Announcing that contributor Michael Steffen has a new book out, I Saw My Life.
About I Saw My Life:From the saying “I saw my life flash before my eyes”, the book’s title announces thresholds, things and moments of arrest and luminosity, resplendent, but also shocking as a near-death experience might be, and fleeting as any flash may be. The stars in their constellations at night glimpsed up through leaves of a tree, the drama of a scull tipped in a powerful mid-river current, a woven shopping handbag, such objects in their places and handling evoke the weights and sensations revisiting the body in reflective memory, at the heart of poetry’s deeply personal yet widely shared and recognized expressions.
Some contributors literally speak of water. Eva Lianou Petropoulou personifies the creatures of the sea as she calls for an end to litter and pollution. Xoʻjyozova Dildora discusses environmental damage to the Aral Sea and efforts to restore the ecosystem. Elaine Murray celebrates the wonder of the ocean, wishing to become a mermaid. Brian Barbeito recollects being stung by a jellyfish, resting, and turning out okay in time, comforted by natural and literary beauty. Later, he celebrates the seafaring-inspired writing of Joseph Conrad.
Others address different aspects of life that can feel fluid, such as light and vast open landscapes. Juan Vadillo’s review describes Beatriz Saavedra Gastélum’s poetry collection, “Lucid Breath of Light,” as a journey exploring light in its various forms, memories, and transformations. Mesfakus Salahin immerses himself into nature and creativity. Stephen Jarrell Williams’ serene piece evokes a feeling of gentle tranquility. JoyAnne O’Donnell meditates on a pleasant afternoon outside in a meadow. Sheikha A.’s short, lyrical pieces use vivid imagery and concise language to evoke a range of natural and serene scenes. Sayani Mukherjee celebrates the beauty and splendor of an outdoor festival. Yee Leonsoo’s poems use extreme natural places (a salt desert and a deep-sea sinkhole) to explore identity, memory, and the feeling of in-between-ness. Mark Young’s geographies creatively mutate random regions of Australia into works of art.
We can also perceive time as more fluid than linear. Chuck Taylor explores the idea of the “now” and how it can be captured in words, considering the brief moments between perception and recording. Barbaros İrdelmen’s pieces intertwine ordinary images with themes of love and loss to explore how human connection, memory, and longing persist within and against time’s flow. Kareem Abdullah speaks of love, longing, and memory. Mustafa Abdulmalek Al-Sumaidi reminds us that we are all mortal. Abdel Iatif Moubarak renders up a tale of a singer’s faded glory still piercing the darkness of night.
One’s personality and attitudes also morph and shift over the years. Sevara Matnazarova outlines how her personality and outlook on life changed as she grew older. Susie Gharib’s work addresses authenticity, self-expression, and a desire for a more compassionate and peaceful existence. John Grey’s work explores vulnerability and resilience within the human (and natural) experience. Elisa Mascia’s pieces draw upon changeable natural phenomena such as wind and butterflies to dramatize introspective and emotive explorations of love, loss, and transformation. Yeon Myung-ji’s poem uses the act of shelling beans as a rich metaphor for introspection, resilience, and the quiet, often overlooked, processes of life and growth. Duane Vorhees’ poems explore themes of love, identity, and transformation, often blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Nattie O’ Sheggzy delves into the complexities of simple things and searches for meaning, beauty, and authenticity in a chaotic and often dissonant world.
A whole set of poems by Niall McGrath explore themes of memory, identity, social commentary, and personal struggle, often set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland. Poet Michael Todd Steffen, interviewed by Cristina Deptula about his new book I Saw My Life, explores the intersection of personal and historical memories, identity, and mortality, aiming to inspire reflection, acceptance, and a deeper appreciation for the world around us. Lan Xin highlights how holding space for wonder and gratitude can enhance our daily lives. Kandy Fontaine’s piece mixes theater and prose, celebrating artist Tricia Warden and the intersection of art, literature, and identity, particularly in the context of feminist and queer perspectives. Christopher Bernard kicks off the next installment of his children’s story Otherwise, a mixture of cultural thought, suspense and middle-grade energy. Tanja Vučićević describes a personal journey, both physically and emotionally, as they navigate through challenges and seek solace and salvation.
Image c/o Jacques Fleury
Writing can play a part in personal reflection and development. J.J. Campbell uses poetry to process his own experiences and emotions and to comment on the human condition. Yongbo Ma’s poems are reflective and introspective, exploring themes of isolation, disconnection, and the search for meaning. Manik Chakraborty wakes us up with the graceful hope of a new morning and continues to seek artistic inspiration despite abandonment from a muse. Ryan Quinn Flanagan probes ordinary life with a poet’s eye, considering the significance of even mundane objects. Jacques Fleury uses rich imagery and references to mythology and literature to highlight the owl’s dualistic nature, embodying both positive and foreboding qualities. Ananya Guha creates a place where a moment of fear and the stories told about it later blend together into a lasting personal myth, half memory, half ghost story. High school English student Reilley Andre expresses a mature perspective on life, pointing out how different people see matters from various points of view, expressing grief, and showing gratitude for his caring sister.
Some love can remain steady amid the flow of time. Gulsanam Mamasiddiqova offers up words of respect and love for her father. Mubina Botirova expresses her love and gratitude for her mother. Tursunova Mehrinoz Oybek qizi pays respect to her mother’s dedication and kindness. Gulchiroy Axmedova expresses tender sentiments of motherly care. Afrose S. celebrates childhood and urges people to protect children. Prasanna Kumar Dalai evokes the tenderness and fragility of early love. Anwer Ghani depicts a steady, tender, and elegant love. Anindya Paul speaks to a profound and intimate romantic devotion that lingers after death. Daniela Chourio-Soto expresses nostalgia through the means of scent. Yongbo Ma’s playful work also encompasses themes of love and human romantic connection.
Of course, not all love stories end happily, and loss is a part of the human condition. Leon Drake’s poems of heavy nostalgia mourn words left unspoken and relationships left unexplored. Donna Dallas speaks of trauma, monstrosity, addiction, and toxic relationships. Kassandra Aguilera’s fragmented poem explores the intoxicating and often painful dynamics of infatuation. On a broader scale, Milena Pčinjski laments the weight of a troubled world, all that could be and all that will never be. Yet, vulnerability is not necessarily weakness, but a prerequisite for change and growth.
Love and caring can also encompass more than one’s own inner circle. Several contributors discuss the fluid state of societal and international relations and advocate for peace and justice. Alan Catlin’s work highlights the human cost of war and its echoes in art and the human soul. Abigail George’s melancholic, reflective poems mourn destruction in Gaza and a personal loss. Shlok Pandey’s fictional story is a poignant portrayal of the human experience during wartime. David Kokoette describes age-old power dynamics and struggles. Mark Wyatt’s fragmented pattern poetry calls out the atrocities made possible by unquestioning obedience to religious and political dictates. Patricia Doyne mocks Donald Trump’s pursuit of grandeur as Bill Tope presents another satirical take on Trump’s proposed arch. Staci Modisette reminds us to protect ourselves while speaking up for peace and justice. Eva Lianou Petropoulou’s gentle words are set to ethereal vocals and a drifting background melody, with an encore here.Аshurоvа Dinоrа Аnvаrqul qizi outlines the role of Uzbekistan’s National Center for Human Rights.
Cultural and world history might seem static, but it can also be fluid in the sense that we remember it differently, or remember different aspects of it, over time. What and how we remember can have repercussions in the present. Lan Anh, a Vietnamese economics student in Germany, illustrates the intricate web of relationships between nations, economies, and people, highlighting the invisible boundaries that connect and impact lives in unseen ways. Muhammadyusuf Kozimjonov outlines the historical and cultural development of Uzbekistan. Joseph Ogbonna revels in the intriguing cultural and political history of the island of Corsica. Nozima Gofurova describes the cultural treasures she saw during her tour of Uzbekistan’s Center for Islamic Education. Jernail S. Anand encourages us to look to wise examples from history to create the world we would like to see.
Tasneem Hossain celebrates the richness of the world’s heritage of dance. Federico Wardal highlights an upcoming star-studded event in Rome celebrating Dante Aligheri which will be attended by cinema and theater luminaries. Yatti Sadelli reviews Dr. Bashir Issa Al-Shirawi’s poetry, highlighting his theme of the inner strength and resilience of the world’s women.
Language and literature are part of world culture as well as a bridge among various cultures. Nozimova Shukrona highlights the value and importance of reading as a way to learn and participate in global thought. Jernail S. Anand urges readers to nourish our minds as well as our bodies, with a well-chosen and varied diet. Tursunaliyeva Zilolaxon celebrates the value of books, literature and libraries. Joseph Nechvatal’s review of Rus Khomutoff’s poem “Kaos Karma” examines the work as an abstract machine that combines literature and chaos magick philosophy, exploring themes of multiplicity, singularity, and the relationship between poetry and passion. Yulduz Kurbоnоvа explores how courtesies embedded in the Uzbek language can get lost in translation to other tongues. Delo Isulfi pays tribute to Rohini Kumar Behera, reflecting on his poetry, highlighting Behera’s themes of peace, gratitude, and nature, and how they convey a sense of spirituality and universality.
Education serves as a vital site where tradition and innovation meet—a place where societies negotiate fluid continuity and change. Many contributors discuss best practices for teaching language and other subjects in school. Subanova Dilafruz discusses audio aids for young language learners. Charos Mansurova discusses the phenomenon of English “loan-words” in Korean. Azimova Nilufar Egamberdiyevna compares word structures in English and Uzbek. Pardayeva Yulduz outlines methods of English-Uzbek idiom translation. Abduraufova Nilufar Khurshidjon kizi highlights the need for parents and educators to work together to teach young children. Qurbana Mubinakhon Umidjon qizi discusses how parents and educators can cooperate to inculcate national values in Uzbek children. Usmonaliyeva Bahora Abduvali qizi explores the role of idioms in Uzbek literature. Ahadova Feruzakhon looks at ways to improve student vocabulary knowledge.
One of education’s important social functions is to prepare students to join the workforce. The global economic landscape is continually in flux, as several contributors discuss. Satimboyeva Risolat Ilhomboy qizi outlines future prospects for job growth given emerging world technologies. Azamova Feruza Abduholiq qizi suggests ways to improve the service sector of Uzbekistan’s economy.
Turning to medicine, Mamadiyorova Durdona outlines the structure and function of the human placenta. Ashurova Parizoda explores the biological characteristics of the parasite Ascaris and its effects on the human body. Xamroyeva Shaxlo discusses the process of blood formation in the human body.
A common thread in this entire issue is the persistence of human connection in the face of change. Each contributor grapples with how individuals and communities relate to each other, to history and culture, to the natural world. Smaller scale personal narratives and larger stories intertwine as overlapping dimensions of the human story. The blending of artistic forms and styles in several works evokes the complex flowing of ideas within the creative mind, a current that dissolves rigid boundaries among ideas and cultures.
The collection suggests that while much of our lives inevitably flows and shifts with the passage of time and with cultural and technological change, the underlying human impulses to connect, to understand, and to create meaning remain constant..
He loved the dregs of the broth and the stub of days left:
The little sleep nudging and knocking on his eyes,
And the crystal crumbs crying uneaten on the plate.
He shredded sweet meats with forked toothpicks,
A tired mouth disdained the rinds of cheese.
The tiny crimps on the suit he missed in the ironing
Lingered like sore fingers of a leprous hand.
All the small words that stuck to his throat like phlegm and the bigger world of remembering of those days,
Those tiny footnotes his life had become
Sat like dust on the oaken table, grey and tangible.
At last he mowed down his once-hot soupand the bistre in his eyes asked not for pity.
GEOMETRY OF THE DAY AFTER
What happens when the sirens
stop? Think of the silence,
or the rhetoric’s sweet sonic
in the city’s cold tumult.
Talk of the spikelets raising heads after the clean shave.
I choose you, a stranger’s outstretched hand, after the unmerciful quiet wears your face to the bones.
I see your ears
Pockmarked in blood, your name, splattered across the city’s grey face,
cake into a totem cream.
The sounds you bear
from rapping the door and flaking the wall
in the city hall conjure the ghost of the last frost.The only time birds sang
in the blistered sky
was when the moon wrestled the earth.
AS THE OVERPLAYED TURNTABLE GROANS
the world holds its breath as if sweet stenches from the trenches were some fetish to disdain or dissuade.
The skeletal threads of fire and brimstone chainsaws to teacups.
Morning hailstorms ground the waters of Hormuz.
Brackish taste remembers what the smell strains to unlearn.
Every step is a swindle of note. Every word a luxury.
Every tap dance kneads a hollow sound in the bones
from the brain that owns a hundred ritual regrets to the trails of ourselves in the shadow overlooking the cliff we turn to for a plunge. We love grunge whether the sun sinks behind hills or
the world frays at its forked ends.We are worn-out fingers on a ploughshare,
the forgotten half-life of a smouldering song.
PARABLE OF THREE TANGLED SPIRITS
Freedom rides in the saddle of death.In his hands lies the reins and the kingdom,
neither sauntering nor galloping in the streets of Jerusalem,
not sweating or wallowing in Golgotha’s fields;
thoughts scurry awayuntil the trial pales into a shadow.
In the remnants of a losing battle and a strained home,
Jesus dreams of marrying a shadow.
Neither flesh nor soft touch stays, but silence
that sways like miracles within.
Smoothly, the water splits into wine,
When Mary and Martha linger at his feet,
it is as if the lips of heaven were kissing His Holy Ventriloquist with the magic words.
How will a spiritual eye choose between two beauties?
One ruby-haired and full-bosomed. The other blue-eyed and sprite. What is the cost of the fragrance in shekels? And the trio spar unclad in a serpent bed
where the sheets frayed in a million places.
A pillow strains with mixed blood and lumps
of a built-in liberty; in the transfiguration of love,
intransigence hardens a garden into a layered city
where bones and walls refuse to die.
Nattie O’Sheggzy is a poet who, often accompanied by his loyal dog, Exhale, finds inspiration in the complexities of simple things. He is the author of two poetry collections: Random Imaginations and Sounds of the Wooden Gong. Nattie’s work has been featured in various literary publications, including Literary Yard, Sandy River Review, Everscribe, Ultramarine Review, Heroin Love Song, Agape Review, SweetSmell Journal, Smoky Quartz, Feed The Holy, and LiteZine. He is currently working on publishing his third poetry collection.
France valued you at a price, and Genoa prospered from your sale.
Your isle of beauty took France’s lustful glances, as Genoa for gain, sold her costly Cabochon.
Your beautiful bay and dramatic cliffs caused so much contention for your dowry.
Palombaggia’s white sands are lovers’ basking points, where dreams and many fantasies come to fruition.
Rocky coves, diverse plains and mountainous interiors attract every romantic adventurer seeking your atmospheric and fragrant scrubland.
You are the pearl between Italy and France!
The very beautiful bride between, guarded jealously by France’s over-protective all seeing eye.
Bonaparte first inhaled you at infancy!
On Saint Helena’s very distant bland shores, he nostalgically christened you his childhood paradise.
In his depths of longing, he craved and craved for your fragrant earth, like one who craved for his departed Josephine!
Joseph C Ogbonna is a widely published poet, former high school teacher and an amateur historian. Some of his many works have been published in Spillwords Press, North of Oxford, Waxpoetry Magazine, Borderless magazine, Micromance magazine, PoetryXhunger and in at least two dozen anthologies. He is also an Amazon International best selling co-author.
EXPLORING SHY STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
Abdullajanova ShahnozaIs’hoqxon
Ibrat Namangan State University of Foreign Languages, student Annotatsiya.
Ushbu maqolada uyatchan o’quvchilarning ingliz tili darslarida so’zlashuv faoliyatiga ishtiroki tadqiq etilgan. Aralash darajali sinflarda 13–16 yoshli o’quvchilar kuzatildi, so’rovnoma va norasmiy suhbatlar o’tkazildi. Tadqiqot natijalari uyatchan o’quvchilarning xato qilishdan qo’rqishi, butun sinf oldida gapirishdan cho’chishi va o’ziga ishonchning pastligi bois so’zlashuv faoliyatida kamroq ishtirok etishlarini ko’rsatadi. Biroq juft va guruh ishlari, o’qituvchining ijobiy fikr-mulohazasi hamda do’stona sinf muhiti bunday o’quvchilarning faolligini sezilarli darajada oshirishi aniqlandi. Maqola uyatchan o’quvchilar uchun inklyuziv ta’lim muhitini yaratishga yo’naltirilgan amaliy tavsiyalarni o’z ichiga oladi.Kalit so’zlar: uyatchan o’quvchilar, so’zlashuv faoliyati, ingliz tili ta’limi, sinf muhiti, juft va guruh ishlari, o’qituvchi fikr-mulohazasi, o’quvchi ishtiroki, aralash darajali sinf.
ИЗУЧЕНИЕ УЧАСТИЯ ЗАСТЕНЧИВЫХ УЧАЩИХСЯ В РЕЧЕВОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ
Аннотация. В данной статье исследуется участие застенчивых учеников в речевой деятельности на уроках английского языка. Были проведены наблюдения за учащимися в возрасте 13–16 лет в разноуровневых классах, а также анкетирование и неформальные беседы. Результаты показывают, что застенчивые ученики реже участвуют в речевой деятельности из-за боязни ошибок, страха говорить перед классом и низкой самооценки. Парная и групповая работа, положительная обратная связь от учителя и доброжелательная атмосфера значительно повышают их активность. Статья содержит практические рекомендации по созданию инклюзивной образовательной среды.Ключевые слова: застенчивые учащиеся, речевая деятельность, обучение английскому языку, атмосфера в классе, парная и групповая работа, обратная связь учителя, участие учащихся, разноуровневый класс.
EXPLORING SHY STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
Abstract. This article investigates shy students’ participation in speaking activities in English language lessons. Drawing on classroom observations, questionnaires, and informal interviews with 13–16 year-old learners in a mixed-ability class, the study identifies key barriers to speaking engagement, including fear of making mistakes, anxiety about speaking in front of the whole class, and low self-confidence.
However, pair and group work formats, positive teacher feedback, and a supportive classroom atmosphere are found to significantly increase shy students’ participation. The article offers practical recommendations for creating an inclusive speaking environment that enables all learners, including shy ones, to develop their oral communication skills.
Key words: shy students, speaking activities, English language teaching, classroom environment, pair and group work, teacher feedback, student participation, mixed-ability classroom.
Introduction
Speaking is widely regarded as one of the most demanding yet essential skills in foreign language learning. While some students eagerly participate in classroom speaking activities, others — particularly shy learners — tend to remain silent, withdraw from interaction, and avoid volunteering answers even when they know the correct response. This pattern of reticence is a common challenge faced by English language teachers across different educational contexts, and it directly affects both the quality of language acquisition and the student’s overall development.
Shyness in the classroom is not simply a personality trait to be accepted or ignored. Research consistently shows that affective factors such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and fear of negative evaluation can serve as significant barriers to language learning (Krashen, 1982; Horwitz et al., 1986). When a student remains silent during speaking activities, they miss out on crucial opportunities for practice, feedback, and genuine communicative interaction — the very elements that research identifies as most important for developing oral fluency.
This study emerged from the author’s own teaching context: a secondary school English class of students aged 13–16, with mixed proficiency levels and varying degrees of confidence. English lessons are held four times a week. While some learners participate actively and eagerly, a visible group of shy students rarely speaks during activities, even in informal pair conversations.
This observation prompted the following exploratory research questions: Why are some students shy during speaking activities? Are they afraid of making mistakes when speaking? How do classroom activities influence shy students’ confidence? What role do pair and group work and teacher feedback play in making shy students feel more comfortable?
The aim of this article is to investigate the causes and manifestations of shyness in speaking activities, to analyze what types of classroom tasks best support shy learners, and to provide evidence-based recommendations for teachers working with such students.
Literature Review and Research Methodology
The relationship between anxiety and foreign language speaking has been extensively studied since the 1980s. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) developed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), demonstrating that language anxiety — particularly in speaking situations — is a distinct psychological phenomenon with measurable effects on learner performance. Their findings established that anxious students produce less output, take fewer risks, and show lower achievement in oral tasks.
Krashen’s (1982) Affective Filter Hypothesis provides a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon: when a learner’s affective state — including anxiety, low motivation, or poor self-confidence — is elevated, a metaphorical ‘filter’ rises, blocking the acquisition of new language input. This model directly applies to shy students, whose heightened anxiety effectively prevents them from processing and producing language in high-pressure speaking situations.
Tsui (1996) conducted detailed observational research into student reticence in Hong Kong classrooms, identifying the primary causes of silence as fear of making mistakes, concern about peers’ negative evaluation, and uncertainty about the correct answer. Crucially, Tsui found that teacher behavior — particularly the way errors are handled — significantly determines whether shy students feel safe enough to attempt speaking. Negative correction, especially public correction, was found to strongly discourage participation.
More recent research has also highlighted the role of task type in mediating speaking anxiety. Ur (1996) and Nunan (1991) both advocate for task-based and communicative activities — including role plays, information-gap tasks, and collaborative problem-solving — as frameworks that naturally reduce anxiety by shifting focus from accuracy to meaningful communication.
In such tasks, the pressure to be ‘correct’ is reduced, and even shy students may find it easier to participate.This study adopts an action research design, drawing on three data collection tools informed by the research literature: classroom observation, student questionnaires (Yes/No format), and informal interviews with shy students. The research was conducted with 20 students across one semester. Five students identified through observation and peer input as particularly shy were selected for informal individual interviews. The questionnaire was administered to all 20 students to capture broader patterns.
Results and Discussion
Factors Affecting Shy Students’ Participation in Speaking Activities
Classroom observation and questionnaire results revealed several key barriers preventing shy students from participating in speaking activities. The most prevalent factor was fear of making mistakes. Seventy percent of students acknowledged in the questionnaire that they are afraid of making mistakes when speaking English in class. This fear appears to operate as a self-censoring mechanism: rather than risk a publicly visible error, shy students prefer silence.
This finding directly aligns with Horwitz et al.’s (1986) description of communication apprehension and fear of negative evaluation as core components of language anxiety.The second major barrier was anxiety about speaking in front of the whole class. Sixty-five percent of students reported feeling nervous when speaking before the entire group.
Observational data strongly confirmed this pattern: shy students consistently avoided eye contact, looked down, or gave minimal one-word responses when cold-called during whole-class activities. Some visibly tensed when the teacher moved in their direction.The third significant factor was low self-confidence in speaking ability.
Several students expressed in informal interviews that they compare their English to their more fluent peers and feel inadequate. As one student stated: ‘I know the answer but I am scared I will say it wrong, so I stay quiet.’ This quotation powerfully illustrates how the fear of negative comparison can override the student’s actual knowledge.
Table 1.Questionnaire Results: Shy Students’ Responses (Yes / No)QuestionYes (%)No (%)Are you shy when speaking English in class?60%40%Are you afraid of making mistakes when speaking?70%30%Do you feel nervous speaking in front of the whole class?65%35%Do you feel more comfortable in pair or group work?75%25%Does positive teacher feedback help you speak more?80%20%Source: Compiled by the author based on student questionnaire results (2024–2025 academic year)
The Influence of Different Classroom Activities on Shy Students
Observation data revealed notable differences in shy students’ participation across different activity formats. During whole-class speaking activities, shy students’ participation was minimal — typically limited to brief, forced responses when directly addressed. By contrast, pair work and small group tasks prompted noticeably higher levels of engagement. Students who had been completely silent during whole-class discussion were observed speaking, asking questions, and even laughing during pair activities.Role play activities also produced positive results.
As one student explained during an informal interview: ‘When I play a role, it is easier to speak because it is not me talking — it is the character.’ This observation reflects a well-documented phenomenon in language teaching: role play creates psychological distance from the self, temporarily suspending the fear of personal judgment and allowing shy learners to take communicative risks they would otherwise avoid.
Positive teacher feedback emerged as the most powerful single facilitator of shy student participation. Eighty percent of students reported that encouraging feedback from the teacher increases their desire to speak.
Observational data confirmed this: on occasions when the teacher explicitly praised a shy student’s contribution — however minimal — subsequent participation from that student in the same lesson noticeably increased.
Table 2.Shy Students’ Participation Levels Across Different Activity TypesActivity Type
Participation Level
Observation Notes
Whole-class speaking
Low (20–30%)Rarely volunteers; avoids eye contactPair workHigh (75%)Speaks more freely; less self-consciousSmall group workMedium-high (65%)Participates, but may rely on othersRole playHigh (70%)Character distance reduces anxietyCreative project tasksHigh (72%)Motivated to share own ideasSource: Compiled by the author based on classroom observation data (2024–2025 academic year)
The Role of Classroom Environment
A consistent finding across all three data sources was the central importance of classroom atmosphere in determining whether shy students feel safe enough to speak.
Students were clear in their interviews that public correction — especially correction delivered in front of peers — was highly discouraging. As one student stated: ‘If the teacher tells everyone my mistake, I will not try next time. But if she corrects me kindly, I try more.’
This simple yet important insight confirms Tsui’s (1996) finding that the manner in which errors are treated is a key variable in student willingness to participate.
Peer behavior also plays a role. When students observed that a classmate’s errors were met with laughter or mockery — even good-natured — they became more reluctant to speak themselves. This underlines the teacher’s responsibility not only to model respectful attitudes toward mistakes, but to actively establish and maintain classroom norms of mutual encouragement.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This study confirms that shy students’ limited participation in speaking activities is a multifaceted phenomenon rooted in fear of making mistakes, performance anxiety, and low self-confidence. These findings are consistent with the existing research literature and take on particular significance in the context of mixed-ability English classrooms where speaking proficiency varies widely among learners.
Critically, however, the study also demonstrates that shyness is not a fixed barrier. The right pedagogical conditions — appropriate task formats, a supportive classroom atmosphere, and thoughtful teacher behavior — can substantially increase shy students’ speaking participation. This places a significant and meaningful responsibility on the teacher as the architect of the learning environment.
Based on the findings, the following practical recommendations are offered for English language teachers. First, pair work and small group activities should be used as the primary speaking format, particularly in the early stages of a lesson or when introducing new speaking tasks. These formats reduce the social stakes of speaking and create psychologically safer conditions for shy learners.
Second, error correction should be handled with care and sensitivity. Whole-class public correction should be minimized; instead, teachers can use delayed correction, written feedback, or quiet individual feedback to address errors without creating embarrassment.
Third, role play, task-based activities, and creative project work should be regularly incorporated into lessons. These activity types shift the communicative focus from accuracy to meaning and interaction, naturally reducing the anxiety that inhibits shy students.
Fourth, a positive and inclusive classroom culture must be deliberately cultivated. Teachers should model respectful responses to mistakes, actively praise attempts at communication regardless of accuracy, and establish explicit classroom norms around supportive peer interaction.
Fifth, where possible, teachers can prepare shy students in advance — briefly informing them of the topic or question they will be asked to address, allowing them to organize their thoughts before being put on the spot. This simple scaffolding strategy can dramatically reduce in-the-moment anxiety and enable shy students to participate more successfully.
In conclusion, understanding shy students’ speaking difficulties is not merely a pastoral concern — it is a core pedagogical responsibility. When teachers invest in creating an inclusive, low-anxiety speaking environment, they enable all learners, including the quietest voices in the room, to develop the communicative competence they need. This is the foundation of a truly supportive English classroom.
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