Factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in english classroom m a thesis linguistics 60 14 01 11

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHAN THI ̣MAI HƯƠNG FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

PHAN THI ̣MAI HƯƠNG

FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH IN CLASSROOM

U TÔ ́

N SỰTỰ GIÁC GIAO TIÊ ́

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

********************

PHAN THI ̣MAI HƯƠNG

FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS

TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH IN CLASSROOM

(NGHIÊN CỨU YÊ ́

U TÔ ́

ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐÊ ́

N SỰTỰ GIÁC GIAO TIÊ ́

P CỦA SINH VIÊN BĂ ̀

NG TIÊ ́

NG ANH TRONG LỚP HỌC)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Hanoi, 2014

Phan Thi Maị Hương

I am indebted to many whose warm support, cheerful encouragement, andgenuine guidance have been deeply appreciated

First, I would like to express my immerse gratitude to Doctor Lê Văn Canh,

my supervisor, who has patiently guided me through the research process for hisinsightful comments, invaluable guidance, thoughtful suggestions and inspiration

I am profoundly grateful to all those who participated, the wonderful students

at Hai Phong Private University, who acted as subjects

I would like to make special mention to my husband, who has given me anunending supply of all sorts of help and whose support has made it possible for me

to complete this study

Thanks also go to family and friends for their encouragement

Willingness to communicate (WTC) has gained an increasing amount of attention inthe area of second language acquisition (SLA) Despite the rich findings fromprevious researches, most of the previous studies have been conducted in Westerncountries Until recently, little research related to WTC has been conducted in aforeign language learning (EFL) context where there is usually no immediatelinguistic need for learners to use English in their daily life The present study aimed

to examine the extent to which the students are willing to communicate in English

in the classroom according to their self-report, and factors that might affect thestudents‟ willingness to communicate in an English as a foreign language context

A mixed-method approach design was employed in order to explore the differentaspects of WTC construct Data was collected through a questionnaire andinterviews The participants, 120 Vietnamese tertiary students, completed the WTCquestionnaire Follow-up interview were then conducted with 12 participants Thefindings of this study shows that students‟ WTC is a complex issue because it isaffected by multiple factors related to the nature of classroom tasks, the students‟proficiency level and other learner factors A number of factors that appeared toaffect their WTC in classroom were identified as: self-confidence, language attitude,self-perceived L2 proficiency, motivation and personality The results of this studycontribute to the theoretical foundation and methodology of the WTC construct.This study also provided pedagogical implications for English language teachers.The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were alsoidentified

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research Questions 2

4 Scope of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Definition of Willingness to communicate (WTC) 4

1.2 Heuristic Model of WTC in L2 5

1.3 Factors affecting students‟ WTC 8

1.3.1 Self-confidence 9

1.3.2 Personality 10

1.3.3 Language attitude 10

1.3.4 Motivation 11

1.4 Classroom WTC in L2 12

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH MOTHODOLOGY 15

2.1 Methodological Approach 15

2.2 Participants and context 16

2.3 Data collection 16

2.3.1 Instruments 17

2.3.2 Data collection procedures 18

2.3.3 Data analysis 18

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 19

3.1 Findings 19

3.1.1 Qualitative data (WTC interview) 19

3.1.2 Qualitative data: Factors likely to influence L2 WTC 24

3.2 Summary 33

PART C: CONCLUSION 34

1 Concluding remarks 34

2 Pedagogical implications 34

3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 35

LIST OF REFERENCES 37

APPENDIX A: WTC Questionnaire (English version) I

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Among the four popular foreign languages in Vietnam: English, Chinese, Russian,and French, English has been the most popular since 1989 in political, economic,and socio-cultural aspects of Vietnam One reason for its popularity lies inVietnam‟s establishment of diplomatic relationships with 174 countries, andeconomic and trade ties with almost all countries and territories in the world.Evidently, English competence enhances the presence of Vietnamese becauseEnglish is used as a means of communication in these organizations In addition, thecurrent popularity of English in Vietnam arises from common demand becauseEnglish is the key to science, technology and commerce In terms of how thepopularity of English has influenced common Vietnamese, the processes ofmodernization, industrialization, integration, and globalization provide theVietnamese with more opportunity to improve their study, work, and livingconditions However, these processes and opportunities also force them to workharder to be better prepared for social demands In particular, Vietnamese more andmore are required to be able to communicate in English and even be fluent inEnglish for work and study in an international environment

Modern language pedagogy attaches a lot of importance to communication andtraining language learners who are able to communicate effectively in the targetlanguage In a language classroom following communicative approach, languageteachers are eager to have learners who are willing to use the language in class Thereason is that researches have shown that a lack of willingness to use the languageresults in ineffective interaction and language production So, it is true that thenotion of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) plays a key role in learning a second/foreign language MacIntyre et al (1998) conceptualized a heuristic model of WTC

in L2 in order to explain the interrelations among affective variables influencing theWTC in L2 The heuristic model is associated with the perspective that “authenticcommunication in a L2 can be seen as the result of a complex system

of interrelated variables” (MacIntyre et al., 1998) The heuristic model is alsoassociated with the perspective that the L2 student‟s intention to communicate(WTC) is significantly connected to his/her actual L2 communication.

Despite the rich findings from previous researches, most of the previous studieshave been conducted in Western countries Until recently, little research related toWTC has been conducted in a foreign language learning (EFL) context where there

is usually no immediate linguistic need for learners to use English in their daily life.Therefore, understanding the variables that might increase or decrease languagelearners‟ opportunities and readiness to speak in language classrooms seems to bepertinent in today‟s context

2 Aims and objectives of the study

This study aims at:

(1) Exploring the extent to which students are willing to communicate in Englishclasses; and

(2) Identifying factors that might affect students‟ willingness to communicate in

(1) Gaining understanding of how students participate in English speaking tasks

1 How willing are the students to communicate in English in the classroom

according to their self-reports?

2 What factors likely affects the students‟ willingness to communicate in the classroom?

4 Scope of the study

The study limits itself to the investigation into how students in one privateuniversity participate in classroom speaking tasks and the factors affecting theirparticipation Thus, the study itself is largely a survey study

A mixed-method approach was adopted in this study to achieve its aims andobjectives

For the quantitative part of the study, which could find out the general level ofthe selected participants‟ WTC, the researcher randomly selected four level 3classes (30 students each) of students to take part in the questionnaire survey

For the qualitative part of this study, which could help to find out factorsinfluencing students‟ WTC, the researcher randomly selected 16 students from the

120 students who had completed the questionnaire to take part in the individualinterviews (four from each class)

6 Design of the study

This thesis consists of three chapters

Chapter One reviews previous literature and research relevant to the research

questions addressed in this study It also introduces the fundamental theoreticalknowledge underlying WTC, and reviews some major findings from empiricalresearch studies concerning L2 WTC Previous researches are subsequently listedand as a consequence, two research questions are raised for investigation

Chapter Two describes the methodological approach employed in the current

study A mixed-method design is adopted to enrich the data from differentperspectives The major research instruments, the WTC questionnaire and semi-structured interviews are identified This chapter also describes procedures forcollecting and analyzing data

Chapter Three reports key findings from an analysis of the research data These

include results based on the use of both quantitative and qualitative researchtechniques Results from a content analysis of the interview data are alsoconsidered This chapter also summarizes the key findings of this study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Definition of Willingness to communicate (WTC)

WTC is a relatively new variable in SLA The notion of WTC was originallyintroduced with reference to first language communication, and it was considered to

be a personality-based, trait-like predisposition that remained stable across differentcommunication situations (McCroskey & Richmond, 1991) WTC - (McCroskey &Baer, 1985, McCroskey 1992) can be defined as the probability that an individualwill choose to initiate communication, more specifically talk, when free to do so

(MacIntyre &Charos, 1996) As such, WTC can be conceptualized as a goal of

second language instruction, a variable that facilitates language learning itself, and

an internal psychological event with socially meaningful consequences Initiating

communication represents the culmination of a network of processes at both thecultural and individual levels In essence, the notion entails an intention to initiate acommunicative behaviour, and this behavioural intention is often predictive ofactual behaviour (MacIntyre, 1994) WTC in L2, however, was reinterpreted as a

situational variable, open to change across situations It was defined as “a readiness

to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using

a L2” (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, & Noels, 1998, p 547) Specific to a L2

classroom, WTC was defined by Oxford (1997) as “a student’s intention to interact

with others in the target language, given the chance to do so” (p 449) WTC is also

defined as a learner‟s „„readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a

specific person or persons, using a L2” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p 547) As Dörnyei

(2003) points out, competence in the L2 may not be enough Learners need to be notonly able to communicate but also willing to communicate in the L2 Research hasshown that a learner‟s WTC influences how frequently the learner actively engages

in communicating in the L2 (Cle´ment et al., 2003; Yashima et al., 2004) ThusMacIntyre et al (1998) propose that WTC in L2 should be

conceptualized as the primary goal of language instruction and as a comprehensive

conceptual framework to describe, explain and predict L2 communication behavior.

1.2 Heuristic Model of WTC in L2

MacIntyre et al (1998) proposed a conceptual pyramid-shaped structureincorporating a range of potential linguistic and psychological variables thatappeared to influence WTC in L2 (see Figure 1) The level of conceptualisation,intergroup communication process, and the issue of time were all integrated in thispyramid model WTC was identified as a behavioural intention, the final step tousing a L2 with a specific person They made a distinction between immediatesituational factors and enduring influences that underlie WTC in the L2 Thesituational factors (for example, desire to communicate with a specific person andstate communicative confidence at a given time in a given place), which were seen

as more dependent on the specific situation at a given moment of time, were placedwithin the first three layers, from the top of the pyramid The enduring influences(for example, intergroup motivation, communicative competence, intergroupclimate, and personality), which were comparatively distal and stable factors,formed the foundation of the pyramid This model explores the interrelations amongaffective variables influencing WTC in L2 that could explain and predict secondlanguage communication The significance of this heuristic model lay in it being the

“first attempt at a comprehensive treatment of WTC in the L2” as a situation-basedvariable (MacIntyre et al 1998, p 558) In this model, L2 WTC is conceptualised atthe state level rather than at the trait level (MacIntyre, 2007) The major flaw withthis model, as (MacIntyre, 2003) acknowledged, is that the pyramid is one-dimensional like a triangle, thus it does not reflect the interrelationship between andthe weighting of the various components (Dörnyei, 2005), and that the transitionfrom distal influences to proximal effects is not a simple hierarchy, because at timesdistal influences such as social situation can bypass proximal ones

Figure 1: MacIntyre et al.’s heuristic model of WTC in L2 (1998)

A considerable number of research studies have been conducted to validate someparts of this complex pyramid model in both western and Asian contexts MacIntyreand his associates carried out several empirical studies in the Canadian immersioncontext, with a main focus on the identification of any correlation of WTC with anumber of factors from this model These studies revealed that the strongestpredictors of WTC in this model included communication anxiety and perceivedcommunicative competence (Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003) For example,Baker and MacIntyre (2000, 2003) compared an immersion (n = 71) to a non-immersion programme (n = 120) and examined the effects of the programs on somevariables in the model including perceived competence, WTC, frequency ofcommunication, communication anxiety, and motivation of students who hadEnglish as their L1 and were studying French as their L2 Based on questionnaireand interview data, it was found that anxiety and perceived competence stronglypredicted WTC and frequency of communication Similarly, MacIntyre, Baker,Clément and Donovan (2003b) conducted a study among university-level students

(n = 59) to evaluate differences between French immersion and non-immersionstudents in terms of WTC, communication anxiety, perceived competence, integrativemotivation and frequency of communicating All these variables were measured by aquestionnaire survey The results showed that WTC correlated strongly with motivation

in the immersion group but not in the non-immersion group WTC was found to bepredicted by communication anxiety but not by perceived competence in the immersiongroup The reverse was true for the non-immersion group – WTC was predicted byperceived competence but not communication anxiety These results lent support to thepyramid model; that communication anxiety, perceived competence and motivationhave a direct relationship with WTC A number of recent studies tested MacIntyre etal.‟s (1998) heuristic WTC model in the EFL contexts including Chinese, Turkish andKorean contexts (Atay & Gokce, 2007; Cetinkaya, 2005; Kim, 2005; Peng, 2007b).The studies carried out in these different EFL contexts suggested that WTC is stronglypredicted by motivation, attitudes towards international community, perceivedlinguistic self-confidence (a combination of communication anxiety and perceivedcommunicative competence), and desire to learn English Peng (2007b) partiallyreplicated MacIntyre et al.‟s (2003b) study by examining the possible relationshipbetween integrative motivation and L2 WTC among Chinese college students learningEnglish in an intensive programme (n = 174) The WTC questionnaire adapted fromMacIntyre et al (2001) was used to measure the effects of motivation and socialcontexts on L2 WTC Integrative motivation was measured by the Attitude/MotivationTest Battery used in Hashimoto‟s (2002) study Peng‟s findings showed motivation to

be the strongest predictor of L2 WTC and that integrative motivation accounted for asmall proportion of variation in L2 WTC Attitudes towards the learning situation werenot found to predict L2 WTC Therefore, Peng argued that motivation was an importantimpetus in stimulating learners to persevere in both L2 learning and possibly L2communication in an EFL context

Cetinkaya‟s (2005) study examined whether MacIntyre et al.‟s (1998) modelexplained the relations among social-psychological, linguistic and communicationvariables in the Turkish EFL context at the tertiary level (n = 356) Following ahybrid design to combine both quantitative and qualitative data collection andanalysis procedures, this study employed both questionnaires and interviews Thisstudy investigated the interrelations among students‟ WTC in L2, motivation,communication anxiety, perceived communication competence, attitude toward theinternational community, and personality Qualitative interviews were used toextend and elaborate these quantitative results.

Unlike Peng‟s (2007b) study which found no relationship between attitudes towardsthe international community and WTC, structural equation modelling revealed aconsistent relationship between the students‟ WTC in L2 and attitudes as well asperceived linguistic self-confidence Students‟ motivation to learn English anddegree of introversion/extroversion were found to be indirectly related to their WTCthrough linguistic self-confidence

In summary, the empirical studies on L2 WTC carried out in different contextsprovide some evidence for the applicability of MacIntyre et al.‟s heuristic modelacross contexts There seems to be a focus on use of quantitative methods in WTCresearch such as structural equation modelling to examine the causal relationshipbetween WTC and its antecedents The aforementioned studies pinpoint theinfluences of affective/individual variables such as motivation, perceived linguisticself-confidence, motivation and language attitude on WTC Because of limited timeand effort, the researcher only focused on these mainly affected factors affectingstudents‟ WTC in class in this study

1.3 Factors affecting students’ WTC

In order to gain insight into the relationship between WTC and its determinants, thissection presents a comprehensive review of the empirical research which hasfocused on identifying factors that may exert an influence on WTC in L2.In the pastdecade, a number of research studies into L2 WTC have been carried out in order

to explore the relationships between L2 WTC and various ID variables, such aspersonality, self-confidence, attitudes, and motivation (MacIntyre&Charos, 1996;Yashima, 2002) Among a number of individual variables, self-confidence has beenfrequently, by many researchers, found to be the most immediate antecedent of L2WTC (Yashima, 2002) A number of factors have also been identified as directly orindirectly predictive of WTC, including personality (MacIntyre&Charos, 1996), L2attitude and international posture (Yashima et al., 2004), gender and age, and socialsupport and learning contexts (Clément, Baker &MacIntyre, 2003) Some otherfactors such as security, excitement, responsibility, and classroom environment and

so on, have also been found to have an influence on WTC (Kang, 2005) In thisstudy, four most popular underlying factors that affect students‟ WTC in classaccording to previous studies will be discussed

1.3.1 Self-confidence

In regard to self-confidence, Clément (1986) claimed that it included twoconstructs: perceived competence and lack of anxiety, and these two constructsrepresent relatively enduring personal characteristics In contrast to Clément‟sconcept of trait-like self-confidence, MacIntyre et al (1998) suggested statecommunicative self-confidence as indicated in Layer III of their WTC model was amomentary feeling of confidence which might be transient within a given situation.For example, in an evaluation situation, an L2 interlocutor may experience a veryhigh state of anxiety and low perceived competence, even though the individualmay possess considerable and persistent self-confidence across other situations.According to MacIntyre et al (1998), L2 self-confidence in Layer IV of their WTCmodel is somewhat different from the state communication self-confidence in LayerIII, in that L2 self-confidence in Layer IV stands for “the overall belief in being able

to communicate in L2 in an adaptive and efficient manner” This self-confidencecan be affected by two components: “the self-evaluation of L2 skills, a judgmentmade by the speaker about the degree of mastery achieved in L2”; and languageanxiety when using an L2 Communicative competence, together with experience,

contributes to self-confidence Higher self-perceived communicative competenceleads to higher self-confidence, and perhaps a higher L2 WTC.

In some of earlier empirical research on L2 WTC (MacIntyre & Charos, 1996), confidence has been consistently found to be the most immediate antecedent of L2WTC MacIntyre and Charos (1996) postulated that the intention or willingness toengage in L2 communication was determined by “a combination of the student‟sperception of his or her second language proficiency, the opportunity to use thatlanguage, and a lack of apprehension about speaking”

self-1.3.2 Personality

Based on earlier research results that introverted people are less likely tocommunicate than are extraverts, McCroskey and Richmond (1990) have proposedthat the personality trait dichotomy of introversion/extraversion is an antecedent toWTC According to McCroskey and Richmond (1990), introverts are not required tocommunicate as often as they tend to be less socially active than extraverts;however, extraverts, on the other hand, require communication to facilitate socialinteraction and place a higher value on communication Therefore, extraverts aremore likely to be willing to communicate and have a stronger willingness tocommunicate than the introverts In MacIntyre et al.‟s (1998) model, althoughpersonality is not conceptualized as a direct influence on an individual‟s L2 WTC,

it still plays an indirect role on WTC through other affective variables such asattitudes, motivation, and confidence For example, the possession of a certainpersonality can predict how an individual will react to members of the L2community in regard to L2 communication An L2 student with an authoritarianpersonality type may avoid having communication with L2 community members.Thus, personality was found to be indirectly related to L2 WTC through linguisticself-confidence

1.3.3 Language attitude

A number of L2 researchers such as Gardner, MacIntyre, Spolsky have claimed thatlanguage attitude is one of the most important factors in predicting the level of

success in SLA In order to describe language attitudes, Gardner (1980) refers that

“the concept „attitude‟ will be used to denote the sum total of a man‟s instinctionsand feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived notions, fears, threats and convictionsabout any specified topic” In regard to the roles of attitudes in relation to thelearning situation in SLA, L2 researchers have hypothesized that positive attitudestoward the learning situation are important for the success of SLA It is likely thatL2 students with positive attitudes tend to consider L2 learning as enjoyable andbeneficial, which may motivate the L2 students to be more active in performingclassroom activities in the L2 Naiman et al (1975) found significant correlationsbetween the measure of attitudes and L2 students‟ volunteering by raising a hand inclass, and between L2 students‟ volunteering and the amount of effort they spent onL2 learning; L2 students with positive attitudes toward L2 learning would volunteermore in class, and reported studying hard to learn the L2 (cited in Gardner et al.,1978) It is probable that more active participation and effort in L2 learning canenable L2 students to achieve more significant results in L2 learning Consequently,language attitude is an important factor in predicting the level of success in SLA

1.3.4 Motivation

In agreement with many other L2 researchers, Gardner (1985, 1988) argues thatmotivation is one of the important factors in predicting the success of SLA Gardnerclaims that motivated L2students extend their active and personal involvement in L2learning, which can enable them to achieve successful L2 acquisition Because ofthe importance of motivation in SLA, L2 researchers argue that it is important forL2 educators and researchers to understand why L2 students learn their target L2

To explore factors of influencing the L2 student‟s motivation, Gardner and Lambert(1959) first made a distinction between instrumental and integrative motivation.According to Gardner and Lambert, instrumental motivation refers to the L2student‟s desire to learn his/her target L2in order to achieve his/her practicalpurposes such as acquiring good grades in school, securing a job, or obtaining apromotion On the other hand, integrative motivation is related to the L2 student‟s

willingness to identify with members of his/her target L2 community At the earlystage of conceptualizing motivation, Gardner and Lambert (1959) consideredintegrative motivation as superior to instrumental motivation in determining success

of SLA (cited in Gardner &MacIntyre, 1993) Gardner and Lambert hypothesizedthat integratively motivated L2 students might be more active in participating in theL2 classroom, and maximize the opportunities to interact with members of theirtarget L2 community out of the L2 classroom Active interactions with L2 memberscould enable L2 students to achieve L2 proficiency, especially in the oral auralfeatures of proficiency It is shown that students who enter the intensive programwith positive attitudes toward foreign language as an integrative motive appear to bemuch more successful in developing oral skills and perceive the program as morerewarding than those who are not similarly motivated

1.4 Classroom WTC in L2

Some researchers (Dornyei 2005; MacIntyre et al 1998, 2003) have argued that theultimate goal of language instruction should be the creation of WTC in the languagelearning process Given the relevance of WTC to language teaching and learning, itseems important to examine WTC as specific to the L2 classroom context, byconsidering the influence of the underlying variables of learners‟ WTC There hasbeen increasing to research on WTC as situated in L2 classrooms and this body ofresearch has investigated a number of areas in both ESL and EFL settings, includingexamination of learner perceptions of their WTC in L2 in class

Some research has focused on learner perceptions of WTC in class For example,House (2004) investigated learner perceptions of factors contributing to WTC in L2among ESL learners, and relationships existing between these factors, through theuse of diaries and interviews Six learners were asked to report their experiencesover a 5-week period, and how perceptions of these experiences influenced theirWTC inside the language classroom The results showed that WTC in L2 wasaffected by whether learners take up opportunities that they perceive as suitable foractually engaging in L2 communication He also found that factors such as

perceived politeness, the role of physical locality, the presence of the opposite sex,mood, and the topic under discussion were minor influences affecting WTC.House‟s study was the first attempt to enable learners‟ perceptions of WTC to bevoiced and heard Cao and Philp (2006) compared self-reported WTC and WTCbehaviour in class This study employed triangulation as a technique to compareESL learners‟ (n = 8) self-report of WTC to their actual WTC behaviour in threeinteractional classroom settings (whole class, small groups and dyads) and how theirWTC behaviour differed in each of these contexts The results indicate thatlearners‟ self-reports of WTC are not necessarily predictive of their actualclassroom behaviour It was also found that situational WTC could change in theclassroom across the three interactional contexts, under the influence of situationalvariables such as group size, familiarity with interlocutors, the familiarity andinterest of topic of discussion, and the confidence of the learner in relation to thetask This study supported the use of classroom observation as an appropriate way

to tap situational WTC in L2 in class Another study that employed the triangulationtechnique in investigating WTC in L2 was Liu‟s (2005) study This study examinedChinese tertiary students‟ reticence in oral English language classroom byemploying questionnaires, classroom observations and reflective journals (n = 27).The study found that the factors that prohibited students‟ WTC in class were lack ofpractice, low English proficiency, lack of self-confidence, anxiety, cultural beliefs,personality, and fear of losing face This study highlighted the importance ofsearching for reticence-coping strategies to promote learners‟ WTC in class

Weaver‟s (2004) studies examined situational variables underlying WTC in L2classrooms in relation to task types His study (2004) investigated Japanese learners‟WTC (n = 1104) within an L2 classroom at tertiary level Unlike previous studies thatexclusively adopted the WTC scale developed by McCroskey and Richmond (1990) intheir questionnaire surveys, this study used a questionnaire developed by the researcherhimself to investigate whether or not learner‟s L2 WTC

would vary across 17 speaking situations and tasks potentially arising in this socialcontext of a L2 classroom The findings revealed that students‟ WTC variedsignificantly across different speaking situations and tasks and suggest that task is avariable likely to contribute to changes in WTC in L2 classrooms From the review

in the preceding sections of recent WTC studies carried out in different contexts, itcan be seen that the WTC research still bears a very close relation to the mostcomprehensive theory of the WTC in L2 construct proposed by MacIntyre andassociates (1998) It is noteworthy that the research is limited to employing aquantitative approach with data collected mainly from self-report questionnaires andwith data then being subjected to statistical analysis to identify causal orcorrelational relationships between WTC and its predictors

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH MOTHODOLOGY 2.1 Methodological Approach

The key issue associated with designing a mixed-method research design is how tocombine quantitative and qualitative research effectively A quantitative researchapproach focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups ofpeople In contrast, a qualitative approach is based on descriptive data that does notmake use of statistical procedures Quantitative and qualitative approaches havetheir own separate strengths and weaknesses Quantitative research can producereliable and replicable data that is generalizable to other contexts, but is generallynot very sensitive in uncovering the reasons for particular observations or thedynamics underlying the examined situation or phenomenon That is, the generalexploratory capacity of quantitative research is rather limited (Dörnyei, 2007).Qualitative research, on the other hand, has traditionally been seen as an effectiveway of exploring new, uncharted areas (Dörnyei, 2007), and describing secondlanguage acquisition in its natural context However, Duff (2006) has warned thatalthough qualitative research may be helpful in providing insights into aphenomenon, the specific conditions or insights may not apply broadly to others(Dörnyei, 2007) Therefore, mixed -method research which is a combination ofquantitative and qualitative methods within a single research project has becomecommon in recent years In this way , we can gain a better understanding of acomplex phenomenon by converging numeric trends from quantitative data andspecific details from qualitative data (Dörnyei, 2007), and therefore arrive at a moremultidimensional and accurate view of the process of second language acquisition

As a result, combining a qualitative approach with a quantitative approach in thecurrent study should provide fuller, deeper, more meaningful answers to a singleresearch question (Johnson & Christensen, 2008), and enrich the ability of theresearcher to draw conclusions about the problem under study (Dörnyei, 2007) Theresearch design for this study was adapted from the design by Cao (2009) whostudied the dynamics of WTC of the students studying English in New Zealand

2.2 Participants and context

120 non-major students from 4 different classes studying English at Level 3 atHaiphong Private University were chosen as participants in this research Theresearcher randomly selected four level 3 classes (n=120) of students to take part inthe questionnaire survey The participating students, aged from 19-22, had studiedEnglish as a school subject for 3 years at junior high school and were in the first orsecond year of their university It is expected that students at this level havedeveloped basic speaking skills after at least three or four years of study According

to the researcher‟s previous experience teaching in this school, the students havefew opportunities to speak English outside classrooms as there is almost no chance

to contact with foreigners However, guided by the national curriculum, one presentgoal of Vietnamese Ministry of Education is to develop an all-round ability to useEnglish, that is, to develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.Just as MacIntyre et al (1998) indicate, the aim of language teaching shouldultimately be to foster learners‟ willingness to engage in communication and theirwillingness to talk in order to learn Therefore, communicative interaction isincreasingly justifying its place in the Vietnamese classroom Classroommanagement takes on more communicative characteristics with various types ofgroup work and pair work Teachers are encouraged to cultivate students‟communicative competence The target population in this school, therefore, is anappropriate one for the goal of this study

“an equal and independent chance of being selected” (Fraenkel&Wallen, 2000)

The interview participants were randomly selected by the researcher It was hopedthat the researcher would be able to interview both willing and less willing -to-communicate students The oral English class was offered once per week in a forty-five-minute session taught by native Vietnamese English teachers, who are allprofessionally qualified, at least with Master Degree on Pedagogical TeachingMethodology Interview data were collected on an MP3 recorder.

2.3.1 Instruments

2.3.1.1 Questionnaires

A questionnaire is one of the most common methods used to collect data onattitudes and opinions from a large group of participants, and has been used toinvestigate a wide variety of questions in SLA The advantages of collecting datathrough the use of a questionnaire include the provision of answers to questions in asystematic and disciplined way, relative ease of construction, extreme versatility,and the ability to gather a large amount of information in a comparatively shortamount of time and a readily usable form (Dörnyei, 2007) Moreover, the aim ofusing questionnaire in research fits the purpose of the study

In this study, Cao‟s (2009) questionnaire was adopted The questionnaire consisted

of 15 items related to students‟ willingness to engage in communication tasksduring class time It covered situations or tasks that students were familiar with orfound easy to imagine, and with differing amounts of cognitive demand The 15-item WTC scale was administered with instructions which asked students to indicatehow willing they would be to initiate communication on a percentage scale (0-100%) in each of the 15 situations The questionnaire was translated intoVietnamese so it was much easier for students to understand and complete it

2.3.1.2 Interviews

In order to understand deeply about Vietnamese students‟ willingness tocommunicate in English and the factors affecting this willingness, results of thequestionnaire were extended and elaborated by the use of qualitative interviews withparticipants

In order to examine the selected students‟ attitudes towards the English speakinginternational community, the researcher interviewed 16 randomly chosen studentsfrom 120 participants in a quiet room (the teachers‟ lounge) and the fifteenquestions in WTC Interview Questions (see Appendix) are asked.

In case the interviewees might have difficulty understanding the questions inEnglish or do not like speaking English, and in order to increase the validity of theinterviews, all the interviews were carried out by the researcher in Vietnamese

2.3.2 Data collection procedures

Firstly, the researcher focused on the completion and collection of the WTCquestionnaires The participants were informed that their participation was entirelyvoluntary and that their participation in this study would not affect theirachievement as well as their grades The participants were also informed that thedata would be collected anonymously and kept confidential by the researcher Thequestionnaires took about seven minutes of class time to complete

The next step of data collection involved face-to-face interviews with the 16randomly-chosen participants from these four classes The participants received theinterview questions one day before the interview so they could have enough time toprepare their answers The interviewees were informed of the purpose of the studyand assured that their responses would be confidential Interviews were conducted

by the researcher in a quiet lounge Each interview took between ten to fifteenminutes and was recorded in an MP3 player

2.3.3 Data analysis

The questionnaire data were used to identify the general level of the selectedparticipants‟ WTC Quantitative data from questionnaires were also factor analyzed.These factors then become themes that were compared with themes analyzed fromthe qualitative interview data Interview data were analyzed qualitatively in order toreveal factors that seem to contribute to the selected participants‟ willingness tocommunicate in English in classroom Then the research‟s result will be compared

to previous studies on this field