ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION IN AN ONLINE EFL CLASSMathew Hollinshead
Kanda University of International Studies
INTRODUCTION
The emergence of the novel 2019 coronavirus has brought about something of a revolution, andat great speed, in the education world. Writing in March this year, Hodges et al. (2020) state that“the speed with which this move to online instruction is expected to happen is unprecedentedand staggering” (p.2). Such tectonic shifts in such a short time clearly require great resources ofadaptability from educators and students alike. For English language teachers in Japan, thispedagogical turbulence can serve to exacerbate many of the problems they were alreadygrappling with in a pre-pandemic world. One of these problems being how to encourage reticent
students to participate more actively in their English lessons.
PARTICIPATION IN AN EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING (ERT) CONTEXT
Hodges et al. (2020) claim “the temptation to compare online learning to face-to-face
instruction in these (emergency) circumstances will be great” (p.2) but go on to argue that thisis not helpful for a number of reasons. However, they do provide some suggestions forevaluating the effectiveness of emergency remote teaching (ERT). For teachers, they suggest
asking “did learners achieve the intended knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes that were the focusof the instructional experience?” While for students, they note “issues such as interest,motivation, and engagement are directly connected to learner success and so would be possible
evaluation foci” (p.7). Bao (2020) likewise looks at the requirements for successful ERT. She
provided a case study of Peking University’s ERT efforts and identified five major principles for
success, among them “high-quality participation to improve the breadth and depth of student's
learning” (p.1). The acquisition of skills, the degree of motivation and engagement, andparticipation, despite a move out of the classroom, remain vital.
STUDENTS
While it is not possible in this article to discuss the nature and dangers of stereotyping students,
it is nevertheless possible to adumbrate a number of general observations about Japaneselearners of English. Cohen (1995) claims that Japanese students are often viewed by theirteachers as being passive, unwilling to contribute, and excessively concerned with errors.
Writing almost a decade later, Saito and Ebsworth (2004) discuss a fairly comprehensive list ofcultural differences that can often cause tension between Western language teachers and theirJapanese students. Traits they identified as being common among Japanese students included
a preference for indirect speech, an unwillingness to challenge either their teachers or peers, adeep concern with group cohesion, and widespread perfectionism. They further claimed thatteacher expectations around challenging a student’s answer can be problematic. While a teacher
might anticipate such a challenge generating fresh and original ideas, such challenges are likely
to be unexpected for students and can often lead to intense embarrassment. These and other10.	  Encouraging	  Participation	  in	  an	  Online	  EFL	  Class.	  Matthew	  Hollinshead.	  Pages	  45-­‐48.	  Literacies	  &	  Language	  Education:	  Research	  &	  Practice,	  2020	  Special	  Section:	  Teaching	  During	  a	  Pandemic.	  English	  Language	  Institute,	  KUIS.

factors can therefore lead to a noticeable unwillingness on the part of students to participate inclass, or at least to appear so.
THE 5-SECOND RULE
As part of an effort to counteract such reticence, I introduced the 5-second rule into my online
classes. Robbins (2018) claims that whenever one has an impulse to act on a goal, they mustphysically do something within five seconds or inhibitions will take over and the impulse will belost. The way to ensure action is to use what she calls the 5-second rule. One begins counting
backwards from five and upon hitting “1-go!” they must push themselves into action. Sheexplains that “this is how you do the hard stuff – the work that you don’t feel like doing, or you’rescared of doing, or you’re avoiding” (Robbins, 2018, para.10). The task in my classes took placein two stages.
Stage One
Students were given a short reading that explained the 5-second rule (see appendix). Aftercompleting the reading, students discussed with a partner the following questions:
1) How would you explain the 5-second rule to someone?
2) Please brainstorm some possible ways you could use the 5-second rule when learning
English. For example, “I could use it when I want to answer a question.”
Finally, through a class discussion, all of the ideas for question 2 were gathered onto one
document available to everyone on a digital platform used daily for class materials.
The priority of this exercise was to activate students towards thinking of ways they might use
the rule to aid their learning, and in particular their participation online. Answers for question 2
typically focused on very broad areas such as: when wanting to ask a question in class; whenwanting to give opinions but feeling afraid; when fearing other students would see their answers
as wrong; when wanting to use English outside of class, for example talking to a foreigner; or
when not wanting to join the class.
Stage Two
For the second stage of this activity, students were asked to look back at the shared document
the class created and to reflect on where they had the most difficulty taking action. They werethen challenged to make use of the 5-second rule at least once a week in trying to be more activein these areas. In their weekly reflection journals they were asked – “can you describe one
example of when you used the 5-second rule this week?”
More informally, I kept the 5-second rule present as much as possible during class time. On any
occasion in which a question to the class was met with silence, I would energetically begin
counting backwards from 5.
STUDENT RESPONSE TO THE 5-SECOND RULE
The reaction of the students to the 5-second rule has been very positive. General feedback fromstudents suggest that not only are they making use of the rule during class time, they are actuallytransferring it outside of the class to assist them with tasks such as homework. On the regularoccasions when I use it to trigger participation in class I am invariably met with the voices of anumber of students seeking to get involved. The speed with which the 2020 pandemic haschanged the learning environment means that the findings here are purely anecdotal. However,an opportunity clearly exists for a more systematic survey of how students feel about the rule.
For now, it appears to be a valuable tool in my efforts to encourage participation in my online
EFL classes.

REFERENCES
Bao, W. (2020). COVID-19 and online teaching in higher education: A case study of Peking
University. Hum Behav & Emerg Tech. 2. 113–115. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.191
Cohen, A. (1995). Spoken discourse analysis in Japanese university classes. Niigata Studies in
Foreign Language and Culture, 1. p.27-32.
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T. & Bond, A. (2020, March 27th). The difference
between emergency remote teaching and online learning.
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teachingand-online-learning
Robbins, M. (2018, April 25th). The five elements of the five second rule.
https://melrobbins.com/blog/five-elements-5-second-rule/
Saito, H. & Ebsworth, M. (2004). Seeing English language teaching and learning through theeyes of Japanese EFL and ESL students. Foreign language annals, 37(1). p.111-124.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2004.tb02178.x

Appendix A
The 5 Second Rule is simple. If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physicallymove within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it.
The moment you feel an instinct or a desire to act on a goal or a commitment, use the Rule.
When you feel yourself hesitate before doing something that you know you should do, count 54-3-2-1-GO and move towards action.
There is a window that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and yourmind killing it. It’s a 5 second window. And it exists for everyone.
If you do not take action on your instinct to change, you will stay stagnant. You will notchange.
But if you do one simple thing, you can prevent your mind from working against you. You canstart the momentum before the barrage of thoughts and excuses hit you at full force.
What do you do?
Just start counting backwards to yourself: 5-4-3-2-1.
The counting will focus you on the goal or commitment and distract you from the worries,
thoughts, and excuses in your mind.
As soon as you reach “1” – push yourself to move.
This is how you push yourself to do the hard stuff – the work that you don’t feel like doing, or
you’re scared of doing, or you’re avoiding.
That’s it. 5 seconds is all it takes.
If you don’t act on an instinct within that 5 second window, that’s it. You’re not doing it.