An Exploration Of Chinese EFL Learners’ Willingness To Communicate Inside The Classroom

It is generally acknowledged that communication bears a close relationship withsecond language acquisition and that the primary goal of foreign language instructionshould be the cultivation of learners’ communicative competence, the premise of which,however, is the development of learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2.Therefore, researchers such as MacIntyre et al.(1998) proposed the construct of L2WTC.As a new individual difference (ID) variable, L2WTC has been extensively studied inrecent years. However, most of these studies were focused on examining L2WTC inrelation to a variety of ID factors in the Western ESL context; little effort has been devotedto investigating L2WTC in conjunction with classroom contextual variables under theEFL context. Therefore, the present study is undertaken, using Peng&Woodrow’s (2010)model as a theoretical framework, to examine the interrelationships among classroomcontextual factors, L2WTC, and individual variables among English majors under theChinese EFL context.The instruments employed in this study include questionnaire, classroom observationand semi-structured interview. Ninety nine second-year English majors at SoochowUniversity participated in this study.Major findings are summarized as follows:1. The majority of the participants were willing to communicate in the classroomsusing L2.2. Classroom environment affects learner beliefs, communication confidence,motivation and L2WTC; motivation predicts communication confidence and exertsindirect impact in L2WTC; learner beliefs directly influence communication confidenceand motivation.3. High-willing and low-willing learners differ in the respects of communicationconfidence, motivation, perceptions of classroom environment and learner beliefs.However, the differences are not clear-cut, particularly in motivation and learner beliefs. In view of the above findings, some pedagogical implications are drawn, limitationand suggestions for future research are also elaborated upon.