Reluctance in EFL-speaking classrooms of adult learners at universities in Vietnam: Causes and Solutions

Abstract

Reluctance has drawn significant attention in English language teaching at educational institutions in Vietnam, particularly at universities. Most studies advocate that L2 students are reticent during speaking sessions regardless of their linguistic competency. After reviewing the theory of speaking as well as its characteristics in ESL classrooms, this paper seeks to investigate the challenges students encounter in ESL-speaking classrooms via findings from previous studies in Vietnam. The discussion of this paper includes reasons why Vietnamese learners tend to remain reticent and find it arduous to improve their speaking competence. Lastly, the paper will also propose some viable solutions for overcoming these difficulties and improving the English proficiency of students.