Factors Contributing to Students' Silence in Integrated Course Classes

Abstract

Having seen many peers were in silence during the Integrated Course (IC) class (ED 101), this study aims to explore factors that contribute to students' silence. Twenty English Department's IC students from class year 2012 of Satya Wacana Christian University participated in this study. In-depth interview was the chosen method of the data collection to explore the factors that contribute to students' silence. To analyze the findings, a descriptive qualitative methodology was used. From the interview, it was found that there were six major influential factors that contribute to the students' silence in IC classes. Those factors were: students' background knowledge, students' lack of interest, the role of dominating peers, students' language proficiency, students' preparedness, and the existence of grading rewards. The result indicated that teachers needed to create conducive situation to maximize the students' potentials in the learning process. This could be done by giving intensive encouragement for the students to be active in class through giving some participation points. Due to the limitation of this study, further researches need to be done to find out other factors, which contribute to the students' silence, in not only IC classes but also other classes. By having so many literatures about students' silence, it is expected that further solution can be found to avoid silence problems in EFL classrooms.