Silent students with voices: an exploration of students’ silence in an Algerian EFL setting

Many studies have considered silent engagement as a form of classroom participation and learning. However, many silent students in language classrooms are still perceived lacking language competence, self confidence, and they are considered shy and introverted.

This study explores the experiences of a group of Algerian students of English at an Algerian university, who tend to be silent in the classroom, and the perceptions of their teachers regarding classroom silence and classroom participation. A focused ethnographic approach is taken. This research perceives silent students’ classroom participation as a process informed by prior-learning experiences, current social and interpersonal relationships and context-related teaching and learning practices.

Thus, as a whole, it investigates the learning environment’s influences on students’ uses of silence and the different conceptualisations of classroom participation in university classrooms. It also investigates the perceptions of silence among students and teachers. The research findings suggest complex factors influencing silence in the classroom such as teachers’ behaviours and fear of poor grading, as well as embracement and the need to vary classroom interaction patterns and teaching and learning approaches in order to cater for individual students, such as those with a tendency to learn silently. This can lead to students adopting different learner identities including a silent learner identity and unconsciously adapting them depending on their perceptions of the value of classroom participation, their academic level, classroom norms and their interpersonal relationships.

Acknowledging the complexity of students’ silence, this study suggests the importance of students’ voice in negotiating classroom participation and teaching practices and calls for the importance of inclusive teaching techniques to accommodate students with diverse learning preferences.