Oral Interaction activities in the EFL Classroom: Overcoming learners’ speaking inhibitions

Abstract

When invited to communicate using the English language, students often succumb to their inhibitions and withdraw into their metaphorical shells. The state of anxiety that oral communication incites in students can be considered to be one of the major factors in their reticence to speak using the target language. In a classroom which has come to associate speaking activities, with anxiety and self-consciousness it is necessary to understand how to combat these metaphorical adversaries of oral communication. As such, in order to understand how to assist students in overcoming these inhibitions the question “How can peer oral interaction activities contribute to learners overcoming their speaking inhibitions?” was posed. The participants of this research project consisted of twenty-five Year 11 students and twenty-one Year 7 students, studying in the Ibn-Mucana school cluster. Both participating classes were comprised of students with a mixed skill level, with both learners above and below the expected proficiency level for their age group. For the duration of this research project, students participated in a series of spoken interaction activities wherein their behaviour and language skills were observed and analysed. At the end of each activity, participants were also invited to answer a questionnaire where their opinions on both the activity, as well as English language learning in general, were assessed. The resulting data indicates that students’ speaking inhibitions were at their lowest when their comfort level with their peers was at its highest. These results were most apparent for the Year 11 group, which seems to indicate that longer coexistence with their classmates reduces students’ speaking inhibitions. In contrast, the Year 7 group were less confidence when speaking with their peers due to lower peer-familiarity and reduced language skill levels. Finally, students also revealed that an increased interest in the topic and self-assuredness with the language promoted their desire to communicate during each activity.