The Effects of Shyness and Lack of Confidence as Psychological Barriers on EFL Learners' Speaking Skills: A Case Study of South Punjab

Abstract

This work investigated the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learner' speaking skill, particularly at the public sector colleges, universities and the sub-campuses of these universities located in the South Punjab, Pakistan. This project was scheduled to use a mixed-method type. Majority of the students indicated that there is an insignificant and negative relationship between the variables of shyness, lack of confidence and speaking English achievements. Since, as the shyness and lack of confidence increases, the speaking achievement decreases and as the shyness and lack of confidence decreases the speaking achievement increases. Findings from the explored work indicate that EFL teachers firstly, cultivate proper teaching circumstances by providing pupils adequate interval to prepare themselves for a conversational activity, develop a mind map to generate ideas, and offer learners plentiful time span to accomplish the given task well in the class.

New Qualitative Perspective in Human–Computer Interaction: Designing Mobile English for STEM

“…Additionally, this study showed that many STEM learners mentioned being anxious and shy to speak English. Supporting the findings, a study that looked into the factors affecting English language learners' shyness reported that they had limited knowledge of the language, resulting in anxiety (Ahsan et al, 2020 ). This is an issue among second or foreign language learners, where they need to acquire vocabulary to use the English language proficiently.…”

“…A study reported that one of the factors associated with the difficulties in learning the second language is the lack of vocabulary (Misbah et al, 2017 ). Similarly, studies reported that one barrier to learning English includes anxiety (Ahsan et al, 2020 ) due to teachers' inability to scaffold language learning (Nasr et al, 2020 ). In traditional classroom teaching and learning, Vygotsky mentioned the vital role to scaffold learning (Vygotsky, 1997 ).…”

A Review of the Impact of EFL Teachers’ Affectivity and Surgency and Learners’ Shyness on Their Language Attainment

“…They further concluded that the relationship was more significant among female learners. Similarly, Ahsan et al (2020) observed the role of shyness in EFL learners’ speaking skill among 200 college and university students in South Punjab. They employed a structured researcher-made questionnaire to determine the degree of shyness.…”

“…In a similar vein, Baldwin and Caroline (2011) asserted that engaging in verbal interactions is more likely to develop anxiety and shyness among language learners. Therefore, it will be essential to promote learners’ communicative competence and encourage them to implement their English knowledge despite the probable mistakes and difficulties ( Ahsan et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Nonetheless among the bulk of research on teachers’ and learners’ personality characteristics and emotions, the teaching/learning literature has witnessed only some studies, particularly observing the relationship between teachers’ emotional factors and learners’ shyness ( Rebecca Chu, 2008 ; Alavinia and Salmasi, 2012 ; Chen et al, 2015 ; Ahsan et al, 2020 ). Therefore and respecting the prominence of the influence of individual differences on EFL learning outcome, the present study attempts to review the related articles to identify the most appropriate approach to the impact of instructors’ surgency and affectivity on shyness among learners.…”