Predictors Of College Students’ Willingness To Communicate In English Class

It is well known that there is a close relationship between communication and language acquisition. Communication is not only a way to improve language learning, but also an essential aim of language learning (MacIntyre&Charos,1996). Therefore, willingness to communicate (WTC), as an antecedent of communication, has aroused enormous interest in the academia in recent years. Among various variables influencing WTC, self-perceived communication competence (SPCC), communication anxiety (CA), language learning motivation (LLM) and social cultural belief (SCB) are closely related to students’WTC in English class. These four variables are carefully explored through multiple regression analyses in Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom setting in the present study in order to find which set of the observed variables best predicts WTC in English class.The data were gathered in October and November2012at Southwest University in Chongqing.78first-year non-English major students participated in the research,74of whom were valid subjects. They completed questionnaires on WTC in English class, SPCC, CA, LLM, and SCB. Then the classroom behaviors of four participants randomly selected were observed for two weeks during their English classes. This was followed by one-to-one interviews in which they expressed their ideas about WTC and explained their classroom behaviors.The results showed that SPCC, CA, LLM, and SCB were all statistically significant predictors of WTC in English class. However, they differed in their predictive power. Among them, LLM had the strongest predictive power in that49.9%of the variance in WTC could be explained by it. SCB was the weakest predictor which could account for13.2%of the variance in WTC.In terms of the joint prediction of any two in the four variables, not all of the six combinations were more effective than any one of the four in predicting WTC. Among them, the joint prediction of CA and LLM was the most effective one in that66.8%of the variance in WTC could be explained. As for the joint prediction of any three in the four variables, not all of the four combinations had stronger predictive power than those of any two in the four did. Among them, the combination of SPCC, CA and LLM was the most effective one in that69.0%of the variance could be explained by it. The joint prediction of all the four factors was not the most effective one. The best model was the model containing SPCC, CA and LLM. The model was written as:WTC=72.353+6.751*LLM+(-0.544*CA)+0.297*SPCC.The observation of four participants’classroom behaviors and the interviews also justified and added evidence to findings of the questionnaire survey. The results of this study indicate that all of the four factors in question should be attached great importance to in the research field of WTC. Among them, LLM should be the most important one. The findings are supposed to benefit college English teaching, particularly in enhancing students’WTC and improving English communication competence.