Unequal Participation and Willingness to Communicate

Students who are reluctant to speak out in the classroom are commonly encountered by language teachers.As part of a teaching journal project, this paper is a self-refection based on observations of student behavior and performance during English Discussion Class (EDC) at a private Japanese university.Two classes were observed during a fourteen-week fall semester with a focus on four students who did not participate as much as their peers.Possible causes of unequal participation are discussed using a model of willingness to communicate (WTC).Instances of teacher intervention to alleviate the problem are described, and changes in student behavior and performance are noted.Several concrete measures that may be effective for encouraging equal participation are suggested.This paper concludes by suggesting future strategies for addressing the issue of students participating less than their peers.