RETRACTED ARTICLE: May I come in? A probe into the contributions of self-esteem, teacher support, and critical thinking to anxiety and shyness in language classes

Many students feel uncomfortable when obliged to communicate in English.Students’ fear of speaking English is influenced by psychological reasonssuch as the fear of failing, being misunderstood, and making grammatical errors.Students’ active participation in English class discussions might be hinderedby shyness, nervousness, lack of confidence, and motivation. Helping these reservedstudents gain self-assurance and perfect their spoken English is a top priority forall English language instructors. In the classroom, teachers may use some simplemethods to encourage their reserved students to open up and speak English with moreease and confidence. The existing literature on students’ shyness shows thatthe gap in this realm is great and a critical look is needed. To this end, thecurrent research intended to gauge the effects of self-esteem, teacher support, andcritical thinking on anxiety and shyness in language classes. 385 language learnersattending English language institutions took part in this research. They were atintermediate and upper intermediate levels. The findings of both confirmatory factoranalysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) point to the fact thatimproving students’ self-esteem, teacher support, and critical thinking mayhave a moderating effect on students ‘anxiety and shyness in languagelearning. The implications of this inquiry may be advantageous for languagelearners, language instructors, as well as policymakers.