How Should Introverted EFL Teachers Survive Communication in Class ？

I, an introvert, have observed the introverted EFL teachers in my work place in terms of the characteristics of communica-tion in class since I felt some of my personality traits get in the way in my class. The findings correspond to Brian R. Little's per-sonality psychology.Brian Little has revealed that introverted people lack mutual gazes and tend to talk past each other, and intro-verted EFL teachers are no exception according to my study. In the perspective of personality psychology, avoiding too much eyecontact is not because of a lack of confidence, but a way for introverts to reduce the outside stimulation. This explanation is reason-able but not good for communication in EFL teaching. In fact it is contradicted with the notion that language teachers should be amaster of communication themselves. Then I managed to identify these seemingly anti-social characteristics of communication andseek for some other means to compensate for what might be missed out in class communication. Brian Little clarifies the relation-ship between free trait, core projects and acting out of character. I conduct an empirical study by using questionnaires in which tenhigh-achieving university introverted English teachers with ten-year teaching experiences illustrates their initial problems in EFLteaching as well as their possible solutions. By collecting some characteristics of communication in class, I provide a three-stepcounter strategy for introverted EFL teachers to survive language class communication. First, accept the"weakness"and feel com-fortable with it. Second, set goals to practice it. Third, look for other means to compensate for it. This counter measure conforms toBrain Little's theory on the relationship between"free trait","core project "and"acting out of character". It is expected that thethree-step counter strategy is useful in introverted EFL teacher's pedagogical practice.