A Study On Willingness To Communicate In English Of Chinese Non-English Major Undergraduates In Instructional Context

The present study investigates Chinese non-English major undergraduates’willingness to communicate in English in instructional context with a focus on thefollowing questions:(1) What are the general trend and characteristics of Chinese non-English majorundergraduates’ willingness to communicate in English?(2) To what degree are Chinese non-English major undergraduates willing tocommunicate in English generally? Are there differences among differentcommunicative activities?(3) To what extent is willingness to communicate related to such demographicvariables as gender and age of beginning English learning?(4) To what extent is willingness to communicate connected with the learners’self-perceived and real language proficiency?To answer these questions, we surveyed593non-English major undergraduatelearners through a questionnaire mainly adapted from the classical instruments used inMacIntyre et al.(2001). The study revealed the following facts:First, the subjects in this study in general have a relatively modest willingness tocommunicate in English, and there is big individual difference among the individuals.Although there are some students who are ready for English communication invarious situations, the majority of them will choose to remain silent when given theopportunity.Second, the subjects’ willingness to communicate is stronger in class than ininteractive activities outside class. They are more willing to use English in lessinteractive activities than in interactive ones. Moreover, the subjects are more likely touse English in communication with non-English speakers; in contrast, they are lesslikely to use English when they come across foreigners on campus. The number ofinterlocutors has no influence on willingness to communicate.Third, the differences in willingness to communicate between males and females are small. Although descriptively females have stronger willingness to communicatein general, and also for in-class and out-class activities, the differences are all notstatistically significant. Similarly, the learners whose English learning begins early arenot different in willingness to communicate from those whose English learning startslate. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference between learners with highlanguage proficiency and those with low language proficiency in their willingness tocommunicate.Fourth, both self-perceived communicative competence and self-reportedfrequency of speaking English are effective predicators of willingness tocommunicate, while one’s belief about the importance of speaking in English learningis independent of his or her willingness to communicate. People who believe speakingis critical for the success of English learning are not bound to have strong willingnessto communicate, by the same token, people who consider speaking to be unimportantdo not necessarily have low willingness to communicate.Based on these results, we propose that fostering an enhanced willingness tocommunicate in students should be incorporated as a crucial component in thesyllabus of College English instruction as well as an explicit criterion of curriculumevaluation. To achieve this purpose, some important aspects of teaching must beemphasized. Firstly, the teaching of English must take into consideration the needs ofstudents. The prerequisite of getting students to use English is to understand theirneeds of communication. Secondly, English teaching should shift its focus from theform of the language to content. Students are most willing to use the language whenthere are concrete issues for them to communicate. When English is instructedthrough some subjects that are of interest to them, they are more motivated to use it.Thirdly, building and maintaining a healthy teacher-student relationship is also crucialfor generating the WTC in English of the students. When students feel their teachersupportive, they will be more likely to speak the language they are learning.