Abstract

This work investigated the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learners’ speaking skill, particularly at the public sector colleges, universities and the sub-campuses of these universities located in the South Punjab, Pakistan. This project was scheduled to use a mixed-method type. Majority of the students indicated that there is an insignificant and negative relationship between the variables of shyness, lack of confidence and speaking English achievements. Since, as the shyness and lack of confidence increases, the speaking achievement decreases and as the shyness and lack of confidence decreases the speaking achievement increases. Findings from the explored work indicate that EFL teachers firstly, cultivate proper teaching circumstances by providing pupils adequate interval to prepare themselves for a conversational activity, develop a mind map to generate ideas, and offer learners plentiful time span to accomplish the given task well in the class.

Key Words

Shyness, Lack of Confidence, Psychological Barriers, EFL Learners

Introduction

English language expertise and proficiency have been viewed as the major factors of internal and external freedom of movement. In the present world with easy access to travel, education, science and technology, globalization of business and industry and the wish of the non-native students to have a conversation with English speaking instructors, learners of all ages and purposes value the capability to communicate verbally in the target or foreign language (Nunnan, 1991). As an international language, English plays an important role when the world has become a global village and means of communication have become faster and cheaper. People communicate to preserve and continue prevailing social interactions and to develop new relationships as well. Communicative competence is narrowly associated with career opportunities and positions. Learning the English language properly is the goal and objective of the youth of Pakistan who spends sufficient time in learning English in schools, colleges and universities. Youth employability can be enhanced and improved while improving the communicative skills of the learners, and this can open greater paying job opportunities. Ur (1996) exclaims that in language skills; reading, writing listening and speaking, the communicative skill is the most significant skill because he views the people who are being acquainted with a language are stated as the real communicators of that language. This idea clearly illustrates that the use of language is significantly imperative than just having theoretical knowledge about that language (Scrivener, 2005). Communicative skill is observed as the most intricate and multifarious skill to master. According to Scrivener (2005), learning to converse in the target language encompasses more than having the knowledge and skill of its grammatical rules, syntactic structure and semantic knowledge. It needs the aptitude to use the knowledge of language suitably in socio-cultural and pragmatic communications. The fundamental objective of foreign language learning and teaching is to inspire the learners and motivate the educators to use English for expressive and operative communication, not only inside but also outside the foreign language classroom. But these speaking activities can become unsuccessful dejectedly due to a number of very real problems in L2 classrooms. In order to assist the learners in overpowering their difficulties in speaking proficiently, it is obligatory to find out the contributing factors that disturb their verbal communication and interaction.




Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Skill 

Socio-psychological factors are in the huge number that obstructs the learners from speaking English skillfully. The above-mentioned factors do not work in segregation, but they are knotted with one another. There is a concise but precise summary of only some among the several uncultivated sources and reasons that lead to the unenthusiastic, hesitant, reluctant, inadequate or unwilling contribution of the learners in learning speaking activities in the foreign language classroom.




Linguistic Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Skill

Linguistic factors are the combination of a number of language features such as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. Latha (2012) explored and claimed with utmost certainty that the knowledge of grammar could help L2 learners to relate and distinguish the construction and arrangement of English language appropriately and that structure will lead the learners to their fluency and accuracy. At the same time, it has also been perceived that the students find it problematic to transmit the correct grammar to their speaking proficiency. On the contrary, Larsen-Freeman (2001) diverts the direction towards pronunciation, and he is of the thought that pronunciation occupies the key role in a speaking activity. Wrong pronouncing a single sound, word or wrong use of stresses and intonations can cause a big misunderstanding among the speakers. Similarly, Nation (2001) opines that the proper exposure to a variety of words or vocabulary is indispensable for enhancing speaking skills. Non-native students often have to face a number of barriers in searching for a suitable word that fits appropriately into the context or situation. If the receptive vocabulary of the students is restricted, they can scarcely put the receptive vocabulary into productive use.




Affective Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Skill 

The affective factors are related to all those psychological issues and matters such as shyness, anxiety, and lack of confidence, hesitation, and lack of motivation, lack of interest and fear of making mistakes. Anxiety is that type of affective factors that most persistently hampers the learning of L2 learning (Arnold & Brown, 1999). In this periphery Brown (2001) named this process as nerve-wracking about being mistaken, incorrect, wrong, stupid, or incomprehensible. It completely ruins students' communicative performance. Most of the L2 learners remain anxious and embarrassed in the L2 classroom (Liu, 2006), particularly when they are demanded by the teacher to express their views in L2 class without any beforehand preparation. Shumin (2002) asserts that when nervousness exceeds beyond its limits, it makes the students feel as tongue-tied, and this completely affects their success in the foreign language classroom. Further to promote this idea Middleton (2009) thinks that students feel that they are shy of the reflection that their communication demands. They are also much apprehensive about the criticism, disapproval from the classmates and the English language teachers and the result of all this is that they either make a lot of mistakes in spite of securing enough knowledge of the topic, lesson or they totally remain silent. L2 learners should be encouraged and motivated to communicate courageously in order to develop their communicative competence since motivation is undoubtedly the most significant factor that the teachers can make their target in order to improve their students’ learning (Arnold, 1999). While discussing the motivational factor DuBrin (2008) relates that motivation is one of the factors that impact success or failure in learning a language, mainly a foreign language. In the same context, Oxford, R. L. (1990) maintained that if students are unwilling to learn, their learning competence will be slow, and it can happen that they may learn practically nothing. It is a natural process to make mistakes in learning any language, but it causes an impending threat to the students’ ego. These pressures in learning L2 frustrate the learners to talk in the target language. In this way, students make their minds that it is impossible for them to achieve fluency and accuracy of the target language. Correspondingly, the ‘lack of confidence’ also averts the learners from improving their speaking skill and ultimately, they lose interest and give up to get communicative competence in the target language. All the aforementioned factors indicate that they are the main cause of hampering the speaking skill and the core tenacity of the current study is to investigate and examine only two of them such as shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers for the learners’ speaking skill. 




Shyness and its Reasons

According to Gebhard (2000), shyness is a psychological factor that a great number of L2 learners suffer from at some stage when they are prerequisite to communicating in English in L2 classroom settings. This shows that ‘shyness’ is the possible base of problems for learners’ learning accomplishments in the L2 class, specifically during the communicative activity. For that reason, giving attention on this feature of the target language is fairly essential so that the learners can be facilitated and motivated for doing their best job in their oral presentation inside the classroom and in outdoor activities. In this line of action, Baldwin (2011) additionally, clarifies that verbal communication with a number of individuals at the same time is one of the more shared anxieties that students come across and the sensitivity of shyness marks their minds go blank or that they will remain unable to recall what to say in innumerable situations they come across. This prototypical approach is also reinforced by the findings of the current research in which most learners remain incapable of accomplishing their communicative competence at their best as the students were of the opinion that their inability to express their skill in communicating verbally is also inclined mostly by their feelings of shyness. In one more aspect, it can be deduced that shyness hampers and plays a negative role in improving students’ speaking skill.

While arguing about the reasons for shyness, Bowen; Robby (2005; 2010) maintained that a huge number of learners who feel shy are instigated by their attitude that they are silent and quiet. In this context, most of the learners are not well-balanced and assured to have a tendency to be shy as a big number of such learners find it unapproachable when speaking English in front of their class fellows, friends and teachers. Furthermore, in this background, Saurik (2011) recognizes that learners feel shy when they communicate in the English language because they contemplate that they will make critical mistakes when they have to communicate with their teachers and class fellows about various indoor teaching and learning activities. Even sometimes, these learners are also afraid of being laughed at by their L2 mentors, friends, and classmates. 




Confidence Inadequacy and its Reasons

Lack of confidence is the key psychological factor which is frequently assumed the students’ lack of confidence that characteristically happens when they think that their communicative equals have not comprehended their message. In this state of affairs, they would remain silent while others carry on their conversation by indicating that the students lack their confidence to communicate. In reaction to this view, Nunan (1999) states that students who are lack of confidence, their English communication skill would unavoidably suffer from communication anxiety. This outlook determines that developing and improving students’ confidence is an integral part of English teachers’ minute attention toward his learners. From the above discussion, it can be easily determined that the foreign language teacher must learn from both the philosophies and applied understanding on how to develop and expedite learners’ confidence level in L2 verbal communication.

Chen (2010) traces the reasons for confidence insufficiency and opines that the core cause of learners’ confidence inadequacy is their little aptitude and approach in speaking English. In this perspective, as he adds, that there are numerous students who anticipate that their English-speaking capability is substandard and feel that they cannot speak English in a very well manner. Lack of inspiration from L2 teacher is also closely connected with learners’ lack of confidence (Brown, 2002). In this situation, many English language teachers do not consider it positively that convincing learners that they are best able to communicate verbally and the obstructions in this way can be removed easily. Consequently, learners find the learning of speaking skill discouraging and demoralizing rather than motivating. This discourse proposes that reinforcement becomes a vibrant element in order to improve learners’ confidence level with respect to L2 speaking proficiency. Accordingly, providing learners’ encouragement and inspiration from the teachers’ behalf and displaying that they will be competent and capable to communicate well in English plays a vital role in learners’ achievement of learning L2. The key inclination of this work is to find out the critical effects of the aforementioned psychological barriers and how can these factors be treated with teacher/student coordination to get better learners’ speaking ability.

Research Questions

To realize the drive of the present study, here are the main research questions through which the researcher will explore and answer in the present work:

i. What are the Factors causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers for L2 learners’ speaking skills?

ii. What are the outcomes of the situations causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers?




Research Design

This work uses a mixed-method approach which is a research design that employs both quantitative and qualitative data to answer the set of questions. The chosen locations of this study were public sector universities and colleges located in the three divisions of South Punjab, i.e. D. G. Khan, Bahawalpur and, Multan. 200 respondents shared their valuable information required for this work. The learners (male & female on equal ratio) who were selected for the current study were from BS English program of the selected colleges and the universities in the 2020 academic year which started from November 2019. The sample included was subject to the age group of 17 to 21 years.  350 plus students’ questionnaires were circulated to the research respondents, and only 200 questionnaires were returned from the selected population. The students (male & female on equal ratio) who were selected for the current study and they were from BS English program of the selected public sector universities and their sub-campuses in the 2020 academic year. Data used in the research was structured questionnaire in which the learners were requested to specify their level of covenant or deviation on a four-point rating scale, including “1= Yes, 2= No, 3= No Idea, 4= No Comments. Students’ questionnaire was developed from the studies by Aouatef, Belegdair (2015), Al Hosni, Samira (2014), Tanveer, M. (2007), Richard, J. C. (2006) and Shumin, K. (2002).

Students Responses Analysis

Table 1. I Feel Lack of Confidence and Shyness in Speaking English with Class Fellows.

Four-Point Rating Scale	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	169	84.5	84.5	84.5
No	28	14.0	14.0	98.5
No Idea	02	01.5	01.5	99.5
No Comments	01	00.5	00.5	100.0
Total	200	100.0	100.0

Note: Numerical statistics in columns refer to the analyzed account and their percentage about “I feel lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows.

                                                                                     

Table 1 reveals that 169 students out of 200 which were 84.5% of the respondents selected for the research who were eager and excited to learn interactive English in L2 situation but they were of the thought that it becomes very difficult for them when they feel lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows, and it becomes a barrier in learning spoken English in the strict sense of the word. The valid and cumulative percentage of the first scale is also 84.5. On the contrary, 28 out of 200 students which were 14.0% of the total number of the learners and they were of the opinion that they do not feel hesitation, lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows. This second category of the learners has 14.0 valid and 98.5 cumulative percentage. On the contrary to the previous two points of the four-point rating scale only 02 students out of 200 which were 01.0% of the whole number, the valid percentage remains same as 01.0 while cumulative reached to 99.5 and they were of the believed that they have no idea about the issue that they feel hesitation, lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows or not. Only 1 out of 200 learners said that he/she does not want to comment on the topic and it was 00.5% of the total number, the valid percentage was also 00.5 while cumulative percentage stretched to 100.0. Comparison between the students who confirmed that they feel hesitation, lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows were about 169 out of 200 students who were 84.5 % of the total number. Opposite to it 14.0% of the total number were of the view that according to their perception it was not a barrier and they do not feel hesitation, lack of confidence and shyness in speaking English with class fellows and they were only 28 out of 200 students.

 

Table 2. I Feel Shy to Communicate in English When Teacher Asks me a Question Before the Class.

Four-Point Rating Scale	Frequency	Per cent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	109	54.5	54.5	54.5
No	41	20.5	20.5	75.0
No Idea	40	20.0	20.0	95.0
No Comments	10	05.0	05.0	100.0
Total	200	100.0	100.0

Note: Numerical statistics in columns refer to the analyzed account and their percentage about “I feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks me a question before the class.”

 

109 students out of 200 which were 54.5% of the total number of the students who were interested to learn English and improve their interactive capability but they were of the opinion that they feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks them a question before the class. The valid and cumulative percentage of the first scale is same as 54.5. On the other hand, surprisingly 41 out of 200 students which were 20.5% who were of the belief that they do not feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks them a question before the class. This second category of the students had 20.5 valid and 75.0 cumulative percentage. On the contrary to the previous two main points of the four-point rating scale 40 students out of 200 which were 20.0% of the whole number, the valid percentage remains same as 20.0 while cumulative reached to 95.0 and they were of the consideration that they do not have any idea whether they feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks them a question before the class or not. 10 out of 200 students said that they do not want to comment on the issue and it was 05.0% of the total number, the valid percentage was also 05.0 while cumulative percentage reached to 100.0. Comparison between the students who endorsed that they feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks them a question before the class were around 109 out of 200 students which were 54.5 %. Contrary to it only 20.5% students opposed this idea and were of the view that they do not feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks them a question before the class and they were 41 students out of 200. From the preceding discussion, it is decipherable that there is a considerable contradiction between the students who approved and disapproved the statement “I feel shy to communicate in English when the teacher asks me a question before the class.”

 

Table 3. I Prefer Studying in my Mother Tongue as I Hesitate and Feel Shy to Learn in English.

Four-Point Rating Scale	Frequency	Per cent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	185	92.5	92.5	92.5
No	02	01.0	01.0	93.5
No Idea	08	04.0	04.0	97.5
No Comments	05	02.5	02.5	100.0
Total	200	100.0	100.0

Note: Numerical statistics in columns refer to the analyzed account and their percentage about “I prefer studying in my mother tongue as I hesitate and feel shy to learn in English.”

 

In reply to the above statement185 students out of 200 which were 92.5% of the total number of the students who were fascinated to learn and develop their communication skills but they were of the opinion that they prefer studying in their mother tongue as they hesitate and feel shy to learn in English? The valid and cumulative percentage of the first scale is same as 92.5. On the other hand, only 02 out of 200 students who were 01.0% of the total number of the students who were of the belief that they never prefer studying in their mother tongue as they do not hesitate and feel shy to learn in English. This second category of the students had 01.0 valid and 93.5 cumulative percentage. On the contrary to the previous two main points of the four-point rating scale 08 students out of 200 which were 04.0% of the whole number, the valid percentage remains same as 04.0 while cumulative reached to 97.5 and they were of the comment that they do not have any idea whether they prefer studying in their mother tongue as they hesitate and feel shy to learn in English or not. 05 out of 200 students said that they do not want to comment on the issue and it was 02.5% of the total number, the valid percentage was also 02.5 while cumulative percentage reached to 100.0. Comparison between the students who validated that they prefer studying in their mother tongue as they hesitate and feel shy to learn in English and it causes a communicative barrier for them, and they were around 185 out of 200 students which were 92.5 %. Contrary to it only 01.0% students opposed this idea and were of the view that they do not prefer studying in their mother tongue as they hesitate and feel shy to learn in English and they were 02 students out of 200. From the prior discussion, it becomes clear that there is an immense difference between the students who agreed and disagreed the statement “I prefer studying in my mother tongue as I hesitate and feel shy to learn in English.”

 

Table 4. I like to Give my Opinion During English Lesson, but Due to Shyness, I Remain Silent.

Four-Point Rating Scale	Frequency	Per cent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	138	69.0	69.0	69.0
No	35	17.5	17.5	86.0
No Idea	11	05.5	05.5	92.0
No Comments	16	08.0	08.0	100.0
Total	200	100.0	100.0

Note: Numerical statistics in columns refer to the analyzed account and their percentage about “I like to give my opinion during the English lesson, but due to shyness, I remain silent.”

 

In reply to the aforementioned statement, 138 students out of 200 which were 69.0% of the total number of the students who were absorbed in learning English and improving their interactive skills but they were of the opinion that they like to give their opinion during English lesson, but due to shyness, they remain silent. The valid and cumulative percentage of the first scale is same as 69.0. On the other hand, 35 out of 200 students which were 17.5% students who were of the belief that they like to give their opinion during English lesson and due to shyness, they never remain silent. This second category of the students had 17.5 valid and 86.5 cumulative percentage. On the contrary to the previous two main points of the four-point rating scale 11 students out of 200 which were 05.5% of the whole number, the valid percentage remains same as 05.5 while cumulative reached to 92.0 and they were of the thought that they do not have any idea that they like to give their opinion during English lesson, but due to shyness, they remain silent or not. 16 out of 200 students said that they do not want to comment on the issue and it was 08.0% of the total number, the valid percentage was also 08.0 while cumulative percentage reached to 100.0. Comparison between the students who endorsed that they like to give their opinion during the English lesson, but due to shyness they remain silent was around 138 out of 200 students which were 69.0 %. Contrary to it only 17.5% students opposed this idea and were of the view that like to give their opinion during English lesson and due to shyness, they never remain silent, and they were 35 students out of 200.

 

Table 5. I Feel Shy on my Turn to Offer Feedback During Speaking Activities in EFL Classroom.

Four-Point Rating Scale	Frequency	Per cent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Yes	168	84.0	84.0	84.0
No	25	12.5	12.5	96.5
No Idea	01	00.5	00.5	97.0
No Comments	06	03.0	03.0	100.0
Total	200	100.0	100.0

Note: Numerical statistics in columns refer to the analyzed account and their percentage about “I feel shy on my turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom.”

In reply to the above statement, 168 students out of 200 which were 84.0% of the total number of the students who were captivated to learn and develop their communication skills but they were of the opinion that they feel shy on their turn to offer feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom. The valid and cumulative percentage of the first scale is same as 84.0. On the other hand, only 25 out of 200 students who were 12.5% of students who were of the belief that they never feel shy on their turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom. This second category of the students had 12.5 valid and 96.5 cumulative percentage. On the contrary to the previous two main points of the four-point rating scale 01 students out of 200 which were 0.5% of the whole number, the valid percentage remains same as 01.0 while cumulative reached to 97.0 and they were of the comment that they do not have any idea whether they feel shy on their turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom or not. 06 out of 200 students said that they do not want to comment on the issue and it was 03.0% of the total number, the valid percentage was also 03.0 while cumulative percentage reached to 100.0. Comparison between the students who validated that they feel shy on their turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom and it causes a communicative barrier for them, and they were around 168 out of 200 students which were 84.0 % of the total number of the students. Contrary to it only 12.5% students opposed this idea and were of the view that they do not feel shy on their turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom and they were 25 students out of 200. From the past discussion, it becomes clear that there is an immense difference between the students who agreed and disagreed the statement “I feel shy on my turn to offer Feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom.”

Discussions on Findings

The overall purpose of this work was to comprehend the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learners’ speaking skills. Firstly, students' opinions about the factors causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological obstructions for L2 students’ speaking skills are offered. 




Research Question# 01

What are the Factors causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers for L2 learners’ speaking skills?

The results from students’ questionnaire regarding the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learners’ speaking skills indicate that majority of the L2 learners were of the view that their verbal communication was affected by the factors causing shyness and lack of confidence. The findings obtained from the very first question of the questionnaire exposed that majority of the learners were eager and excited to learn interactive English in L2 situation, but they were of the thought that it becomes very difficult for them when they feel shyness and lack of confidence in speaking English with class fellows, and it becomes a barrier in learning spoken English in the strict sense of the word. This difficulty can occur in L2 situation due to insufficient knowledge of the language, self and teacher-directed motivation and that confidence deficiency. In the preceding context this work is supported by (Brown, 2001) who discovered that in this scenario, most of the English language teachers do not reflect, convincing learners that they are able to communicate in English language and it is significantly important for their future prospects. Consequently, students find the learning of speaking skill demotivating rather than motivating. This discourse proposes that reinforcement and encouragement become a vibrant thing in order to improve and develop the students’ confidence. Consequently, giving students encouragement from the teachers’ behalf and showing that they will be competent and capable to communicate well in English plays a vital role in learners’ achievement of learning L2.

With regard to the second question of the students’ questionnaire mainstream of the students added that they were interested to learn English and improve their interactive capability, but they were of the opinion that they feel shy and lack of confidence to communicate in English when teachers ask them a question before the whole class. In addition, a major portion of the students recounted that their performance was also affected by the anxiety and panic and similarly, they become confused when they had to speak without preparation in EFL classroom. Some more speaking problems that the students encountered in L2 classrooms due to two psychological factors, perceived and observed were also documented. The findings of the next question of the students’ questionnaire revealed that main part of the selected students prefer studying in their mother tongue as they hesitate and feel shy to learn in English and this factor causes a barrier in their speaking skill. Expressions of the students in L2 classroom carry a special weight but lacking to express themselves in English in the classroom was also a big barrier for the big part of the learners. The last response of the students’ questionnaire about shyness and lack of confidence as a psychological barrier was that majority of the students who were captivated to learn and develop their communication skills, but they were of the opinion that they feel shy on their turn to offer feedback during speaking activities in EFL classroom. This situation can be the cause of poor family background and ordinary schooling of the learners. The findings of my study also resemble the study conducted by Chen (2010) that revealed that the main cause of students’ lack of confidence and shyness is their little aptitude in speaking English. In this respect, as he adds, numerous students contemplate that their English-speaking capability is bad and feel that they cannot speak English well. Another cause of learners’ lack of confidence is also connected with the lack of inspiration and encouragement from the teachers as well. 




Research Question# 02

What are the outcomes of the situations causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers?

The results from the students’ questionnaire regarding the outcomes of the situations causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers are stated as under:

• Communicative interaction among the students can be achieved and improved if students interact freely with a variety of instructional resources and teachers because due to this, the student can be able to get self-confidence and motivation.

• Though classroom hesitation and shyness hamper student to perform well in the class but drill in speaking English is also crucial and dynamic as it enhances students’ confidence in the use of the target language, by this means students’ speaking skills can be improved.

• Results indicated that most of the students were of the thought that it becomes very difficult for them if a teacher asks them to speak on some topic, they cannot speak for even a single minute without shyness and it becomes a barrier in learning verbal English. It was observed that the instructional resources that were available and accessible were the English course books, literary texts and the whiteboards but even most of the learners were lacking even these course books and textbooks in the class. With the improvement of this situation and adding some other resources such as multi-media, the radio, television and language laboratories which were either inaccessible or completely lacking in the colleges, universities and their sub-campuses, barriers can be removed easily.

• Most of the students reported that they could learn speaking English with the help of their mother tongues inside and outside the class. This element clearly addresses the teacher/student methods or techniques of teaching/learning. These methods and techniques used in the classroom instruction can motivate or demotivate the students to participate in the learning speaking process. Students and teachers consequently have the duty to ensure that the teaching and learning methods used and the classroom are enabling the students to get their communicative competence. 

• A large strength of the students was of the opinion that they like to give their opinion during the English lesson, but due to shyness, they remain silent. To overcome this barrier, English teachers should first develop the teaching conditions by giving students sufficient time to prepare for a dialogue. Similarly, teachers must properly train the students how to use a mind map to produce ideas and giving learners plentiful time to perform their responsibilities well in the class. They ought to help their students to overcome lack of confidence and shyness by ensuring pleasant, responsive, friendly, helpful and accommodating attitudes to make the students feel easy and relaxed while speaking in the class and make their students believe not to worry about making mistakes as mistakes help them to be proficient speakers of English language.

Conclusions and Policy Recommendations

The findings and results of ‘the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learners’ speaking skills’ revealed that there is an insignificant negative correlation between the two psychological factors mentioned above and the speaking skill of L2 learners. The study indicates that there is an insignificant and negative relationship between the variables of shyness, lack of confidence and speaking English achievements. Since as the shyness and lack of confidence increases, the speaking achievement decreases and as the shyness and lack of confidence decreases the speaking achievement increases. This study showcases that EFL teachers should first build the appropriate teaching conditions by giving students sufficient time to prepare for a conversational activity. Similarly, teachers must properly educate the learners on how to use mind map judiciously to produce ideas and giving learners plentiful time to perform their responsibilities well in the class. They ought to facilitate their learners to mitigate lack of confidence and shyness by confirming pleasant, responsive, friendly, helpful, and accommodating attitude to make the students feel easy and relaxed while speaking in the class and make their students believe not to worry about making mistakes as mistakes help them to be proficient speakers of English language. To sum up, from the results of the analysis, it was clearly apparent that the learners encountered a number of problems in the speaking class, but the remedy is also in their own hands. 

Limitations and Research Gaps

The present research plan was allocated to determine:

i. The respondents of the research were male & female L2 learners, and their age limit was ranging from 17 to 21 years. However, in future, this research can be overextended on the age group of school going kids and MS/MPhil and PhD scholars.

ii. The students who were the part of this project belong to public sector colleges where BS programs are going on, universities and their sub-campuses of South Punjab. While contrary to this work, in the approaching researches private and public schools, private colleges, universities and their sub-campuses where BS in English and other BS, MA/MSc, MPhil and PhD programs are continued can also be assimilated for heightened reproduction of the problem.

iii. Three Divisions such as Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur were selected for the collection of research data. On the other hand, in upcoming researches, the scope of this topic statement can be pushed on Pakistan level for across-the-board replica.

Research Contribution/Originality

This research is substantial as it attempted to analyze the effects of shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers on EFL learners’ speaking skills. It's standing condensed to the subsequent concerns:

i. The current study is significant as it addresses the most crucial factors causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers for the target language learners’ during the interactive communication and offers imperative policy recommendations to overcome this obstruction. 

ii. Figures from the existing study examine the outcomes of the circumstances causing shyness and lack of confidence as psychological barriers. 

iii. The recent study would contribute curriculum designers in planning suitable curriculum to make EFL learning more accommodating in Pakistani context and specifically for the students of Southern Punjab.

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