Exploring the impact of Shyness on the acquisition of Speaking Skills.

Abstract

Naturally shy people may face challenges in acquiring speaking skills, particularly in academic settings. In our case, students whose shyness leads them to find difficulties in joining classroom discussions, group activities, or presentations, which results in them lacking self-assurance for many reasons, including interpersonal anxiety, the fear of scrutiny, or self-doubt to detriment themselves. Consequently, they may be at risk of not building up their oral performance and their unwillingness to talk, resulting in harming their grade and their self-esteem. The research at hand measures how shy students' speaking skills and class participation were affected and targets the outcomes based on the first-year English students at Yahia Fares University of Medea during the academic year 2023/2024. Through the use of a descriptive-analytical mixed approach method with a questionnaire survey of seventy (70) students and interviews of nine (9) teachers. According to the data gathered from the students’ questionnaire, it was observed that several students experienced shyness, which prevented them from actively participating in class discussions, group work, and oral presentations and they highlighted the fear of making mistakes, seeming awkward, and self-confidence and being socially anxious and lacking assertiveness, are the factors that led to shyness. Although they acknowledged some difficulties, the students shared a strong belief in their potential for speaking skills improvement. They emphasized that they would need a supportive learning environment and opportunities to practice and enhance their speaking skills. On the other hand, the outcomes from the teacher’s questionnaire showed various approaches and techniques in classes for dealing with shyness and for enhancing communicative competencies. Via collaborative strategies and positive appreciative praise, together with the integration of humor and questioning methods, teachers demonstrated the approach to building inclusive and interactive learning rooms where a shy number of students are not afraid but involved and developed confidence in participating actively and contributing. Therefore, the data reflect that shyness is a complex problem of language learning and collaborative efforts between students and their teachers contribute to effective techniques in surpassing difficulties in speaking skill enhancement. Teachers, curriculum designers, and students should take into consideration the recommendations that the study results offer