The Reasons Of Students' Reticence In English Education Study Program

Oral participation is essentially important in English classroom. The writer observed and found that the students of English Education Study Program, Tanjungpura University, tended to be reticent when classroom discussion occured. They chose to remain silent rather than participating actively in the discussion. This study aimed to investigate the reasons for students' reticence in English classroom using case study method. The participants were 10 students of the 2nd semester students. The participants were chosen by the characteristics of reticence such as tending to be reluctant in responding lecturers' or other students' questions, sitting at the middle/back rows, and rarely asking questions (rarely raising hand). Using direct observation and semi-structured interview, the study found that the main reasons of students' reticence were anxiety, shyness, unfamiliarity with the topics/materials, low English proficiency, fear of making mistakes, lacking confidence in oneself, and being underprepared. Based on the findings, it showed that affective, individual, and psychological factors had a great influence on students' reticence