The purpose of this study was to investigatepre-service English teachers’ reticent beliefs towardsoral participation in English for Academic Purposeclassrooms. To this end, 144 Malaysian pre-serviceEnglish teachers enrolled in a teacher-training pro-gramme participated as respondents in a survey con-ducted using the Reticent Belief Index. They were alldiagnosed with high level of reticence prior to the study.In addition, 24 pre-service teachers, selected randomlyfrom among the survey participants, took part in focusgroup discussions. The results of the study revealed thatthe majority of the pre-service English teachers sub-scribed to eight beliefs that are presumed to be associ-ated with reticent behaviour. Additionally, a newlyidentified belief, ‘Kiasuim’ was also found to cause thepre-service teachers being reticent in the class. Theresults of the study point to the importance of alleviatingpre-service teachers’ reticent behaviour via a remedialcourse which incorporates the elements of modifyingreticent beliefs

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• Pre-service English Teachers’ Reticent Beliefs Towards Oral Participation in EAP Classrooms