The Relationship between Shyness and Young Language Learners’ Language Achievement
محورهای موضوعی :Simindokht Khorambin 1 , Hamed Barjasteh 2 , Shaghayegh Shirzad 3
1 - Department of English Language and Literature, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran
2 - Department of English Language and Literature, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran
3 - Ph.D. Candidate, Department of English language and Literature, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran
کلید واژه: Shyness, affective factors, Cognitive factors, Language achievement, Young language learner,
چکیده مقاله :
The study sought to investigate the interplay between shyness and young language learners’ (YLL) language achievement (LA). To undertake this study, 40 intermediate YLL comprising 20 males and 20 females took part in the study. They were homogenized in terms of language proficiency via the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and a shyness questionnaire (SQ). First, the participants were asked to take the OPT. Next, they were required to fill out the SQ. The findings showed that non-shy YLLs performed better on the placement test than the shy YLLs. More precisely, there was a negative relationship between shyness and English LA. The findings also attested that there was no significant relationship between the gender (i.e., shy and non-shy YLL) and their LA. The findings may have both theoretical and pedagogical implications. From a theoretical underpinning, foreign LA can lead to a better understanding of the complex nature of the construct of shyness. From a pedagogical aspect, language teachers may employ different strategies to tackle YLLs' shyness with the hope to promote LA.
Abdul Qadir, M., &Kamel, M. (2005). The influence of Locus of control, attributional style and shame on faculty of fine arts students’ academic achievement: A path analysis study. Journal of Education College, Almnsora University, 58, 70-122.
Alavinia, P., &Salmasi, M. (2012).On the correlation between Iranian EFL learners’ shyness level and their attitudes toward language learning.Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(9), 19-28.
Allvar, N. K. (2003). The relationship between shyness, elicitation task nature and Iranian EFL students’ use of oral communication strategies. (Master’s Thesis). T.M.U., Tehran.
Amini, S. (1999).Investigating the prevalence and causes of shyness in female third graders of guidance schools in Shahriar.(Master’s Thesis).Islamic Azad University, Tehran.
Asendorpf, J. B. (1989a). Social competence. In F. E. Weinert & W. Schneider (Eds.), Logic - Report No.5: Result of Wave Three. Research Report, Munich: Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research.
Asendorpf, J. B., & Meier, G. H. (1993). Personality effects on children’s speech in everyday life: Sociability-mediated exposure and shyness-mediated reactivity to social situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 1072-1089.
Briggs, S. R., Cheek, J. M., & Jones, W. H. (1986).Introduction.In W. H. Jones, J. M. Cheek & S. R. Briggs (Eds.). Shyness: Perspectives on research and treatment (pp.1-14). New York: Plenum Press.
Buss, A. H. (1984).A conception of shyness.In J. A. Daly & J. C. McCroskey (Eds.).
Cheek, J. M., & Briggs, A. H. (1990).Shyness and sociability.Journal of Personality and Social Research, 41, 330-339.
Chishti, K. H., Amin, F., &Yousaf, T. (2018).Relationship between shyness and academic achievement among adolescents in Karachi.Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology, 17(1), 83-98.
Carrow, E. (1999). Test for auditory comprehension of language. (3rd edition). Port Angeles: AGS Publishing.
Chu, H. R. (2008). Shyness and EFL learning in Taiwan: A study of shy and non-shy college students’ use of strategies, foreign language anxiety, motivation, and willingness to communicate.(Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March 9, 2020 from www.proquest.com
Coplan, R. J., &Armer, M. (2005). Talking yourself out of being shy: Shyness, expressive vocabulary, and socio-emotional adjustment in preschool. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 51, 20-41.
Crozier, W. R. (1997).Individual learners: Personality differences in education. NY: Routledge.
Crozier, W. R., &Badawood, A. (2009).Shyness, vocabulary and children’s reticence in Saudi Arabian preschools.Infant and Child Development, 18, 34-37.
Crystal, D., Parott, G., Okazaki, Y., &Watanabe, H. (2001).Examining relation between shame and personality among university students in the United States and Japan: A developmental perspective.International Journal of Behavior Development, 25, 123-133.
D’Souza, L., Urs, G. B., & James, M. S. (2000). Assessment of shyness: Its influence on the personality and academic achievement of high school students. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27, 286-289.
Evans, M. A. (2001). Shyness in the classroom and home. In W. R. Crozier & L. E. Alden (Eds.), International handbook of social anxiety: Concepts, research and interventions relating to the self and shyness (pp. 159-183). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Fordham, K., & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (1999).Shyness, friendship quality, and adjustment during middle childhood.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 40, 757-768.
Gardner, R. C., &MacIntyre, P. D. (1993).On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning.Language Learning, 43(2), 157-194.
Greenberg, M. T., & Marvin, R. S. (1982). Reactions of preschool children to an adult stranger: A behavioral systems approach. Child Development, 53, 481-490.
Grozier, W. R., & Hostettler, K. (2003).The influence of shyness on children’s test performance.British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 317-328.
Harthy, S. (2003).Shyness and its relationship to motivation for accomplished academic achievement among a sample of high school students in the cities of Mecca and Taif (Unpublished M.A. Thesis). Faculty of Education, University of Umm Al-Qura.
Heiser, N. A., Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., & Roberson-Nay, R. (2009).Differentiating social phobia from shyness.Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(4), 469-476.
Hirshfeld, D. R., Rosenbaum, J. F., Biederman, J. Bolduc, E. A., Faraone, S. V., Snidman, Reznick, J. S., &Kagan, J. (1992). Stable behavioral inhibition and its association with anxiety disorder.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 103-111.
Hughes, K. (2008). Too shy to achieve?Clarifying the relation between shyness and academic achievement in childhood.(Unpublished Master’s Thesis).Department of Psychology Carleton University, Canada.
Izard, C. E., & Hyson, M. C. (1986).Shyness as a discrete emotion. In W. H. Jones, J. M. Cheek, & S. R. Briggs (Eds.), Shyness: Perspectives on research and treatment (pp. 147-160). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Jones, M. G., &Gerig, T. M. (1994). Silent sixth-grade students: Characteristics, achievement, and teacher expectations. The Elementary School Journal, 95, 169-182.
Kleinmann, H. (1977). Avoidance behavior in adult second language acquisition.Language Learning, 27, 93-107.
Krashen, S. (1985).The input hypothesis. London: Longman.
Leary, M. R. (1986). Affective and behavioral components of shyness: Implications for theory, measurement, and research. In Jones, W. H., Cheek, J. M., & Briggs, S. R. Shyness: Perspectives on research and treatment (pp. 27-38). New York: Plenum Press.
Lewis, M. (1995).Embarrassment: The emotion of self-exposure and evaluation. In J. P. Tangney, H., & K. W. Fischer (Eds.), Self-Conscious emotions: The psychology of shame, guilt, embarrassment and pride (pp. 198- 218). New York: Guilford Press.
Namaghi, S. A. O., Safaee, S. E., &Sobhanifar, A. (2015).The effect of shyness on English speaking scores of Iranian EFL learners.Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 15, 2-8.
Pazooki, M., &Rastegar, M. (2009).Extraversion-introversion, shyness, and EFL proficiency.Psychological Research, 12(2), 78-91.
Pilkonis, P. A. (1977). Shyness, public and private and its relationship to other measures of social behavior.Journal of Personality, 45(4), 585-595.
Pye, J. (1989). Invisible children: Who are the real losers at school? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rubin, K. H. (2001). The play observation scale (POS).University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Rubin, K. H., Burgess, K. B., & Hastings, P. D. (2009). Stability and social-behavioral consequences of toddlers’ inhibited temperament and parenting behaviors. Child Development, 73, 483-495.
Saunders, P. (2012). Shyness online: The experience and treatment of shyness in an online environment. (Ph.D. Thesis), RMIT University.
Saunders, P. L., & Chester, A. (2008). Shyness and the internet: Social problem or panacea? Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 2649-2658.
Schalling, D. S. (1975).Types of anxiety and types of stressors as related to personality. In C. D. Spielberger& I. G. Sarason (Eds.), Stress and anxiety (pp.279-283). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
Schmidt, L. A. (1999). Frontal brain electrical activity in shyness and sociability.Psychological Science, 10, 316-320.
Sepehrband, M. (2000).The relationship between shyness and Iranian guidance school students’ language achievement.(Master’s Thesis). Tehran: T.M.U.
Slamah, R., Sulayman, S., & Ibrahim, A. (2011).The relationship between shyness and social irrational thoughts and academic achievement among university students.Journal of Research in Education, 12, 797-789.
Trow, T. (2004).Academic achievement: A Text Book of Advanced Educational Psychology (2nd Ed.). New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers.
Zimbardo, P. G. (1977). The shy child: A parent’s guide to preventing and overcoming shyness from infancy to adulthood. New York: McGraw Hill.
