Factors causing reticence for nonenglish majored students in english speaking performance a study at ho chi minh city university of technology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
-------------------------------

NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG

FACTORS CAUSING RETICENCE FOR NONENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AT HO
CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY
MASTER THESIS
Major: English Language
Course code: 60220201

HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2021


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
--------------------------------

FACTORS CAUSING RETICENCE FOR NONENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AT HO
CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY
Submitted to the
Faculty of English Language
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language
Course code: 60220201
By
NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG

Supervised by
LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2021


The thesis entitled FACTORS CAUSING RETICENCE FOR NON-ENGLISH
MAJORED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A STUDY
AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY was successfully
defended and approved on .................. at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
(HUTECH).

Academic supervisor : ...........................................................................

Examination Committee
1. ................................................................

Chair

2. ................................................................

Reader 1

3. ................................................................

Reader 2

4. ................................................................

Member

5. .................................................................

Secretary Member

On behalf of the Examination Committee
Chair

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HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE
-----------------------------------------HCMC, October 2021

MASTER’S THESIS REPORT
Student name: NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG

Sex: Female

Date of birth: 26th January 1996

Place of birth: Ho Chi Minh city

Major: English Language

Student code: 1941900009

I- Thesis title:
FACTORS CAUSING RETICENCE FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJORED

STUDENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AT HO
CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
II- Objectives and contents:
The objectives of this study is to explore the extent of reticence of non-English
majored students at HUTECH in English speaking performance in class as well as to
discover the factors which cause reticence for non-English majored students at
HUTECH in English speaking performance.
III- Starting date: 10th October 2020
IV- Completing date: 10th April 2021
V- Academic supervisor: LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D.
ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR

FACULTY DEAN

(full name, signature)

(full name, signature)

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled:

FACTORS CAUSING RETICENCE FOR NON-ENGLISH
MAJORED STUDENTS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING
PERFORMANCE: A STUDY AT HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs
issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi

Minh City University of Technology.
Ho Chi Minh City, October 2021

NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG

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RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I hereby state that I, NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG, being a candidate for the
degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the
University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the
Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis
deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in
accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan,
and reproduction for theses.

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2021

NGUYEN HA LINH PHUONG

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to those who provided me the
possibility to complete this thesis.
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le
Van Tuyen, for his patience, inspiration, enthusiasm, and tremendous expertise, for

his guidance which helped me in all the time of writing as well as research of my
Ph.D. thesis. Personally, I could not have imagined how could I have been completed
finding a better supervisor and mentor for this study.
Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to Dr. Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, the Dean of
English Language Faculty as well as Dr. Tran Quoc Thao, who also have helped me
not only in the completion of my study, but also in my learning process.
Besides that, I would like to thank all my colleagues who are the English
teachers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology for their insightful comments
and informative throughout my Master course in English Language in 2020.
In addition, I also thank all students who are learning at HUTECH Foreign
Language Center for their participations in my survey so it could help me enlighten
the significant information and complete my study.
Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the continuous
encouragement of my parents because of their supporting me spiritually throughout
my researching and writing process of this study.

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ABSTRACT
Learning English as a foreign language requires its learners to acquire both
language areas and skills. Among the four macro skills, speaking skill is always
considered to be challenging to most students at every level of education, including
at tertiary level. Many factors may prevent them from using the language
successfully. Understanding this issue may be beneficial to practitioners. Therefore,
this study aims to explore the extent of reticence of non-English majored students in
English speaking performance in class as well as to investigate the factors which
cause reticence in their English speaking performance. The study was conducted at
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). The participants of the
study were 147 non-English majored students majoring in Marketing and Business

Administration. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the
employment of questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, and class
observations. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and content analysis were
employed. The findings of the current revealed that most of students felt reticent
about speaking English in class. Furthermore, the study also showed that contextrelated factors such as the textbook as well as class environment caused more
speaking reticence for non-English majored students than the other factors. Last but
not least, several pedagogical implications were provided not only for teachers and
students at HUTECH to improve students’ speaking performance but also reduce
their reticence in English speaking classes.
Key words: speaking performance, reticence, non-English majors, English classes,
tertiary level

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................. iii
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ....................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. v
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ x
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS................................................ xii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1
1.1. Background to the study ............................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of the problem .............................................................................. 3
1.3. Aims and objectives of the study .................................................................. 4
1.4. Research questions ....................................................................................... 5
1.5. Scope of the study ........................................................................................ 5
1.6. Significance of the study .............................................................................. 5

1.7. Definitions of the key terms.......................................................................... 6
1.8. Organization of the thesis ............................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 9
2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 9
2.2. English Speaking Performance ..................................................................... 9
2.2.1. Definitions of Speaking.......................................................................... 9
2.2.2. The Importance of Speaking Performance............................................ 10
2.3. Reticence in English Speaking Performance ............................................... 11
2.3.1. Definitions of Reticence ....................................................................... 11
2.3.2. Types of Reticence............................................................................... 12
2.3.2.1. Trait Reticence .............................................................................. 12
2.3.2.2. State Reticence .............................................................................. 12
2.3.2.3. Situation Specific Reticence .......................................................... 12
2.3.3. Speaking Reticence .............................................................................. 13

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2.3.3.1. Definition of Speaking Reticence .................................................. 13
2.3.3.2. Symptoms of Speaking Reticence .................................................. 13
2.3.3.2.1. Physiological Symptoms ......................................................... 13
2.3.3.2.2. Behavioral Symptoms ............................................................. 13
2.3.3.2.3. Psychological Symptoms ........................................................ 14
2.3.4. Situations of Speaking Reticence ......................................................... 14
2.3.5. Causes of Speaking Reticence .............................................................. 16
2.3.5.1. Personal Causes ............................................................................. 16
2.3.5.2. Interpersonal Causes ...................................................................... 18
2.4. Previous Studies ......................................................................................... 20
2.5. Conceptual Framework............................................................................... 23
2.6. Summary .................................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 27
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 27
3.2. Research design .......................................................................................... 27
3.3. Research site .............................................................................................. 28
3.4. Sample and sampling procedures ................................................................ 29
3.5. Research Instruments.................................................................................. 31
3.6. Data collection procedures.......................................................................... 34
3.7. Data analysis procedures ............................................................................ 35
3.8. Reliability and Validity .............................................................................. 37
3.8.1. Reliability ............................................................................................ 37
3.8.2. Validity ................................................................................................ 38
3.9. Ethical issues .............................................................................................. 38
3.10. Summary .................................................................................................. 38
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 40
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 40
4.2. Results........................................................................................................ 40
4.2.1. The extent of students’ reticence in English speaking performance ...... 40

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4.2.2. The factors causing reticence for non-English majored students in
English speaking performance ....................................................................... 45
4.2.2.1. Student-related factors ................................................................... 46
4.2.2.2. Classmate-related factors ............................................................... 50
4.2.2.3. Teacher-related factors .................................................................. 53
4.2.2.4. Context-related factors .................................................................. 57
4.3. Discussion .................................................................................................. 60
4.3.1. The Extent of Students’ Reticence in English Speaking Performance... 60
4.3.2. The factors causing reticence for non-English majored students in

English speaking performance ....................................................................... 61
4.4. Summary .................................................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 64
5.1. Summary of the main findings of the thesis ................................................ 64
5.2. Pedagogical implications ............................................................................ 65
5.2.1. Implications for the administrators of Center of Foreign Languages..... 65
5.2.2. Implications for the English teachers.................................................... 65
5.2.3. Implications for students in general English classes of HUTECH ........ 66
5.3. Limitations ................................................................................................. 66
5.4. Recommendations for the further research.................................................. 67
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 68
APPENDIX A:QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (English Version) ........... 76
APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (Vietnamese Version) .... 82
APPENDIX C: STUDENT INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (English Version) ......... 87
APPENDIX D: STUDENT INTERVIEW PROTOCOL (Vietnamese Version) ... 88
APPENDIX E: THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT OF STUDENTS(English
Version) ................................................................................................................ 89
APPENDIX F: ADAPTED QUESTIONNAIRES ............................................. 101
APPENDIX G: PLAGIARISM CHECKING REPORT ..................................... 104

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Participants’ general information ......................................................... 31
Table 3.2: Instruments of data collection and analysis to the research questions for
the current study. .................................................................................................. 37
Table 4.1: Descriptive Statistics of the extent of students’ reticence in english
speaking performance ........................................................................................... 41
Table 4.2: Descriptive statistics of student-related factors .................................... 46

Table 4.3: Descriptive statistics of classmate-related factors ................................ 50
Table 4.4: Descriptive statistics of teacher-related factors .................................... 53
Table 4.5: Descriptive statistics of context-related factors .................................... 57
Table 4.6: Factors causing reticence for non-english majored students in english
speaking performance ........................................................................................... 60

x


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Conceptual framework of factors causing reticence for non-English
majored students in English speaking performance ............................................... 26



xi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
HUTECH

Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

SPSS

Statistical Package for Social Science

ESP

English for Specific Purposes

CLT

Communicative Language Teaching

ELT

English language teaching



xii


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the study
English is considered and applied as an international language because it is very
popular and has been learned and spoken by almost all people in the world. Therefore,
English learning becomes popular since it offers learners opportunities to gain skills,
improve knowledge and life quality. In Vietnam, English is a very significant tool for
people to integrate into the globalization era because Vietnam has joined different
international organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO) and ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC). Vietnamese people can increase technology and
science through literature which is only available in English and communicate with
the world community by mastering the English language.
Nowadays, English is considered the most common foreign languages taught
and learned in all education programs in Vietnam. Moreover, the English language is
learned to be used in real-life situations. Ur (2012) indicates that most students today
need to master English because it is a tool, like basic computer skills or literacy to

improve their future in the world of today. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) indicate
that English creates a new generation of students and it becomes the language of
commerce and technology which is internationally accepted. Therefore, mastering
English is very essential for non-English majored students to increase their
knowledge, to receive technological industry and progress, and to find a well-paid
job in the future.
Mastering English means to be able to speak or use it. Moreover, the lack of
motivation in classrooms is an obvious obstacle for teachers conducting speaking
activities. It is no doubt that there are many problems for teaching and learning
speaking skills.
Through speaking, students can express their opinions and stories. Speaking is
an area of English language learning which plays an important role in the language
learning process. Hence, speaking is also a tool to converse ideas that are organized
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and improved in accordance with what is wanted by the listeners. It means that the
speaker has to try to convey their ideas clearly so that those ideas can be well
accepted. In the speaking activity, a good speaker should pay attention to many
things, not only what the language is used, but also what is being spoken.
Furthermore, the topic is being spoken by him/ her and the language that he/ she uses
to be easily understood by his interlocutor should be paid attention to.
Speaking is a productive language skill. Particularly, according to Ur (1996),
people who understand a language are mentioned as speakers of that language. It
means people will think a student can speak English well if he or she is good at
English. Therefore, mastering speaking is difficult especially for non-English majors
because it is hard for them to pronounce and memorize vocabulary. Lack of
confidence is also a big problem for them because English is not their mother tongue,
and they feel apprehensive to be laughed by their friends. Additionally, Chen (2003)
indicates that most students, who have been accustomed to traditional learning

methods which value the role of the teachers as well as promote the grammar
accuracy, they can be able to encounter some obstacles. Burn (1998) maintains that
most of the teaching methods of today deeply regard the students’ role, rather than
the teacher’s role. In addition, according to Rhalmi (2009) some real-life speaking
contexts within the classroom are offered by Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT). Particularly, these contexts not only help the students to achieve their specific
objectives but also motivate them.
However, the students cannot learn different skills effectively because of the
reticence, which is a notable problem in speaking skill. Additionally, many foreign
language students are more anxious when learning speaking skill. Therefore,
speaking reticence (SR) is a vital issue that refers to the influence as well as the impact
of reticence on the speaking performance.
In the context of teaching English for non-English majored students at Ho Chi
Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), English as a compulsory subject
for them and it is also a condition of graduation. However, students have a propensity

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for learning this subject to get enough marks to pass the exam. Therefore, they seem
to be more anxious when learning speaking in class.
Therefore, these issues lead to the reason for conducting this research: Factors
causing reticence in English speaking performance of non-English majored students
at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.
1.2. Statement of the problem
In the field of English language teaching (ELT), there have been a number of
studies conducted on speaking reticence. Most students are unable to express their
ideas or opinions correctly and clearly in speaking. Moreover, they show less selfconfidence and are hesitant when they are asked to speak in English. Because of that
reason, reticence is also one of the highlighted factors that mainly impact the English
speaking performance as well as speaking skill.

Firstly, the students choose to be silent as a reaction to all the questions of the
teachers during the lessons and they are susceptible to reticence.
Secondly, Muhammad (2020) concludes that students are hard to escape from
reticence or anxiety. Especially, they fear communication, so speaking reticence is
the most common and greatest fear which is encountered by most of the students.
Thirdly, reticence in speaking performance may result from the fact that oral
language development has been ignored in the classroom. Moreover, oral language
is more used by teachers than by students in the classroom most of the time (Al Hosni,
2014).
Fourthly, as English teachers, we aim for our students to be articulate English
users. However, they still do not have chances to improve their speaking performance
in terms of fluency due to the impact of reticence when speaking English.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that students encounter numerous challenges when they
need to speak in English in front of other classmates. Some factors that can make
them reticent such as being not familiar with the topics, feeling nervous or
embarrassed when being laughed at by their friends, having no chance to frequently
practice their speaking skills, and being afraid of losing their face, etc. In the non-

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English majored training at HUTECH, non- English majored students have studied
the Four Corners textbook from Level 2 to Level 4 (including 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A,
4B) since 2018. This textbook is designed by Richards and Bohlke (2011). Moreover,
each of the Four Corners student’s book includes 6 units with the aim to provide
students an opportunity to apply the language and skills they have learned in the unit
to use in everyday situations as well as to solve a task in real-life activities. However,
speaking in English is also a problem with non-English majored students at
HUTECH. No matter how much they know about the English language, they still
seem to be reticent during the lesson. As a result, although the teachers always try to

use various active teaching methods, students still do not have enough motivation to
communicate in English in English classes. Thus, the researcher decides to conduct
this research to explore the factors causing reticence for non-English majored
students in English speaking performance: A study at Ho Chi Minh City University
of Technology.
Furthermore, this study might be interpreted as a pilot study which will take a
chance not only to examine how reticence affects the speaking English of the nonmajored students in class at HUTECH, but also investigate the main factors which
create reticence in their speaking performance. A practical goal is to enhance
speaking competence in terms of complexity and accuracy.
1.3. Aims and objectives of the study
This study aims to investigate factors that cause reticence for non-English
majored students at HUTECH when they learn English speaking skills. Moreover,
the objectives of the study are as follows:
• To explore the extent of reticence of non-English majored students at
HUTECH in English speaking performance in class.
• To discover the factors which cause reticence for non-English majored
students at HUTECH in English speaking performance.

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1.4. Research questions
To achieve the above objectives, this study attempts to address the following two
research questions:
1. To what extent are HUTECH’s non-English majored students reticent about
English speaking performance in class?
2. What factors cause reticence for HUTECH’s non-English majored students in
English speaking performance?
1.5. Scope of the study
This research is narrowed down to an emphasis on the speaking reticence of the

students in class rather than in oral communication outside class and it also focused
on the factors that influenced their reticence in speaking performance rather than
other aspects related to English speaking learning. This study needs to be limited
because investigating speaking reticence is complex.
Regarding the research site, the current study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh
City University of Technology (HUTECH) rather than in other universities for
convenience reasons. In addition, due to the large size of the population at HUTECH,
the study did not investigate every individual in the population due to cost and time
consumption. Therefore, the researcher limited the participants to non-English
majored students at HUTECH in this study. Those students came from departments
such as Information Technology, Marketing, and Business Administration.
Moreover, second-year non-English majored students were invited to participate in
this study rather than students of other academic years because they had already
experienced the reticence when speaking English in class. As a result, a clearer insight
into not only the reticence impact on their speaking performance but also the factors
that cause their speaking reticence were provided.
1.6. Significance of the study
This study is expected to be significant at both theoretical and practical levels.
At a theoretical level, this current study complements existing literature of Englishspeaking reticence because it makes a beneficial contribution to the existing state of

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knowledge about reticence in English-speaking performance. Particularly, this study
has provided an insight into the English-speaking reticence area. Therefore, this
current study is hoped to be a useful reference for later studies which are also
conducted in the same field. In addition, the study is believed to enlarge the
researcher’s knowledge and experience for doing research. Last but not least, the
findings of this study also have contributed to the reticence understanding within the
context of Vietnam.

At a practical level, because speaking skill plays a significant role in providing
students a great foundation to communicate effectively. Particularly, this study has
determined the factors that cause the reticence in speaking performance of the nonEnglish majored students. The study will be expected to provide not only information
about the extent of English speaking reticence in class encountered by the nonEnglish majors at HUTECH but also the factors that affect their reticence in English
speaking performance. Additionally, the study is expected to be a helpful guide for
those who are responsible for developing the syllabus at the college. In fact, it will
help principals as well as managers of Informatics, Foreign Languages and Skills
Center of HUTECH to have better solutions in designing the syllabus for teaching
speaking. These findings may help teachers, lecturers, and the Vietnamese higher
education sector to decrease the extent of reticence not only in the class but also in
English speaking performance of the Vietnamese students. In addition, these
understandings also integrate the quality of English speaking teaching and learning
in higher education in Vietnam.
1.7. Definitions of the key terms
For the purpose of this study, the following key terms are defined to provide a
specific perspective on the issues discussed.
• Reticence refers to the mode of observing continued silence as well as the
state of keeping silent especially with regard to speaking freely.
• Speaking performance refers to the act of conveying messages from the
speaker to the listener through words, utterance, and sentences where their
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performance in speaking can automatically reveal their good or bad
competence either. In the current study, it refers to the competence of the
student when performing in oral communication.
•

Non-English majored students are the students whose major is not English
language. In this study, non- English majored students are the second-year

students whose major in business administration, finance and banking,
hospitality management….and they learn English as a compulsory subject at

1.8. Organization of the thesis
This study report consists of five separate chapters.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the study with the background
information related to the study, the statement of the problem, the aims, and
objectives, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the
study, the definitions of the key terms as well as the organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2 is the literature review, presenting the information related to English
speaking performance and reticence in English performance. In terms of speaking
performance, the definitions of speaking as well as the importance of speaking
performance are recommended. Regarding the English speaking performance, the
definition of reticence, types of reticence, speaking reticence, situations of speaking
reticence, and causes of speaking reticence are analyzed in detail. In previous studies,
a lot of studies of Vietnamese and foreign researchers are recommended, summarized
as well as discussed in brief. Lastly, the researcher also inserts the conceptual
framework of the current study in the literature review.
Chapter 3 considers the methodology of the study including the research
design, the research site, the sample and sampling procedures, the research
instruments, the data collection procedures, the data analysis procedures as well as
the reliability and validity.
Chapter 4 presents the presentation of results of the study by analyzing the data
collected from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and class observations.
Moreover, the discussion of the data is also compared and contrasted with the data in
previous studies.

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Chapter 5 demonstrates the summary of the main findings of the thesis, the
implications of the research, the limitation of the research as well as
recommendations for further research.

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
In this chapter, the researcher is going to consider some reviews of the related
literature as well as give some main evidence that is related to the topic of research
to support that topic. The keys terms which are also mentioned in this recent research
including the English speaking performance, definitions of reticence, types of
reticence, speaking reticence, situations of speaking reticence, and causes of speaking
reticence.
2.2. English Speaking Performance
2.2.1. Definitions of Speaking
A student who wants to master the English language needs to master the skills
of producing and receiving it. The speaking skill has been defined variously by many
researchers. Chaney (1998) states that speaking is the process of making and sharing
meaning by using verbal and nonverbal symbols in different contexts. Additionally,
speaking is a two-way process including a true communication of opinions,
information, and emotions. In other words, the students play two roles
simultaneously: speaker and listener. Moreover, these two roles must be done well to
communicate successfully.
Speaking reflects people’s personalities and thoughts so it is a useful and active
skill that deserves more concentration in both L1 and L2. In fact, people are judged
according to their speaking skills. As noted by Nunan (1991), the most important
factor of foreign language learning is mastering speaking art. Moreover, in teaching

and learning foreign languages, speaking skills occupied a significant position. The
students can get success if they can to accomplish a conversation in the language.
Hedge (2000) argued that speaking is “Skill by which they are judged while first
impressions are being formed” (p.261). Additionally, like other language skills,
speaking skill requests special care because it is a skill whereby the students are
recognized not only from how they are thinking but also from what they are saying.
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In brief, it is entirely true that many researchers view speaking from different
perspectives.
2.2.2. The Importance of Speaking Performance
As Ur (2012) claimed that speaking includes other knowing kinds of all four
skills, so it seems the most important. Therefore, improving English speaking
performance by mastering speaking skills means mastering other skills. For example,
people usually ask foreign language students the question “Can you speak English?”
rather than the question “Can you write in English?”. The importance of speaking
performance is clearly shown through this question. Furthermore, the students can
improve and enhance not only their grammar and vocabulary but also their writing
performance with speaking because having accomplished speaking performance calls
for being skillful in other language skills. So far, speaking performance is also very
significant both inside and outside the classroom because the students can be able to
give their opinions, argue as well as the request.
According to Bygate (1987), a language is an important tool for communication,
and the ability to speak English so important for many people. Without speech, it is
unable to communicate with one another because English is reduced to a mere script.
Therefore, the importance of speaking performance is enormous for students of any
language. In addition, speaking performance is used in a variety of real-life situations.
For example, the doctors working in the hospital or researchers working in a medical
laboratory are supposed to speak correctly to effectively communicate with one

another. Any gap in communication or speaking performance causes big problems
and misunderstandings.
A student, who has a skillful speaking performance, will get several distinct
advantages in order to become a good communicator. The language speakers need to
be trained specially and purposefully in speaking skills for a smooth-running system.
A person communicates with others not only to know their ideas but also to express
his or her ideas (Abedini & Chalak, 2017).

10


Moreover, as stated by Brown and Yule (1983), the competency of expressing
opinions, thought, feelings, and ideas in the form of words enormous bring together
in a purposeful way, provides these advantages for the speaker. The amusement of
sharing ideas with others is enormous because a better understanding of oneself can
be handled by speaking to them. Besides, clear thinking is reflected by speech clarity.
In addition, speaking performance has an important role in the success of a
career. For example, a compelling speaker can gain the attention of the audience until
his message is completed. Therefore, one’s personal life can also be enhanced by
good speaking performance.
2.3. Reticence in English Speaking Performance
2.3.1. Definitions of Reticence
In 1965, Gerald M. Phillips firstly conceptualized the term ‘Reticence’ as
anxiety and personality disorder in his first article. This first attempt has set the
ground for other researchers to further explore the reticence nature in various
contexts. Moreover, Phillips points out that social situation avoidance is one of the
main characteristics of a reticent person. Additionally, reticent students believe that
they will not lose anything by remaining silent, so they avoid talking or
communicating and view themselves as incapable communicators. Moreover, he also
states that the reticent students usually think that their social skills are deficient, even

if these skills are not (Keaten & Kelly, 2000). However, in his latest study (Phillips,
1977), the students have pointed out their social failure and deficiencies.
Besides, Bao (2014) stated that reticence is recognized as an inadequate ability
of the students in self-expression, lack of initiative in meaning negotiation, or
difficulty in spoken response to the learning case. In addition, reticence also identifies
a lack of communication ability and knowledge, a language failure, anxiety, or
communication breakdown. According to Keaten and Kelly (2000), they agree that
foreign language anxiety-related closely to reticence, and reticence implies the worry,
apprehension, and unease feeling encountered by non-native students in using as well
as learning a foreign language.

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