A Study of Changes in Risk-taking and Sociability in Chinese University EFL Class

Abstract

Abstract-This paper reports the results of a study of changes in risk-taking and sociability in Chinese university EFL class over a term. A 10-item survey involving 934 first-year undergraduates revealed that: (1) the students generally did not like to risk using English and were moderately sociable in English class both at the beginning and toward the end of the term; (2) the participants became significantly more risk-taking in English class over the term; (3) male students reported being significantly more risk-taking than their female counterparts both at the beginning and toward the end of the term; and (4) language class risk-taking and sociability were significantly correlated with each other and the students' performance in English both at the beginning and toward the end of the term. As such, some implications for teaching and learning of English are discussed.