Risk-Taking in the ESL Classroom

Abstract

Students in 6th level ESL classes at the ENALLT struggle with uniform risk taking habits, defined as voluntary turns taken in a foreign language due to the risk of embarrassment that comes with all oral turns. This study attempts to solve if behaviorist theory could bridge the gap between the highest and lowest risk-takers in the class. Action consists of a raffle where students win tickets by performing the defined risk-taking behavior, observing the average voluntary t-units and percentage of voluntary t-units provided by the highest scoring students during the pre-observation. The average surged during the action, falling during the post-observation, while the dominance percentage of the high risk-taking students decreased continually. This action investigation study concludes that the application of behaviorist theory in affecting risk-taking behavior is promising, though a longitudinal study with more applications would be necessary for further study.