The Role of Risk-Taking Behavior in the Development of Speaking Skills in ESL Classrooms

This essay presents an overview of different perspectives of the risk-taking construct in the development of speaking skills in the second language classroom. Its main purpose is to examine the role of risk taking in the acquisition of a foreign or second language and the improvement of oral profic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Irene Marín Cervantes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Costa Rica 2014-03-01
Series:Revista de Lenguas Modernas
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rlm/article/view/13952
Description
Summary:This essay presents an overview of different perspectives of the risk-taking construct in the development of speaking skills in the second language classroom. Its main purpose is to examine the role of risk taking in the acquisition of a foreign or second language and the improvement of oral proficiency. The first section introduces the concept of risk taking from markedly different perspectives of several authors. The second section focuses on the particular traits that characterize risk takers in the language learning scenario. The third section explains the distinctive variables, namely, situational, social and individual, which are responsible for differences in risk-taking levels. The last section compares and contrasts the high and low use of risk-taking behaviors which leads to a final discussion and reflection on some pedagogical issues concerning risk taking in the second language classroom.
ISSN:1659-1933
2215-5643