Behind Silent Participation: Reticent Students or Ineffective Initiations—Insights from English for Academic Purpose Classrooms

Chinese students have long been considered as ‘reticent participants’, incompatible with the dialogical teaching advocated by Chinese Higher Education. In light of insufficient research on “the second batch of undergraduate students”, this study explores the causes and countermeasures of silent participation (SP) in English for Academic Purpose classes at one Chinese second-batch university. The results demonstrate that these L2 students’ SP are mainly caused by their tutors’ weak, false and zero initiating moves, while on the side of students, they show relatively strong willingness to communicate, being not the conservative talkers as assumed. The results also show the willingness of the two parties’ interplay in a continuing process, for teachers’ identifiable intention directly discourages or encourages students’ active expression. Meanwhile, the students’ initiative to grab the discursive turn can improve the teachers’ motivation. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.