A Study On Willingness To Communicate In English Inside And Outside The Classroom Of Postgraduates Of Science And Engineering

The cultivation of students' willingness to communicate in English is important for the cultivation of students' English communicative competence.This study aims at investigating the general tendency and characteristics and influencing factors of L2 WTC inside and outside the classroom of groups of postgraduates of science and engineering in Lanzhou University of Technology.Research questions are:(1)What are the general tendency and characteristics of PSE's WTCI and WTCO in Lanzhou University of Technology? Do postgraduates' L2 WTCO and WTCI differ across their gender and English level?(2)What are the relations between five psychological factors(L2 CA,L2 SM,L2 Attitude,SPCC,and SPLP)and postgraduates' L2 WTCO and WTCI ? And what are other factors affecting postgraduates' L2 WTCO and WTCI?The study collected the data of 290 PSE's L2 WTCO and WTCI through the questionnaire and interview.After the analysis and discussion,the research findings are as follows:(1)L2 WTCO and WTCI of postgraduates of science and engineering are quite moderate(from “probably not willing” to “probably willing”,tending more to “probably willing”).Moreover,for communicative situations,participants show higher willingness in dorms,after class,in English Bubbles and when asked for help;for interlocutors,they show higher willingness to communicate with acquaintances,foreigners,and prefer to communicate with one teacher but in groups themselves;for communicative contents,they prefer to take the simple and practiced English communicative contents.(2)L2 WTCO and WTCI of postgraduates of science and engineering display no significant differences in gender but are significantly different according to the subjects' English level: the higher the English level of the subjects,the stronger the willingness to communicate in English whether in the classroom or outside the classroom.(3)Both L2 WTCO and WTCI of postgraduates of science and engineering have linear positive relationships with four psychological factors,i.e.,participants' L2 speaking motivation,attitude to speaking English,and participants' self-perceived L2 proficiency andself-perceived communicative competence.But L2 communication anxiety is negatively and significantly related with postgraduates' L2 WTCO and L2 WTCI.Meanwhile,postgraduates' L2 WTCO and WTCI are also affected by their self image and confidence,the relative familiarity of interlocutors,the partner in the group,the complexity of communicative contents,and the atmosphere of communication in English.According to these results,some suggestions for teachers and postgraduate of science and engineering are offered,and further research suggestions are also discussed.