The Relationship Between Postgraduates' Willingness To Communicate In English Outside The Classroom And Academic Motivation

An individual's willingness to communicate(WTC)with others is influenced by some factors such as human feelings,communication partners,and the interest and preferences of the speaker.Individuals have shown a regular behavioral tendency in their willingness to communicate.Over the past 30 years,some scholars have researched willingness to communicate and regard WTC as an effective basis for interpreting personal first language and second language communication.Studies have shown that a higher willingness to communicate can motivate learners to participate in various language practices and extend limited classroom instruction to unlimited extracurricular learning.At the same time,linguists and psychologists have been deeply interested in assessing motivation and its role in educational outcomes.Studies have shown that students' social willingness and motivation are positively correlated,that is,the higher the motivation of English learning,the higher the willingness to communicate.In Deci's theory of self-determination,motivation includes essential or external motivations,in which extrinsic motivation is also called academic motivation.As research develops,more motivational studies tend to discuss the role of motivation in target language communication.The purpose of this study is to discuss the current status of and relationship between extracurricular English communication willingness and academic motivation in China.A mixed research method was used in the thesis to study 137 postgraduate students coming from different disciplines such as civil engineering,art design,materials engineering,Chinese international education,and foreign language and literature at a university in Hubei.A questionnaire was designed in accordance with the authoritative MacIntyre et al.'s second language willingness to communicate scale and academic motivation scale of Dexi,and the actual situation of domestic postgraduate English learning.Through questionnaires and interviews,this thesis first discussed the current situation of the willingness to communicate in English and academic motivation of postgraduate students in China,and analysed the influence of academic motivation on the willingness of postgraduate English communication,and finally put forward relevant suggestions on this basis.The investigation suggested that willingness to communicate and academic motivation of postgraduate students are moderate,and willingness to communicate in English outside the classroom are positively correlated with academic motivation,that is,the higher the academic motivation,the higher the willingness to communicate in English outside the classroom.The average score of female students' willingness to communicate outside the classroom is higher than that of male students.And the average score of liberal arts students' willingness to communicate outside the classroom is higher than that of engineering students.“Stimulate motivation” is the most relevant motivational factor related to willingness to communicate,such as going abroad,working needs and other motivations.Communicative culture and teacher's teaching strategies are factors that influence students' willingness to communicate.Students' willingness to communicate in English can be increased through reducing the negative impact of communication and learning styles,focusing on cognitive strategies,and developing student-oriented activities outside the classroom.