Abstract
This essay presents an overview of different perspectives of the risk-taking construct in the development of speaking skills in the second language classroom. Its main purpose is to examine the role of risk taking in the acquisition of a foreign or second language and the improvement of oral proficiency. The first section introduces the concept of risk taking from markedly different perspectives of several authors. The second section focuses on the particular traits that characterize risk takers in the language learning scenario. The third section explains the distinctive variables, namely, situational, social and individual, which are responsible for differences in risk-taking levels. The last section compares and contrasts the high and low use of risk-taking behaviors which leads to a final discussion and reflection on some pedagogical issues concerning risk taking in the second language classroom.