This research aims to examine the impacts of culture on classroom participation among the English majored students at the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences faculty at Laghman University (LU), specifically seeking to find out the impacts of multi-ethnicity, dressing styles, family background, and gender differences that affect students' participation. Afghanistan. A mixed-method of research approach has been employed in this study; an adapted questionnaire and a semi-structured interview have been used as the research instrument for this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data have been collected from one hundred and ten (n = 115) respondents. The quantitative data were descriptively analyzed using the SPSS version 24, and later the semi-structured interview has been thematically analyzed. After the analysis of the data, it was revealed that cultural factors hindered student participation. Significantly, participation was affected by their family upbringing. Students were not allowed to speak in front of elders or teachers confidently, which progressively caused them to be passive in the classroom. Students who are from urban areas and who are active, communicative, and confident could be affected by rural area students’ participation owing to their shyness, confidence, and great educational background. Higher educational institutions in Afghanistan recommended implementing a learner-centric method when teaching the students to enhance the practices of classroom participation.

Cultural factors, classroom participation, multi-ethnicity; family background