Insights into EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in Online English Classes during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study from Turkey

Abstract

Among all the affective variables such as anxiety, motivation, learner beliefs, and many more, willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2 has undoubtedly become a crucial factor in foreign language learning. This case study investigates the underlying factors behind Turkish EFL learners’ willingness to communicate in English, specifically in distant education during the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants consist of 12 university students who are currently enrolled in English Preparatory School at a state university in Turkey and who have just started their one-year compulsory English education through distance education. A qualitative research design was used in the study, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the thematic content analysis technique. Findings showed that there were three factors that negatively affected EFL learners’ WTC in second language (L2) in online English classes during the Covid-19 pandemic: (1) personality, (2) the nature of online education, and (3) lack of self-confidence in speaking skills.

Keywords

• Willingness to communicate;
• qualitative study
• Covid-19 pandemic

References

1. Alawamleh, M., Al-Twait, L. M., & Al-Saht, G. R. (2020). The effect of online learning on communication between instructors and students during Covid-19 pandemic. Asian Education and Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-06-2020-0131
2. Boling, E.C., Hough, M., Krinsky, H., Saleem, H. & Stevens, M. (2012), “Cutting the distance in distance education: perspectives on what promotes positive, online learning experiences”, The Internet and Higher Education, 15(2), 118-126.
3. Burgoon, J. K. (1976). The unwillingness-to-communicate scale: Development and validation. Communication Monographs, 43, 60-6.
4. Cetinkaya, Y. B. (2005). Turkish college students’ willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Ohio State University.
5. George, A. L. & Bennett, A. (2005). Case studies and theory development in the social science. Cambridge: MIT Press.
6. Lu, Y. (2007). Willingness to communicate in intercultural interactions between Chinese and Americans. Unpublished MA thesis. The University of Wyoming.
7. MacIntyre, P. D., Dörnyei, Z., Clement, R., & Noels, K.A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545-562.
8. MacIntyre, P., Baker, S. C., Clement, R., & Donovan, L. A. (2002). Sex and age effects on willingness to communicate, anxiety, perceived competence and L2 motivation among junior high school French immersion students. Language Learning, 52, 537-564.

9. Matsuoka, R. (2006). Japanese college students’ willingness to communicate in English. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Temple University.
10. McCroskey, J.C., & Baer, J.E., (1985). Willingness to communicate: the construct and its measurement. Paper Presented at the Annual Convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver,
11. McCroskey, J. C. (2001). An introduction to rhetorical communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
12. Oz, H., Demirezen, M., & Pourfeiz, J. (2015). Willingness to communicate of EFL learners in Turkish context. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 269-275.
13. Peng, J. (2007). Willingness to Communicate in an L2 and integrative motivation among college students in an intensive English language program in China. The University of Sydney. Papers in TESOL, 2, 33-59.
14. Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2002). Talking it through: Two French immersion learners’ response to reformulation. International Journal of Educational Research, 37, 285-304.