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 profici...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Marín Cervantes, Irene
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:Costa Rica
Institución:Universidad de Costa Rica
Repositorio:Portal de Revistas UCR
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:portal.ucr.ac.cr:article/13952
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rlm/article/view/13952
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:risk taking
language learning
language acquisition
speaking skills
riesgos
aprendizaje de una lengua
adquisición de una segunda lengua
destrezas orales
Descripción
Sumario: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.