Some ESL Learners Are Always Silent: Is Silence Golden For Them?

Amlanjyoti Sengupta, India

Amlanjyoti Sengupta is presently serving as an assistant professor at the Department of English, Assam University (Diphu Campus), Diphu, Assam, India. He has presented papers on several ELT topics in many international conferences. He is the co-author of The Textbook of Business Communication. His area of interest includes English Language Teaching (ELT), Second Language Acquisition and Discourse Analysis. E-mail: amlanashok17@yahoo.co.in

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Abstract
Introductory note
What does ESL learner’s silence speak?
Are we silencing them?
Icy cold silence: let us break it
Concluding note
References

Abstract

There is an old adage which says, "Silence is golden." Silence is really golden when it is reflective and thought provoking in nature and adds substantial contributions to speech. But in most of the non-native English language classrooms we often come across learners for whom speaking in English is a challenging and scary experience and they prefer to be silent and such silence is empty and unproductive in nature. Such empty silence speaks more about learner’s language anxiety, classroom fear and inhibition which has a debilitating impact on the oral skills of learner. The paper deals with one of the practical problems which most of the ELT teachers often encounter in their classroom teachings i.e. silence of ESL learner and the paper attempts to offer a few strategies to break such unsolicited silence.

Introductory note

It is a known fact that ESL/EFL learners need to maximize their classroom interactions in the target language in order to be the effective users of a language. They must get the classroom opportunities to practice the target language which of course should be made available by the language teacher by encouraging and welcoming learner’s participation and contributions in the classroom discussions. But what exactly happens in most of the non-native ELT classrooms? In such classrooms mostly the discussions are monopolized by a few fluent speakers and the majority of learners who are hesitative, timid and passive in nature and who are less confident and competent in speaking English prefer to be silent. In the pedagogical research it has repeatedly been asserted that the interactional competence among the language learners should get priority in language instruction (Kramsch, 1986; Ellis, 1988). But how can we expect our learners to achieve interactional competence unless they conquer their speaking phobias in the target language?

What does ESL learner’s silence speak?

It is often said that silence speaks louder than words. It is true in the context of learner’s classroom silence also. It speaks loudly about ESL learner’s :

• Second Language (L2) Anxiety: ESL learner’s silence is the manifestation of his/her L2 speaking anxiety. Anxiety, as a psychological construct, is embedded in the nervous system carrying a detrimental influence on oral performance.
• Lack of Motivation: Learner’s classroom silence speaks that they are not motivated in the language learning. Lack of motivation can be the result of multiple factors like wrong cultural attitude and values, routine classroom activity, difficulty in comprehension, socio educational background etc.
• Shyness: Silence also indicates language learner’s shyness. Shy learner generally tends to produce little or no voluntary speech and they hardly make any eye contact.
• Low Self Esteem: Silence speaks about language learner’s low self esteem. Low self esteem may lead learner to emotional turmoil, depression, self neglect, social withdrawal etc.

Are we silencing them?

Edwards and Mercer (1987) documented that teachers perform 76% of classroom talk. Even Coulthard (1985) analyzed classroom interaction structure and found that teachers dominate the classroom discourse and learners share a little portion of it. Their findings provoke us to think whether we are silencing our language learners or helping them to speak out.

• Do we have patience to listen? : Shall we wait for an answer? Often we do not wait long enough for students to consider a question and formulate an answer. Mostly a teacher asks a question which is either answered by a learner who is confident in using English or the answer is provided by the teacher him/herself.
• Are we fostering unhealthy competition? : Don’t we create an unhealthy classroom competition by appreciating only the learners who are competent in speaking English? The learners who are not confident in speaking English have a perception of being compared negatively to the fluent speakers.
• Do we promote interaction or talk? : The most common verbal exchange generally takes place in the form of teacher’s question and learner’s response which is totally based on academic register. But interaction involves both social and personal input which encompasses emotion, feeling, agreement, disagreement etc. If our goal is to improve learner’s speaking ability, do we provide a suitable platform for this which goes beyond the routine academic question-answer pattern? Or do we want our learners to be people who can simply talk on textual topics and cannot interact in the real world?
• Do we criticize openly? : Do we criticize a learner openly which is ridiculing and humiliating? If we do so, learners will naturally feel tongue-tied because they are worried about making mistakes and losing face.
• Are we compulsive speakers? : Do we speak in terms of quantity or quality? Do we really want our learners to express?
• Do we do labeling? : Do we use negative labels like ‘shy’, ‘passive’, ‘worthless’ etc.? Labeling creates a risk that the learner will think that he/she is the label and will always be the label.
• Do we address individuality? : Most of our teaching materials and techniques are designed for a homogenous classroom and learners react to them differently due to individual differences and preferred learning styles. Can we satisfactorily cater to the needs of individual language learner in a heterogeneous classroom?
• How is our feedback? : Do we give extensive, frequent and specific feedback?
• Are we still traditional? : In practice, most of the non-native ELT classrooms are still teacher centered where the concept of learner autonomy remains as an illusion.
• Only language form and no function? : Structural approach still has a strong impact in the English Language Teaching and as a result of which often excessive emphasis is paid on grammatical rules and fixed written forms rather than fluency and language functions?

Icy cold silence: let us break it

Here are some simple strategies which can solve the complex problem-the problem of icy cold silence of ESL learners:

• Rearranging the seating
  Generally shy and hesitant learners like to hide their faces from the teacher and they prefer the last benches. So, seating arrangement should be rearranged regularly which can gradually enable those learners to overcome fear and shyness. Taking seat by friendly and talkative learners may also help shy learner to open up.
• Thinking-Writing-Speaking
  Making notes before learner start and preparing what he/she will say can be less scary than thinking and speaking simultaneously.
• Personality Quiz (I Like, I Experience, I Feel…)
  Personality quiz may draw the interest of the shy learners and they may speak out. Let the learners talk about their likings, disliking, personal feelings and experiences in the target language instead of simply facing the textual questions. They may be asked to contribute knowledge or expertise acquired outside the ELT classroom.
• Lets Form Small Group
  Shy and hesitative learners can perform better in small groups which are less intimating. It is often much easier for such a learner to come out of his/her shell when he/she works with peers.
• Let’s Celebrate Your Culture
  Culturally inclusive classroom can make the shy learners feel comfortable as it recognize, appreciate and celebrate cultural diversities.
• Not Too Formal Always
  Silent learners should be given opportunities to interact with the teacher informally before or after the class timings.
• Asking Open-ended Questions
  It is better to ask open-ended questions because such questions are designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the learner’s own knowledge and/or feelings.
• Multidirectional Interaction
  Some learners are always hesitative to talk face to face with the teacher but they can perform better when they are in a small group. So, it is better to involve them accordingly.
• Not to Berate For Mistakes
  It is better not to berate learners when they make mistakes. Moreover, learners also need to realize that mistakes are the signs of learning the language and they need not to worry for mistakes at the initial level.
• You Are Great!
  Teacher must recognize the strengths and abilities of shy students and constantly reward them. We can plan and use a variety of classroom activities that suit different intelligences and through which learners can exhibit and nurture their special potentialities.

Concluding note

Tough-tied shy learners exist in most of our non-native ELT classrooms. Their silences do not mean that they do not know the answer. Their silences need to be understood first before reacting to them. Reaction must be empathetic. Silence is no way a learning disability on the part of the language learner and so, it can easily be overcome by incorporating the pedagogical practices which can foster a caring, cooperative and non-threatening learning environment.

References

Coulthard, M. (1985). An introduction to discourse analysis. Hong Kong: Longman.

Ellis, R. (1988). Classroom second language development. New York: Prentice Hall.

Edwards, D., & Mercer, N. (1987). Common knowledge: The development of understanding in the classroom. New York: Methuen.

Kramsch, C.J. (1986). From language proficiency to interactional competence. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 366-372.

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