistakes lead to their
passiveness. They also moderately agree that peer pressure is a contributing
factor; and Environmental factors: the respondents strongly agree that
motivation, or the lack thereof, influences their passiveness. They moderately
agree that the frequency of using the language and the availability of practice
opportunities impact their level of passiveness. Regarding the strategies used
to overcome passiveness in the classroom, the findings are as follows: the respondents
heavily rely on translation when answering questions, while they moderately use
it when organizing ideas and writing responses; they frequently employ hand
gestures and facial expressions to convey their ideas; extensively use English
movies, reading English books, and watching English classes on social media
platforms to develop their speaking skills; and they commonly engage in
self-talk and conversations with peers, while rarely engage in conversations with English-speaking individuals and provide comments
during class discussions.