‘I feel like i go blank’: Identifying the factors affecting classroom participation in an oral communication course

Abstract

This paper reports on a case study of seven undergraduate students’ classroom participation in an English-medium university in an EFL context, with a focus on their perceptions about the factors affecting their involvement in interactional opportunities in a specific speaking course. Results suggest that student participation in a foreign language learning setting is a complicated and dynamic process strongly influenced by multiple factors. Students’ participation in the language practices of the classroom and their agentive choices for L2 speaking appear to be contingent on the various individual (psychological and social) factors and contextual and classroom-oriented factors. Therefore, this current piece supports the importance of a holistic understanding of multiple factors to arrive at an in-depth picture of students’ involvement, engagement, and participation.