Why Keep Silent?

Why Keep Silent? The Classroom Participation Experiences of Non-native-English speaking Students by Sibel Tatar (2005)

New Words
-We should take a retrospective look into the past.
-She struggled to articulate her thoughts.
-Living conditions are different from those pertaining in their country origin.
-He learnt words by rote.
-This bridge needs some reinforcement.
-Triangulation is a method of finding out distance and position, usually on a map, by measuring the distance between two fixed points and then measuring the angle from each of these to the third point.
-All users must use all software in accordance with their licensing agreement.
-Clerks transcribe everything that is said in court.
-Developments on this issue will be dealt with in a subsequent report.
-Her behavior deviates from the rules.
-They deprived him of his freedom.
-She felt resentment against the dishonest lawyer.
-In his plays he takes simple traditional tales and elaborates them.

My Idea
According to the article, silence in the classroom means “lack of interest; an unwillingness to communicate; a sign of hostility, rejection, or interpersonal incompatibility; anxiety or shyness; or a lack of verbal skills (Giles et al, 1992).” When I attend seminars at university, I usually don’t talk very much. It means anxiety or shyness and a lack of verbal skills. I don’t talk at meetings even in Japan, so it is not easy for me to talk in seminars. But this is a good chance for me to practice expressing my opinion and develop my English speaking skills. I’d like to be well prepared in order to be confident.