A Study On Senior High School Students’ Oral Willingness To Communicate In English In Class

Generating students’ willingness to communicate(WTC)in the classroom is a fundamental issue of L2 research in China(Wen & Clement 2003).As one of the elements of learner’s individual differences,WTC is a precursor of communication behavior.It is not only closely related to learner’s personal characteristics but also fluctuates with the change of situation.However,there are few studies emphasizing senior high school students’ oral WTC in English in class.In classroom setting,students’ interlocutor is either teacher or students.Previous studies have shown that WTC will change when facing different interlocutors.Therefore,to understand senior high school students’ oral WTC in class,this thesis investigates 368 senior high school students on the basis of two dimensions: the willingness to communicate with teacher and the willingness to communicate with students.Based on Shi’s(2008)model of Chinese English learners’ WTC inside the classroom,this study collects data through questionnaire,classroom observation and semi-structured interview to answer the following three questions:(1)What is the current situation of senior high school students’ oral WTC in English class?(2)What are the differences of senior high school students’ oral WTC in English between male and female students and between low score and high score students?(3)What are the causes that influence students’ WTC of speaking English in class?The research results indicate that:(1)The overall level of senior high school students’ oral WTC in class is not optimistic,situating between “probably not willing”and “probably willing”,and the level in two broad dimensions(communicating with teacher and communicating with student(s)is unsatisfactory.In the four subdimensions,students’ oral WTC in the case of communicating with teacher together with the whole class is optimistic,but their WTC with teacher alone,with peer and with group members need to be improved.(2)There are significant differences between students of different genders and English scores.In terms of different genders,except that there is no significant difference in the dimension of communicating with teachers alone and in group work,the oral WTC of girls is significantly higher than that of boys.In terms of high-scoring students and low-scoring students,students’ oral WTC in the high score group is significantly higher than that in the low score group in all dimensions.(3)The causes of the fluctuation of students’ oral WTC in class mainly include three categories:psychological factors(self-perceived English proficiency,self-perceived communicative competence,attitude,anxiety,self-confidence,motivation),situational factors(teachers,students and classroom atmosphere)and trait-like factors(personality and face-protection orientation).Based on the research findings,this thesis puts forward the following suggestions for teachers and students with the intention of improving oral WTC of senior high school students in English class.For students,students should build self-confidence and evaluate their English proficiency positively.Students should change their views on speaking English and make good use of the opportunities to speak English.For teachers,teachers should consider peer influence and adopt diversified grouping strategies.Teachers should change their roles and provide students with more opportunities to speak English.Teachers should make efforts to improve teacher involvement and immediacy.Teachers should give positive feedback on students’ oral performance.