An Investigation Into Senior High School Students’ Risk-taking Behavior In English Learning

Risk-taking behavior has been regarded as an important factor in successful foreign language learning and one of the main characteristics of good learners.Risk-averse learners are restrained by their self-esteem or fear of ambiguity they are afraid of taking risks,which may lead to mistakes or even loss of face.They are unwilling to use new or more difficult languages for effective output,so it takes time and effort to master new languages,which reduces students’ interest in learning and affects their learning effect.On the contrary,learners who are willing to take risks can choose appropriate inputs according to their own abilities and are better at communicating outputs.They are not afraid to make mistakes so they have more opportunities to use the language and are more likely to succeed in language learning.Therefore,it’s necessary for us to further study students’ risk-taking behaviors.However,most of the researches on risk-taking behavior in English learning in China focus on college students,with less researches on high school students.Therefore,this study aims to study students’ risk-taking behavior in English class from the perspective of high school students and solve the following three research questions:1.What is the current situation of risk-taking behavior in high school students’ English learning?2.What is the relationship between high school students’ risk-taking behavior and their English proficiency?3.What factors influence high school students’ risk-taking behaviors in English learning?Through questionnaire survey,personal interview and classroom observation,a key high school in Han Zhong was investigated and analyzed.The findings are as follows:（1）High school students generally have low risk behaviors in English learning and there is inconsistency between students’ risk concept and risk-taking behavior.（2）Risk-taking behavior of senior high school students in English learning is positively correlated with students’ English proficiency,but the intensity is weak.That is to say,in the range of the lower level of risk-taking behavior,students’ English proficiency do not change significantly.（3）The main factors that influence high school students’ risk-taking behavior in English learning are teachers’ teaching behavior,students’ personality,the concept of face,English language proficiency and classroom environment.In view of the problems found in the study,the following suggestions are proposed to improve high school students’ risk-taking behavior in English learning:For teachers: Enhancing students’ risk-taking beliefs;Building classroom learning community;Establish a harmonious teacher-student relationship.For students: Setting up right study view,face concept and cultivate positive emotion view.Through the study of risk-taking behavior,on the one hand,it helps teachers combine theory with practice and guide teacher’s teaching behavior better.On the other hand,it is helpful for students to fully understand their feelings and face up to risk-taking behaviors and mistakes in the language learning,so as to actively participate in classroom interaction,feel the fun of English classroom,promote students’ English learning and all-round development of personality.