The Influence Of Emotional Intelligence And Foreign Language Anxiety Of High School Students On Their Willingness To Communicate In English Classroom

To truly master a foreign language,L2 learners should not only have communicative competence,but also be willing to communicate in spoken or written language.Therefore,to really improve learners’ English communicative competence,one must first cultivate their desire to communicate in English.Willingness to communicate is regarded as an individual difference variable that affects second language acquisition and the ultimate goal of second language teaching.Driven by the willingness to communicate,L2 learners will actively participate in language communication activities,thus making language learning a highly automated process.There are many factors that affect high school students’ English learning,and most variables may have complex interactions.Emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety,which are most likely to interfere with students’ foreign language learning,may be closely related to communicative willingness.Therefore,this study attempts to explore the correlation between high school students’ foreign language anxiety,emotional intelligence and their willingness to communicate in English class,so as to provide useful teaching suggestions for front-line teachers.Guided by the Theory of Affective Filter Hypothesis,Happiness Theory and Control-Value Theory,and adopting the research methods of questionnaire survey and interview,this study investigates 300 senior one students in one high school in Zhangzhou City,Fujian Province,aiming at answering the following questions:(1)What is the overall situation of high school students’ emotional intelligence,foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate in English class?(2)What is the correlation among their emotional intelligence,foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate in English class?(3)Does their foreign language anxiety play an intermediary role between their emotional intelligence and willingness to communicate in English class?The findings are as follows:(1)High school students’ emotional intelligence level is high,and their foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate in English class are at a medium level.(2)Their emotional intelligence is negatively correlated with their foreign language anxiety,but positively correlated with their willingness to communicate in English class.There is a negative correlation between their foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate in English class.(3)Their foreign language anxiety partially mediates their emotional intelligence and willingness to communicate in English class.Based on the above research results,this study attempts to put forward some practical suggestions for teachers from three aspects,like attaching importance to cultivating and improving students’ emotional intelligence,guiding students to participate in classroom communication,and helping students overcome shyness in communication as well,expecting to arouse English teachers’ attention to students’ willingness to communicate in English class and realize the sociality and communication of L2 instruction.