Saudi Students’ Reluctance to Engage in English Communication: Critical Issues and Considerations

Teaching English as a foreign language is an important aspect of global education. Yet, a common pedagogical hurdle for EFL instructors is fostering students’ confidence in spoken English, an essential skill for cross-cultural communication and collaboration in today’s interconnected world. Therefore, the paper aims to examine why Saudi EFL students may experience comparable challenges in speaking English, akin to those faced by students in other EFL settings. A comprehensive literature review was carried out, exploring speaking reluctance across diverse contexts, including the Saudi EFL setting. The paper adopted an alternative approach to address students’ reservations about speaking. Diverging from the conventional emphasis on motivations and anxiety as primary contributors to speaking reluctance, this study delved deeper, highlighting the underlying conditions that lead to reduced motivation and heightened anxiety. The review’s findings revealed that conditions including, students’ unreadiness, lack of relevance, artificial and limited learning environments, fear, lack of self-confidence, and low proficiency level are critical sources of anxiety, lack of motivation, and interest. The paper concluded with a thorough discussion of potential implications for language instructors, educational administrators, teaching methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and future research directions, all directed toward overcoming speaking reluctance among Saudi EFL students.