An Investigation Into High School Students’ Willingness To Communicate In English

Willingness to communicate in a second language (L2WTC) has recently become an important concept across disciplines of second language acquisition (SLA) and communication. MacIntyre (1998:558) and his associates pointed out WTC in L2was regarded as the most direct factor which determined whether language learners would finally participate in L2communication. However, Chinese English learners have long been considered as good test-takers but poor speakers. Therefore, a fundamental issue of L2research in China is how to generate students’willingness to communicate in L2setting and thus further improve the effectiveness of English language teaching.This study examined WTC of language learners who were studying English as a foreign language in the high school. The study aimed to answer four research questions, i.e.,(1) the general trend of WTC in English among the high school students;(2) the differences in WTC between high proficiency students and low proficiency students;(3) the differences in WTC between male and female students;(4) the relationship between students’WTC and some related variables. The purpose of the study was to have an objective and full understanding of students’WTC and its effect on high school students’English proficiency. It is expected that the study can help EFL teachers find ways to encourage their students to participate in the classroom activities and improve their willingness to communicate in L2.The subjects involved in the present study were300high school students from Nanchang Liantang No.1Middle School. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative study, the questionnaire consists of personal information part, WTC Scale. SPSS19.0was adopted for the analysis of the data including:Descriptive Statistics, Independent Sample T-test and Pearson Correlation Analyses. In the qualitative study, ten selected subjects were invited to participate in a one-to-one semi-structured interview in order to supplement and verify the findings from the quantitative study.The study has yielded several findings:(1) The overall degree of high school students’WTC in English is low;(2) Compared with other situations, students are more willing to communicate in two context-type (Group Discussion and Meeting) and one receiver-type (Friend);(3) The students of high proficiency level tend to be willing to communicate than those of low proficiency level:(4) There is a difference in students’WTC between female and male students, with female students having a higher WTC in L2than males:(5) Integrative motivation and positive attitudes toward English learning are the strongest predictor of L2WTC. However, the motivation of Chinese students for English language learning is more instrumental.(6) Communication anxiety affects students’WTC and thus affects students’ English proficiency.On the basis of the above findings, we can draw several implications for English teaching and learning. It is recommended that teachers should take some measures to help students form strong integrative motivation. They should help students create a secure and harmonious classroom atmosphere and help them to develop a positive attitude toward the L2community. In addition, teachers should help students alleviate their English learning anxiety, try to create relaxed classroom atmosphere, build up students’self-confidence, and enhance the interaction between male and female students.