Grouping Students for Successful Communication in the EFL Classroom

There has been much written and said about the reluctance of Japanese students to speak English in class and many explanations have been offered for this behaviour. Whatever the reasons, if students are to become confident English speakers, they must overcome this reticence and take advantage of communicative opportunities presented tothem. This paper reports on one possible approach in supporting Japanese students communicatively in the EFL classroom. It describes small group activities which force learners to speak in English. These activities are carried out in an environment which the learners themselves perceive to be safe and supportive, where they can make mistakes with a small audience of their peers without fear of embarrassment. In undertaking these tasks, students have stated they have gained confidence in their ability to speak in English, they have noted an improvement in their English language proficiency and their desire to learn English has increased