Effects of affective variables and willingness to communicate on students’ English-speaking performance in Thailand

Recently, Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has been explored and proposed to be one of the key concepts for identifying when one decides to initiate communication in the target language. The attention, nonetheless, has been concentrated on how WTC interacts with other learners’ variables. This study, on the other hand, intends to offer empirical evidence on the direct roles of affective variables (self-confidence, anxiety, motivation, and grit) and WTC variables (WTC inside the classroom, WTC outside the classroom, and WTC in a digital setting) in Thai students’ English-speaking performance. The data were obtained from 35 undergraduate students (17.1% males; 82.9% females) using a survey questionnaire. Then, a speaking test was taken from an English Communication Skills course and was analysed using correlation and hierarchical regression. The results disclosed positive correlations among self-confidence, motivation, grit, WTC in a digital setting, WTC inside the classroom, WTC outside the classroom, and speaking performance, and negative correlations among self-confidence, anxiety, and grit. However, motivation was the only significant predictor of speaking performance. The findings offer some implications for English teachers in improving students’ English-speaking performance.

Willingness to communicate in relation to language use among Pakistani undergraduates: A sociocultural perspective

This study aimed to investigate English as a second language (ESL) undergraduates’ sociocultural perspective of willingness to communicate (WTC) in English inside the classroom in relation to language use outside the classroom. The participants were 440 ESL undergraduates selected through the cluster sampling method from eight universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in Pakistan. The data were collected through questionnaires on WTC in English inside the classroom and language use outside the classroom. The findings revealed that the participants’ level of WTC in English was high for most social interactions within the classroom, such as in groups, during activities, with the same gender, and when given preparation time in groups. The findings for language use showed that a mixture of languages, such as Pashto and Urdu, was predominantly used in the family, neighbourhood and friendship, religion, education, and transaction domains. In contrast, English was primarily used in the mass media and social media domains. Moreover, the findings revealed that WTC in English inside the classroom was positively correlated with social media, mass media, transaction and education domains but negatively correlated with the family domain.

The Power of Politeness Strategies in EFL Student-Teacher Interaction: Teacher’s Gender Perspective

The nature of student-teacher interaction is often influenced by the teachers’ actions and utterances. In fact, student-teacher interaction could be felt like either threatening or enjoyable. Teachers’ politeness will result in enjoyable student-teacher interaction. Very few studies about politeness on the teachers’ gender perspectives have been conducted. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the kinds of politeness strategies used by male and female teachers in powering EFL classroom, and to elaborate how the power of politeness strategies run the EFL student-teacher interaction. The participants are several teachers and students who conduct the English Intensive Course Program in an undergraduate university. Many students-teacher interactions using English are found in those course program, since the courses require the classroom participants to communicate in English. This research followed qualitative research design and used observation to collect data. Applying Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness, the results show that politeness strategies bring a lively and friendly atmosphere during the classroom interaction. Specifically for female teachers who mostly use positive politeness strategy, they build more interaction with the student rather male teachers. Positive politeness strategy focused on the students’ positive face by expressing the number of utterances that want to be listened to by the students. It keeps students to have willingness to communicate so that the student-teacher interaction in EFL classroom can be maximized.

Sustainable Development of EFL/ESL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate: The Effects of Teachers and Teaching Styles

Willingness to communicate in a second or foreign language (L2 WTC) is an important individual difference variable that influences the target language learning process. To cultivate students’ communicative competence for sustainable development and help them become active citizens of the global world, language teachers and educators need to understand L2 WTC and find ways to promote it. The present study explores the effects of teachers and teaching styles (TTS) on L2 WTC of Chinese learners of English, through a comparison of a group of 148 students in mainland China and 73 Chinese students abroad. Respondents filled out online questionnaires concerning their attitudes and perceptions of TTS and self-reported L2 WTC inside and outside classrooms. Eight of them also participated in interviews. Results revealed significant differences in TTS between the two groups and a generally low WTC among them. TTS were linked more strongly to L2 WTC in the group in mainland China. The differences are attributed to the discrepancy in social expectations, culture of learning and the opportunity to use English outside the classroom while abroad. This study may provide insights into English language teaching pedagogy from the perspective of English as a pluricentric language.

Intercultural Sensitivity and Adult Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in English as a Foreign Language

Intercultural sensitivity as coined by Bennett (2015) is a relatively new construct which refers to how an individual construes and makes sense of cultural differences. It is believed that it is not inborn and can be developed through intercultural experiences and formal instruction. Though the concept of intercultural sensitivity has been already investigated, particularly in relation to communication effectiveness; yet it has not been examined through the lens of the learner’s willingness to communicate. Hence, the purpose of the research paper is to investigate intercultural sensitivity and its correlation with willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language. The author employed the quantitative methodology, administering the online intercultural sensitivity and willingness to communicate questionnaires to adult learners of English representing various L1 cultures. The insights from the study may equip us with new knowledge on increasing learners’ willingness to communicate and as a result their engagement in communication in a language classroom.

Fluctuations in willingness to communicate of an EFL lecturer: An observation study in Indonesia

Despite the growing number of research on Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in English students, research of teachers’ WTC in English is still scarce. At the same time, the fluctuations of WTC in English in authentic classroom interactions are still under research. This study aims to observe the fluctuations in WTC of the English lecturer in the Indonesian context. The data were collected through video recordings during an online classroom learning session where participants were teaching their students. The data were then transcribed, coded, and analyzed thematically by drawing from MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) Heuristic Model. From the results of the analysis, WTC fluctuations in English are divided into four factors: (1) modeling the use of English in the classroom, (2) the power of affirmation, (3) focusing on the message, and (4) showing language similarity. The implication of this study is also discussed. DOI: 10.26905/enjourme.v6i2.5983

Examination of communication skills of physical education and sports teacher candidate students: Example of faculty of sports sciences

This study aimed to examine the communication skills of students who are studying in the physical education teaching department of the faculties of sports sciences and physical education and sports teacher candidates participating and pedagogical formation certificate program, according to demographic variables. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 377 students, 145 women and 232 men, who continue their education in the physical education teaching, coaching education, and sports management departments of the faculties of sports sciences in the 2019-2020 academic year. Personal information form and the “Communication Skills Scale” that is developed by Korkut Owen and Bugay (2014) were used as data collection tools. Since the data did not show a normal distribution, non-parametric tests were analyzed and descriptive statistics were used. According to the findings obtained, it was observed that the communication skills of the students were high in the sub-dimensions of “communication principles basic skills”, “self-expression”, “active listening and non-verbal communication" and close to high in the “willingness to communicate” sub-dimension. It was determined that the communication skills of the students differed according to their gender and grade levels, and did not differ according to their participation in the departments and pedagogical formation certificate program. As a result, it can be stated that the communication skills of the students studying in the faculties of sports sciences and participating in the pedagogical formation certificate program are generally high, and there is no difference between the students studying in the physical education department and the students participating in the pedagogical formation certificate program. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. Özet Bu çalışma, spor bilimleri fakültelerinin beden eğitimi öğretmenliği bölümü ve pedagojik formasyon sertifika programına katılan beden eğitimi ve spor öğretmeni adayı olan öğrencilerin demografik değişkenlere göre iletişim becerilerinin incelenmesini amaçlamıştır. Çalışmanın örneklemini, 2019-2020 eğitim ve öğretim yılında spor bilimleri fakültelerinin beden eğitimi öğretmenliği, antrenörlük eğitimi ve spor yöneticiliği bölümlerinde öğrenim gören 145 kadın, 232 erkek olmak üzere toplam 377 öğrenci oluşturmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak kişisel bilgi formu ve Korkut Owen ve Bugay (2014) tarafından geliştirilen “İletişim Becerileri Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Veriler, normal dağılım göstermediğinden non-parametrik testlerle analiz edilmiştir ve tanımlayıcı istatistikler kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre; öğrencilerin iletişim becerilerinin; “iletişim ilkeleri temel beceriler”, “kendini ifade etme”, “etkin dinleme-sözel olmayan iletişim” alt boyutlarında yüksek; “iletişim kurmaya isteklilik” alt boyutunda ise yükseğe yakın oldukları görülmüştür. Öğrencilerin iletişim becerilerinin cinsiyet ve sınıf düzeylerine göre farklılaştığı; bölüm ve pedagojik formasyon sertifika programına katılma durumlarına göre farklılaşmadığı belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak; spor bilimleri fakültelerinde öğrenim gören ve pedagojik formasyon sertifika programına katılan öğrencilerin iletişim becerilerinin genel olarak yüksek, beden eğitimi bölümünde eğitim alan öğrenciler ile pedagojik formasyon sertifika programına katılan öğrenciler arasında farklılık olmadığı ifade edilebilir.