Turkish EFL Learners' Willingness to Communicate in English

Abstract

Willingness to communicate in a second language has gained importance recently with the increasing popularity of communicate language teaching. However, different factors which influence learners' willingness to communicate have not been widely investigated in the Turkish classroom context. Thus, this study will investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) in Turkish EFL context and its interaction with different factors such as gender, proficiency levels. 711 preparatory school students at a state university in Turkey participated in this study. For data collection, willingness to communicate scale adapted from Peng and Woodrow (2010) was utilized investigate Turkish preparatory students' willingness to communicate in English. Firstly, descriptive analysis of the questionnaire was carried out through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Then, independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA  were conducted to investigate the effects of  gender and language proficiency variables on learners' willingness to communicate. The results of the study indicated that the students in this study were moderately willing to communicate in English. It was found that students were more willing to communicate in controlled situations compared to more meaning-focused situations. With regard to the effect of gender on Turkish EFL learners' WTC, it was found that female EFL learners are more willing to communicate in English in the classroom compared to male EFL students. Lastly, learners who have higher language proficiency levels were found to have higher WTC level compared to learners who have lower language proficiency levels.

Keywords

• Willingness to communicate,EFL learners,gender,proficiency level

References

1. Afghari, A., & Sadeghi, E. (2012).The effect of EFL learners' gender and second language proficiency on willingness to communicate. Sheikhbahaee University EFL Journal, 1(1): 49- 65.
2. Atay, D., & Kurt, G. (2009). Turkish EFL learners’ willingness to communicate in English. Paper presented at The First International Congress of Educational research: Trends and issues of educational research. Çanakkale: Educational Research Association, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Ministry of National Education.
3. Baker, S. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2000). The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language orientations. Language Learning, 50, 311-341.
4. Bektaş, Ç. Y. (2005). Turkish collage students’ willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Ohio State University, Ohio, USA.
5. Brislin, R. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In H. C. Triandis & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology, (Vol. 1, pp. 389- 444). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
6. Clément, R., Baker, S. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2003). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The effects of context, norms, and vitality. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 22(2), 190-209.
7. Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London, England: Edward Arnold.
8. Hashimoto, Y. (2002). Motivation and willingness to communicate as predictors of reported L2 use: the Japanese ESL context. Second Language Studies, 20(2), 29-70.

9. Kim, H. J. (2004). The relationship among perceived competence, actual competence and language anxiety: Biases in self-ratings of second language proficiency. Modern English Education, 5, 68-85.
10. Liu, M.,& Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners' unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 71-86
11. Maftoon, P., & Sarem, S.N. (2013). Gender and willingness to communicate. Iranian Journal of Language Issues, 1, 1. MacIntyre, P. D. (1994). Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A casual analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11, 135-142.
12. MacIntyre, P., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15, 3-26.
13. MacIntyre,P.D., Clement, R., Dörnyei, Z., and Noels, K. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: a situated model of confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-62.
14. MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S. C., Clement, R., & Donovan, L. A. (2002). Talking in order to learn: Willingness to communicate and intensive language programs. The Canadian Modern Language Review,59, 589-607.
15. Matsuoka, R., & Evans, D. (2005). Willingness to Communicate in the Second Language. J Nurs Studies, 4(1), 3-12.
16. McCroskey, J.C., & Baer, J.E. (1985). Willingness to communicate: The construct and its measurement. Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association convention, Denver, CO.
17. McCroskey, J.C., Richmond, V.P., (1991). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In M. Booth- Butterfield (ed.), Communication, cognition and anxiety (pp. 19-44). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
18. Öz, H., Demirezen, M., & Pourfeiz, J. (2015). Willingness to communicate of EFL learners in Turkish context. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 269-275. Peng, J.E., & Woodrow, L. (2010). Willingness to Communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning, 60(4), 834-876.
19. Sireci, S. G., & Berberoğlu, G. (2000). Using bilingual respondents to evaluate translated-adapted items. Applied Measurement In Education, 13(3), 229-248.
20. Sener, S. (2014). Turkish ELT students' willingness to communicate in English. ELT Research Journal, 3(2), 91-109.
21. Valadi, A., Rezaee, A., & Baharvand, P.G. (2015). The relationship between language learners’ willingness to communicate and their oral language proficiency with regard to gender differences. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 4(5), 147-153.
22. Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.
23. Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K., (2004). The influence of attitude and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54, 119–152.