[Siddhartha]

Are you giving them the language they need to discuss the topics you’re assigning them first?

With that age group and level especially, it’s a good idea to thoroughly prepare them before you actually have them speak freely in pairs, groups or whatever. Give them plenty of relevant lexis and example grammatical structures beforehand, so that they have a solid direction to follow.

This should reduce their anxiety and make them feel more comfortable opening up their mouths.