Factors influencing 10th grade students willingness to communicate in english classroom at a high school in bac ninh province

Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN LINH CHI FACTORS INFLUENCING 10th GRADE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH CLASSROOM AT A HIG

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYEN LINH CHI

TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH CLASSROOM

AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN BAC NINH PROVINCE

MASTER THESIS

THAI NGUYEN, SEPTEMBER 2023

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM

––––––––––––––––

NGUYỄN LINH CHI

NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ TỰ GIÁC GIAO TIẾP BẰNG TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở BẮC NINH

Ngành: LL & PP dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

Mã số: 8140111

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Cán bộ hướng dẫn: TS Nguyễn Quỳnh Trang

THÁI NGUYÊN - 2023

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In completion of my thesis, I have received generous advice and a great deal of support from several people First of all, I would like to express my appreciation and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Quynh Trang who provided me with valuable advice from my first few days in the course and through the duration of my thesis to completion

I also wish to thank all my teachers at the Thai Nguyen University for supporting

me with a lot of knowledge and giving me the best environment to fulfill my thesis

I really wish to express my thanks to teachers and students from Yen Phong 2 High school for their kind cooperation, their participation in giving valuable information, which considerably contributed to the completion of my work

Finally, I owe my deep thanks to my dear family for their endless love, material and spiritual support throughout this research who always stand for me with their consideration and encouragement

ABSTRACT

The study intended to analyze the degree of influence of the elements on students' willingness to speak in English classroom and recommended some practical application to improve learners' communication abilities

To meet the purpose, the study adopted Quantitative research and Qualitative research and research design with the participants of 150 students from three classes 10A3, 10A4 and 10A13 at Bac Ninh High School A questionnaire and interviews were the two main sources to collect data for the analysis The research revealed:

1 Willingness to communicate (WTC) of students was impacted by Subjective elements such as: Personality, Motivation, Confidence, Anxiety, Prepation, Mood; and Objective factors such as: Activity, Relationship with communicators, Classroom atmosphere, Topic

2 The most affects on students' WTC, which were Confidence, Personality, Relationships with communicators, and Classroom atmosphere The least influential factors included Topic and Mood

The results also enabled the educational administration to grasp and understand the current condition and the key elements affecting students' voluntary communication

in class, from which they came up with matching remedies to improve their efficacy in teaching and learning outcomes Furthermore, these research outcomes were imparted for other investigations as helpful reference to incorporated in their own articles

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

ABBREVIATIONS v

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 3

1.2.1 Aims 3

1.2.2 Objectives 3

1.3 Research questions 4

1.4 The scope of the study 4

1.5 The significance of the study 4

1.6 Research methods 5

1.7 Structure of this study 5

1.8 Summary 6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Willingness to communicate 7

2.2 Factors affecting willingness to communicate (WTC) 9

2.2.1 Personality 13

2.2.2 Motivation 14

2.2.3 Anxiety 14

2.2.4 Confidence 15

2.2.5 Classroom atmosphere 15

2.2.6 Communication activities 15

2.3 The current state in vietnam research 16

2.4 Ways of teaching and learning WTC 17

2.5 Identification and gaps 19

2.6 Summary 21

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research design 22

3.2 Locale of the study 22

3.3 Research question restage 23

3.4 Respondents and sampling procedure 23

3.5 Research instruments 23

3.5.1 Questionnaires 24

3.5.2 Interview 27

3.6 Data collecting procedure 27

3.7 Data analysis 28

3.8 Summary 31

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 32

4.1 Realities of WTC among 10th grade students 32

4.2 Factors affecting the WTC of 10th grade students 34

4.2.1 Subjective Factors 35

4.2.1.1 Personality 35

4.2.1.2 Motivation 36

4.2.1.3 Confidence 39

4.2.1.4 Preparation 41

4.2.1.5 Anxiety 42

4.2.2 Objective Factors 45

4.2.2.1 Relationship with the object of communication 45

4.2.2.2 Communication Activities 46

4.2.2.3 Classroom atmosphere 48

4.3 Answering research questions 50

4.3.1 First research question 50

4.3.2 Second research question 57

4.4 Summary 58

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 59

5.1 Conclusions 59 5.2 Some suggested solutions 61 5.2.1 Encourage active engagement from students in classcommunication and help them develop their self-confidence 61 5.2.2 Building a cordial and secure communication environment, minimizing students' apprehension when participating 62 5.3 Summary 66

REFERENCES 67 APPENDIX

ABBREVIATIONS

ANX Anxiety

AT Attitude

CA Class atmosphere

CAG Correction and grading

EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ELLE English Language Learning Experience

ELT English Language Teaching

EM Embarrassment

HOT higher-order thinking

IRF “I” stands for a start move, “R” response from

the students, “F” feedback from the teacher KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure

PSS Perceived speaking skills

QR code Quick response code

RWI Relationship with the interlocutor

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Participation rate in surveys 28

Table 3.2: The Cronbach Alpha index 29

Table 3.3: KMO and Bartlett's Test 29

Table 3.4: Total Variance Explained 30

Table 3.5: Code table of factors affecting students' WTC 31

Table 4.1: WTC Descriptive Statistics 32

Table 4.2: PE 35

Table 4.3: CAG1 39

Table 4.4: SC Descriptive Statistics 40

Table 4.5: PSS Descriptive Statistics 40

Table 4.6: PR Descriptive Statistics 41

Table 4.7: PR 41

Table 4.8: EM Descriptive Statistics 43

Table 4.9: EM 44

Table 4.10: RWI Descriptive Statistics 45

Table 4.11: TT Descriptive Statistics 46

Table 4.12: CA Descriptive Statistics 48

Table 4.13: CA2 49

Table 4.14: WTC and RWI Correlations 51

Table 4.15: WTC and RWI ANOVAa 51

Table 4.16: WTC and CA Correlations 52

Table 4.17: WTC and CA ANOVAa 52

Table 4.18: WTC, TT Correlations and ANOVAa 52

Table 4.19: WTC and TT ANOVAa 53

Table 4.20: WTC and PSS, PR Correlations 53

Table 4.21: WTC and SC, PE, EM Correlations 54

Table 4.22: WTC and PSS, PE, SC, PR, EM ANOVAa 54

Table 4.23: WTC and CAG Correlations 54

Table 4.24: WTC and CAG ANOVAa 55

Table 4.25: WTC and T, M Correlations 55

Table 4.26: WTC and T, M ANOVAa 56

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: MacIntyre’s model of WTC (1994) 8

Figure 2.2: MacIntyre and Charos’s model of L2 WTC (1994) 8

Figure 2.3: MacIntyre et al.’s model of WTC (1998) 9

Figure 2.4: MacIntyre et al.’s model of WTC (2001) 10

Figure 2.5: Zawar’s model of WTC (2016) 11

Figure 2.6: Ahmad et al.’s model of WTC (2020) 12

Figure 2.7: Alimorad and Farahmand ’s model of WTC (2021) 13

Figure 4.1: Factors influencing WTC model 1.0 56

Figure 4.2: Factors influencing WTC model 2.0 57

Figure 4 3: Results of voting for the most influential factor 58

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

The aim of this chapter is to explain the necessities of the matter concerned, which is constructed to provide the context of the research by giving rationale, aims, research questions, the significance of the study, scope of the study, and the organization of the study

1.1 Background of the study

Learning any language needs mastery of two aspects The first is linguistic knowledge, such as phonetics, grammar, and syntax and the second one is communication skills, which are the ability to use foreign languages to interact with others smoothly

McCroskey and Baer in 1985 described “willingness to communicate (WTC)” as

"the inclination to actively interact with people under particular situations" (as cited in MacIntyre & Charos, 1996, p.7) MacIntyre et al (1998) converted “willingness to communicate (WTC)” into the second language Then, Willingness to communicate (WTC) is defined as “a learner’s readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons using a second language (L2)” (p.547) In recent years, teachers have been paying increasingly greater attention to the "student-centered" tendency in the period of innovative thinking and instructional techniques Promoting students' willingness to communicate is crucial for improving their English communication abilities Students' communication expression and communication process are directly affected by their willingness to communicate

English continues to be the language of preference in Vietnam, despite a number

of foreign languages starting to become increasingly popular recently English is a subject that lasts from elementary to high school Even in undergraduate degrees, it is often a mandatory foreign language or a second language for most subjects (Doan et al., 2018) Particularly, according to the orientation of the Ministry of Education in the project "Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system in the period of 2017–2025", the main goal is to "improve the ability to use foreign languages to meet the needs of demand for study and work" (Decision No 2658/QĐ-

BGDĐT, p.1) This demonstrates that the matter of enhancing students' English communication abilities is the one that has been considered so far

As mentioned, the ultimate and most crucial aim of learning English is communication Fostering and enhancing students' English communication capacity is

an essential responsibility of the English subject in particular and the foreign language education program at all levels in general In which, the main objective is to provide students additional chances to speak in English But in the course of training, the researcher discovered that most students' capacity to speak in English is still inadequate Students pay little attention to spoken language because of the long-standing effect of the structure and format of the written test The majority of students are still highly apathetic and too lazy to engage in communication activities in class The researcher said: "Why do students have such limited self-communication?" What things impact it, and how? These are serious concerns that need to be explored and explained Therefore, via this research, the researcher wishes to explore and explain what elements impact students' initiative to communicate in English In order to assist students to develop their communication initiative, there is a need to enhance their English communication competence as well

Bac Ninh is a province with the smallest area in Vietnam, near the Red River Delta As a land with a rich cultural tradition, it is also notable for the tradition of the land of cultural science During recent years, Yen Phong district, along with the growth

of industrial zones, has progressively grown from a purely rural countryside to a diverse area of industry Accompanying economic development, spiritual-educational values have always been a strong point of Bac Ninh According to statistics, in the National Graduation exam in 2022, Bac Ninh province has 6 courses with average scores in the top 10 highest provinces nationwide, among which English has an average score of 5.43, ranking 10th (Government) July 20, 2022)

Regarding the high school level, Yen Phong district has two high schools; one private high school and a continuing education center The district educates and supports around 6,000 pupils annually, significantly advancing the nation's talent development

According to my personal experience as a researcher who was born and raised in Yen Phong, had a local education, and is also an English teacher at a local high school,

a large number of students are difficult to describe their daily activities in English fluently, and based on what students have demonstrated in their oral performance classes and their results in their speaking tests Their abilities of mastering communication skills are normally highly complained by the teachers not just about pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar accuracy but their willingness to communicative as well

To deal with this challenge, language teachers need to find out factors that affecting students’ willingness to communicate in English then find out the suitable approaches to encourage them to speak in English classroom with an highly emphasis

on communicative purposes in real world settings, rather than completely focus on grammatical accuracy as in traditional teaching

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The current study contributes an extensive view to the growing concern about which factors influence students’ communication willingness in English Specifically, the purpose of the study was to examine the degree of influence of those factors on students’ willingness to communicate in English classroom and propose some practical implementation to improve learners’ communication skills The two major purposes of this study are stated as follows:

1.2.1 Aims

This study aims

- To find out the factors that affecting students’ communication willingness

in English

- To improve 10th grade students' communication willingness in English classroom

1.2.2 Objectives

To achieve the above aims, the following objectives were set

- To find out the main factors that affecting 10th grade students’ willingness

to communicate in English

- To examine the degree of influence of those factors on students’ willingness

From the findings of the research, the researcher would like to provide some recommendations and solutions to boost 10th grade students' willingness to communicate as well as improve teachers’ teaching quality

1.3 Research questions

Generally, this study was undertaken to examine the main factors that affecting 10th grade students’ willingness to communicate in English and address the degree of influence of those factors on students Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions

1 What factors affect 10th grade students' willingness to communicate in English?

2 Which factors have the most influence on students' willingness to communicate? Which factors have the least influence?

1.4 The scope of the study

In fact, there are many aspects of foreign language teaching and learning, particularly English The study was, however, confined to concentrate on discovering the viewpoints of teachers and grade 10 students on factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in English and address the degree of influence of those factors on high school students as well The participants include 150 grade 10 students who were from class 10A3,10A4 and 10A13, aged 15 and 16 at a high school in Yen Phong, Bac Ninh 150 grade 10 students were expected to have basic knowledge of English about grammar, acceptable ranges of vocabulary, or limited but rather effective command of the language in familiar situations such as family topics or lifestyle expressions Besides, students may have studied English through years of secondary, but not have had many chances to practice speaking English They were selected to take part in this investigation to find out the current situation of their communication willingness and the factors that affect it

1.5 The significance of the study

The English training environment of high school does not provide students with many opportunities to speak English, similar to other regular high schools in the northern region of our country English generally works as a required subject for the examination Students are still mostly passive in class participation, as a result, English

communication abilities have various limitations Despite having fairly excellent test results, many students struggle to communicate effectively in and outside classroom Exploring the aspects of students' willingness to speak in order to better appreciate the students' emotional feelings in the learning process and, at the same time, identify the causes that lead to such characteristics, is necessary Based on the findings, the researcher altered and developed instructional ways to boost students' self-directed communication because giving students different opportunities to speak in English has since helped to increase learners' communication abilities

1.6 Research methods

The study was primarily designed to find out from both quantitative and qualitative research methods of grade 10 students at a high school in Bac Ninh, the perceived attitudes towards the main factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in English to improve their communication skills The study employed a descriptive quantitative approach to exploit the data via a questionnaire, together with

a survey to get overall liability of the findings Basing on the results, the researcher would propose some implications for how to improve learners' communication skills efficiently and effectively

1.7 Structure of this study

The research was organized in five chapters and appendices

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

“Introduction”, deals with the background, aims, scope, significance of the study, and the organization of the thesis

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

“Literature Review”, provides the different views on nature of WTC and factors affecting their communication skills basing on previous studies and theoretical approaches More importantly, it presents the current stage of teaching and learning WTC in Viet Nam

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

“Methodology”, presents the methodology and procedure for the implementation

of the research

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

“Findings and discussion”, exposes the results through data analysis The results of

the data analysis are, then, discussed and compared with those obtained in previous studies

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

“Conclusions”, provides the implications, limitations, and recommendations for further research Besides, the most important section of this chapter is the conclusion

to the whole study

1.8 Summary

In this chapter, the study has revealed the true background of the relevance of the

issue's investigation It is mentioned that, given the situation in which the government

and the ministry of education are especially concerned about English communication

abilities, students' proactive communication plays a crucial role in improving English

communication skills The paper also offers goals and two research questions with the

purpose of investigating and adding practical evidence to the prior theoretical basis,

consequently offering suggestions to increase teaching effectiveness and build

communication skills in students

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides different views on the nature of WTC as well as factors affecting students’ WTC based on previous studies and theoretical approaches It also covers the definition of WTC and its applications At the same time, some teaching and learning methods were also mentioned to stimulate and promote the WTC behavior of students More importantly, it presents the current stage of teaching and learning WTC

in Viet Nam

2.1 Willingness to communicate

At the end of the 20th century, the concept that "the ultimate purpose of language acquisition is communication" started to attract attention The shift in teaching techniques also tends to emphasize interactive forms to increase language communication abilities Whether students actively speak out or not has an essential function in impacting the efficacy of the language instruction process This initiative is named WTC Burgoon (1976, p.60) is regarded as the pioneer of study on WTC and points out five subjective characteristics (anxiety, introversion, self-esteem, social isolation, and isolation) that impact propensity to bias Currently, WTC is referred to

as a "unwillingness to communicate" and is characterized as a tendency to avoid conversation Mortensen, Arntson, and Lustig emphasized that fear of communication has a direct impact on "predisposition towards linguistic behavior" in 1977 when discussing the inclination to "unwillingness to communicate" When studying this

"unwillingness to communicate" tendency in 1982, McCroskey and Richmond also placed a strong emphasis on the adjective "shyness"

McCroskey and Baer in 1985 adapted this to the native language L1 and described WTC as "the inclination to actively interact with people under particular situations" (as cited in MacIntyre & Charos, 1996, p 7) McCroskey and Baer's research also indicated that the variables impacting WTC are tedium and self-efficacy In addition, MacIntyre (1994), when applying the WTC concept to L1, showed that the fear of communication and the sense of communication capacity has a substantial connection with the speaker's willingness to actively communicate, as illustrated in Figure 2.1:

Figure 2.1: MacIntyre’s model of WTC (1994)

After that, there are steadily more research to apply WTC in a second language (L2) (L2) MacIntyre and Charos (1994), when comparing WTC in L1 and L2, showed that the correlation between WTC influencing factors in L2 has the opposite direction compared to WTC in L1, due to "the inherent uncertainty in L2 use that interacts in a more complex manner with those variables that influence L1 WTC" (as cited in MacIntyre et al., 1998, p 546) Additionally to give the model the influence of components with WTC in L2, as seen in Figure 2.2 As illustrated in the model, WTC

in L2 is directly driven by two factors: L2 anxiety and perceived competence

Figure 2.2: MacIntyre and Charos’s model of L2 WTC (1994)

MacIntyre et al (1998, p.547) converted WTC into the second language L2, and generated a table of structures that activated the WTC, suggesting that students' self-communication in various settings would be different This study also proposed an innovative model of factors affecting WTC, as depicted in Figure 2.3 As illustrated, the 12 factors are separated into levels proportional to the quantity of influence and the influencing situation The element above is direct and situational, whereas the element below is stable and long-lasting

Figure 2.3: MacIntyre et al.’s model of WTC (1998)

Additionally, Kang (2005) defined WTC as "an individual's volitional inclination towards actively engaging in the act of communication in a specific situation" (p.291) and employs qualitative methodologies to observe the WTC of target groups' differences Kang observed that emotions of security, responsibility, and enthusiasm all influenced students' proactive communication

2.2 Factors affecting willingness to communicate (WTC)

More and more academics are concentrating on the variables that influence students' willingness to communicate, and there have also been notable successes In most situations, MacIntyre et al (2001), using a survey questionnaire with 79 Canadian high school students, established a substantial association between WTC and qualities such as friendship, knowledge, and attitude toward academic accomplishment In particular, the friendship component has a good influence on students' active communication in English Specifically, MacIntyre et al have modeled the factors that affect WTC as shown in Figure 2.4 below:

Figure 2.4: MacIntyre et al.’s model of WTC (2001)

Yashima's (2002, 2004) experimental work demonstrated that the frequency of communication is highly associated with social relationship satisfaction This once again validates the argument made by MacIntyre and Kang in previous research on the association between communication conditions and WTC Clement et al (2003) through their quantitative research proved that WTC is strongly influenced by confidence According to empirical findings presented by Matsuoka and Evans (2005), students' perceptions of their own competence and communication reluctance are inversely associated with their own self-directed communication

Using a mixed study methodology, Cao and Philp (2006) discovered that students

in a small group setting with familiar ties with interlocutors would have a greater WTC

in addition to self-confidence and while conversing on familiar issues with familiar cultural backgrounds, students' WTC will also be greater at the same time Peng (2007), via a study with 174 Chinese students, revealed that learning motivation has a large effect on students' WTC MacIntyre and Doucette (2010) examined 238 high school students and revealed two new elements impacting students' WTC, namely anxiety and self-perception Peng and Woodrow (2010), using a quantitative manner, proved that classroom atmosphere and learning motivation had a tight link with WTC

Researchers Zarrinabadi and Abdi (2011) showed that WTC is more impacted by students' learning tendencies and motivation, particularly students with great willingness to communicate, than when dealing with the external environment Li (2012) pointed out that the WTC of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students are mainly related to aspects such as objects, tasks, and communication styles and are also impacted by characteristics like motivation, personality, and personal tastes Through

a study of 170 Pakistani university students, Bukhari et al (2015) discovered that Pakistani students actively communicate with acquaintances such as friends Additionally, there is a propensity for private communication as opposed to public or group interactions Zawar (2016) established via his research that motivation has a substantial influence on students' active communication; in addition, his research has also found that experience is not a direct element that affects the WTC, as displayed in Figure 2.5 Zawar pointed out that the factors affecting WTCE (Willingness to Communicate in English) include ANX (Anxiety), LSC (Linguistic Self-Confidence), (MOTV) Motivation and ELLE (English Language Learning Experience)

Figure 2.5: Zawar’s model of WTC (2016)

In the last few years, there has been more research to support the ideas concerning the WTC and the elements that impact it Chang (2018) identified that instructors play

a crucial role in the process of increasing students' WTC, including knowing and recognizing students' challenges while engaging in learning or teachers need to lead students to engage in the learning process, etc Ma et al (2019) established a close association between academic motivation and the WTC of university students and indicated that college students had a lot more initiative in talking with friends than with professors Khudobina et al (2019) revealed that students were eager to speak English (speak English freely) for their personal benefit, particularly to develop their speaking

abilities and enhance their competence specialization At the same time, it also pointed out that variables impacting self-communication generally include causes such as inner personality and lack of confidence in English competence Subekti (2019) also largely mentioned that WTC is impacted by variables such as students' opinion of communication ability, students when prepared in advance, or students in group discussions on a smaller scale, had a greater degree of self-communication If the learning atmosphere is pleasant and there is not much pressure, students will also have

a greater degree of initiative in communicating

Ahmad, S M Y et al (2020), after conducting a survey with 107 students in Perhentian Island, found that the readiness of students to communicate in class was strongly motivated by students' cognitive attitudes, as shown in Figure 2.6, where the variables at1,at2, at3 are question variables related to at (attitude); w102, w103, w104, w105 are WTC related question variables; ss2, ss3, ss4, ss5, ss6 are questions related

to social influence

Figure 2.6: Ahmad et al.’s model of WTC (2020)

Sylviaa et al (2020) revealed that students' WTC was impacted by confidence and the teaching atmosphere Fernández-Barrionuevo et al (2020) demonstrated that female students had stronger self-control in communication than male students, and at the same time, older students also had higher WTC levels, which result also had a very high reference value Alimorad and Farahmand (2021) indicated that WTC is associated with things like individual factors, contextual factors and linguistic factors, etc At the same time, it also demonstrates that students have stronger self-communication while participating in group activities and discussion activities This is also a very high reference value when instructors aim to enhance students' willingness

to communicate in their communication, as shown in Figure 2.7

Figure 2.7: Alimorad and Farahmand ’s model of WTC (2021)

Rihardini et al (2021) also showed that the challenge that instructors experience

in the teaching process is that the students in the class do not have strong communicative initiative Through the study, the previous authors illustrated that students themselves are aware of the value of learning English and conversing in it However, they also demonstrated that their initiative to do so is rather low, and is mostly influenced by characteristics like foreign language proficiency, motivation, anxiety, etc In addition, linguistic variables like vocabulary and grammar have a huge impact on the WTC

It can be seen that the research of WTC has always been focused on by scientists, especially in the setting of communication talents becoming more respected Through study, the WTC's theoretical framework is growing more and more complete, and the elements effecting the WTC also have more real proof In this study, certain basic characteristics typically cited in previous studies discussed below to build a theoretical basis to support future research outcomes

2.2.1 Personality

Personality is defined as “an individual’s characteristic pattern of thought, emotion and behaviour, together with the psychological mechanisms, hidden or not, behind those patterns” (Funder, 1997, p 450) Personality is one of the factors that determine the way an individual communicates with others Personality traits are rooted within and exist in habits, attitudes, beliefs, and other characteristics People believe that personality traits are related to culture in shaping human life (McCrae,

2001) Clement et al (2003, p.4) mention MacIntyre & Charos’ (1996) examples of personality traits which are “extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience, influence second language learning and the willingness to communicate in that second language”

Although there is relatively limited research on the influence of personality on WTC, it has mostly addressed the function of introversion and extroversion in predicting WTC In MacIntyre et al (1998) ’s model, claimed that personality determines a person's propensity to communicate in a second/foreign language In addition, MacIntyre (1996) in his research also suggested the necessity for additional in-depth research on the function of personality in WTC

2.2.2 Motivation

Gardner and Lambert (1972) once underlined that attitude and motivation are essential variables for language learners to be able to acquire foreign languages successfully Gardner and Lambert mentioned that social psychologists point out that mastery of a foreign language depends not only on intellectual abilities and attitudes but also on the willingness to absorb special aspects of behavior in the study save language Motivation to learn a foreign language is determined by the learner's orientation throughout the entire foreign language learning process (as cited in May,

2010, p 8) Because of the importance of motivation in language learning, language researchers believe that motivation is an important factor, and believe that it is necessary to understand students' reasons and goals when learning a language, for example Peng (2007), Li (2012), Ma et al (2019), Khudobina et al (2019), etc

2.2.3 Anxiety

Anxiety is defined as “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (Horwitz et al.,1986, p 125) Burgoon (1976, p.60) also noted that anxiety is one of the strong elements that affect language learning and foreign language communication efficacy Anxiety means feeling nervous when using the target language in any context

It is the feeling of stress and anxiety associated with learning a language Anxious speakers tend to not want to interact with others or avoid communication if possible

The influence of Anxiety on WTC has also been demonstrated by previous studies such as, MacIntyre et al (2001), Yashima's (2002, 2004), Cao and Philp (2006), MacIntyre and Doucette (2010), Subekti (2019), etc

2.2.4 Confidence

Regarding Confidence, Clement (1986) suggested that it consists of two constructs: cognitive ability and lack of anxiety, these two structures represent relatively persistent personal characteristics MacIntyre et al (1998) in the WTC model, elieves that confidence in communication is a temporary feeling of confidence and can be temporary in a certain situation

MacIntyre et al (2002) also said that Communication competence is an important issue that is very much related to each individual's WTC Perception of competence will affect WTC; without awareness of communication competence, people will be less willing to communicate communicate or hesitate to communicate This has to do with confidence It is what people think they can do, even though they actually cannot do, that influences their communication behavior Similarly, discussing the influence of Confidence on WTC, typically there are studies such as Matsuoka and Evans (2005), Clement et al (2003), Cao and Philp (2006), etc

2.2.6 Communication activities

Riasati (2012) once underlined that Communication activities in the classroom usually take the shape of communication assignments that teachers arrange in the

classroom Common communication duties include conversing largely independently,

in pairs, and in groups (p 1289)

Regarding the influence of Communication activities on WTC, May (2010) pointed out that interest is founded on learners' emotions, knowledge, and attitudes towards specific subject, and grows over time through interaction with people in diverse activities and situations (p.16).Similarly, there are also related research such

as, Yashima's (2002, 2004), Cao and Philp (2006), Nguyen Manh Hoai (2016), etc

2.2.7 Social interactions

Cao and Philp (2006) said: "A close relationship with the communicator and the level of communication participation of the communicator is closely related to the increasing or decreasing trend of WTC" (p.488) May (2010) further noted that, excellent ties at the intergroup level might promote WTC while negative relationships can diminish WTC (p.15) Regarding the role of Social interactions on WTC, there are more research like as MacIntyre et al (2001), Yashima's (2002, 2004), Cao and Philp (2006), Nguyen Manh Hoai (2016), etc

Above are terms connected to certain common factors in the process of learning about papers related to the WTC, which are also the theoretical basis for the next arguments of this study The researcher hopes that with the research methodologies used to the planned research object in this study, to find out the factors that impact WTC, especially to find out the factors that strongly affect WTC

2.3 The current state in vietnam research

Although the notion of WTC has had several achievements internationally, in Vietnam, this concept has attracted little attention For a few years, the WTC has steadily been studied more and more by researchers For example, Phan Thị Mai Hương (2014) did research with 120 university students and concluded that the elements that have a large effect on students' WTC include confidence, sense of competence, attitude, etc Nguyễn Mạnh Hoài (2016), used surveys and interviews with university students

to analyze the link between WTC and students' personality, learning motivation, and self-perception Nguyễn Văn Thám (2017) performed a study with 360 non-majority university students, suggesting that WTC is impacted by characteristics such as

anxiety, personality, motivation, learning objectives, etc In such a situation, the personality element is regarded to be the most significant aspect of WTC Lê Thị Chinh (2018), using interviews with university students, identified four elements determining WTC, including the form of communication activities, the goal of communication, the role of the instructor, and the sense of personality and self-ability Bùi Thị Thục Quyên and Dương Mỹ Thẩm (2018) indicated that students' learning motivation has a massive impact on the initiative to communicate in English, and this result also emphasized the point that instructors need to enhance the learning environment to have a more beneficial influence on students' active communication Lê Văn Tuyên and Trần Thị Trang Loan (2019) revealed that while Vietnamese students have a relatively low WTC

in their spoken English sessions, they yet expect a lot of attention and supervision from their teachers It is also observed that motivation, objectives, and learning methodologies are all essential aspects determining students' WTC

However, researchers typically concentrate on university students, and there are few studies on high school students According to Lê Văn Thịnh (2018), Vietnamese high school students prefered to avoid speaking in front of others in the class and have limited opportunities to practice English outside of class Students are willing to use English more voluntarily in the online setting, largely because they feel more comfortable and confident than in the face-to-face learning environment

In general, WTC in Vietnam is still confined to university students Developing thinking and English ability for high school students is a vital step as high school acts as a transitional year between junior high and university The study of elements influencing high school students' willingness to speak is critical and tremendously beneficial

2.4 Ways of teaching and learning WTC

It can be seen that at present, many studies on WTC predominantly focus on the factors that affect WTC, while a few researchers investigate how learning tasks promote WTC behavior Among them, the concept of methods to enhance the form of IRF, which is known to be a common form of instruction in the process of foreign language acquisition, must be mentioned According to the studies of Nystrand & Gamoran (1997), Nassaji & Wells (2000), and Cullen (2002), IRF has been understood

as follows: "I" stands for a start move, a question posed by the teacher; "R" stands for feedback, a short and simple response from the students; and "F" is follow-up or feedback from the teacher, evaluative in nature, accepting or rejecting explicit student feedback or a hint (as cited in Nazari &Allahyar, 2012, p 22) In order to enhance the WTC situation of students in the process of learning foreign languages, researchers have suggested that it is necessary to alter the form of "F" so that IRF becomes more conversational while also promoting self-discipline and active student communication Examples are: expanding on student responses and connecting responses to student experiences (Wells, 1993); Listening to students' voices, which are valued and reputable for their contributions (Damhuis, 2000); Create a foundation for students by tapping into the answers or initiatives they give (Panselinas & Komis, 2009), etc This is followed by the suggestion of "good teacher talk" by Lei (2009) Lei (2009) pointed out that "good teacher talk" is more a matter of quality than quantity, and it should be evaluated by how effectively it is able to facilitate learning and foster communicative interaction in the classroom "Good teacher talk" should be assessed

by how effectively it can facilitate learning and promote interaction in the classroom Therefore, teacher talk that facilitates interaction in the classroom is termed communication For example, a teacher's talk includes the type of questions they ask, the way they state them, the modifications they make when talking to the students, and how they react to the students errors (p 75)

In addition, it is suggested to use HOT (higher-order thinking) to promote and improve students' WTC behavior Bloom's (1956) through the emphasized trapezoidal model, HOT refers to analysis, synthesis, and evaluation thinking Mackey (1999) also pointed out that, Infusing HOT into L2 learning through a social context (e.g., small group work) fosters student WTC and facilitates L2 development Jacobs et al (2002) also emphasized that, The social constructivist approach, the HOT approach, encourages active learning Following social cognitive conflicts, continuous commentary, justification, and reasoning provide students with opportunities to reframe conflicting points of view This is where students actively using their HOT and L2 WTC behaviors are encouraged Such a learning environment supports the

development of an authentic dialogue and encourages students to speak, thus promoting learning motivation and learning outcomes (as cited in Chen, 2018, p 133) Cao (2012) has also proven through experiment that HOT has significantly stimulated and improved students' L2 speaking level and WTC behavior

2.5 Identification and gaps

From the above study review, it is simple to see that WTC has drawn the attention

of many researchers during the past four decades, and there are also noteworthy achievements After referring to the results of prior studies, the researcher concluded that the common factors impacting WTC are as follows

Factors affecting students' active communication in English mainly include:

- Communication situations, Social relationships in studies by MacIntyre et al (2001), Yashima's (2002, 2004), Cao and Philp (2006), Nguyen Manh Hoai (2016), etc

- Objects and Forms of communication as found by studies Li (2012), Cao and Philp (2006), Alimorad and Farahmand (2021)，Rihardini et al (2021), Bukhari et al (2015), Le Thi Chinh (2018), etc

- Self-perception, Confidence, Anxiety from studies such as Matsuoka and Evans (2005), Clement et al (2003), Cao and Philp (2006), MacIntyre and Doucette (2010), Subekti (2019), Sylviaa et al (2020), Rihardini et al (2021), Phan Thi Mai Huong (2014) etc

- Motivation, Personal personality through the research of Ma et al (2019), Khudobina et al (2019), Li (2012), Peng (2007), Nguyen Manh Hoai (2016), Nguyen Van Tham (2017), etc

- Learning environment, Teachers as discovered by Peng and Woodrow (2010), Alimorad and Farahmand (2021), Rihardini et al (2021), Chang (2018), Le Thi Chinh (2018), etc

The aforementioned experimental findings represented the theoretical foundation and high reference value of this study But in past studies, which most of them were relatively unilateral in terms of research methodologies and research equipment, they frequently employ single research approaches, either quantitative or qualitative There

is research utilizing mixed techniques, except for several studies by Cao and Philp (2006), Xie (2011), Le Thi Chinh (2018), and Phan Thi Mai Huong (2014)

Moreover, the researcher also noticed that, regarding the issue of identifying factors impacting WTC, the vast majority of previous studies just enumerated elements and did not separate those factors into categories shapes share common characteristics Only a few research have categorised the relevant elements based on common traits For example, Alimorad, Z., & Farahmand, M (2021) categorized elements affecting WTC into three categories: individual factors, environmental factors and language aspects Syed, H., & Kuzborska, I (2018) classified elements affecting WTC into environmental, psychological, linguistic and physiological components Research by Bawazir, M A (2019) conforms to the components which are categorized in the three classifications linguistic, contextual, and psychological Le Van Tuyen & Tran Thi Trang Loan (2019) separated factors affecting WTC into two groups: Individual Factors and Situational Factors Riasati (2012) also classified the factors affecting WTC into two groups: Environmental (Situational) Factors and Individual Factors In general, the above prior research prefer to categorize factors impacting WTC into two primary categories, which are situational factors and personal characteristics

In addition, it should be mentioned that, at present, relatively little empirical study has been performed with Vietnamese students, especially with high school students; hardly any studies have been undertaken with Vietnamese students Because the culture and learning environment in Vietnam are notably different from those in Western nations, the aspects that largely effect Western students are not necessarily applicable

to Vietnamese students Even compared to students from countries with more comparable cultures, such as Chinese students, what variables would the WTC of Vietnamese students be particularly impacted by? These are all themes deserving of in-depth examination

The government has given considerable consideration to encouraging and training the use of foreign languages The year 2022 is also the first year that the 10th-grade English textbook curriculum will be revised and modified With the orientation and teaching material also steadily coming closer to encouraging students' capacity to apply foreign languages more, the active communication of students is a vital key to the successful teaching process Therefore, it is vital to undertake more studies connected

to the students' WTC in order to find out and uncover the elements impacting the students' active communication in English Thereby, by giving solutions to enhance and contribute to enhancing the efficacy of English instruction, we strengthen students' communication abilities in English

This study is an effort to address the aforementioned gaps with research combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies, studying WTC and variables impacting WTC among 10th-grade students at a regional school in the North of Vietnam It is envisaged that the outcomes of the research will have consequences for the theory and practice of English teaching in the Vietnamese high school context

2.6 Summary

This chapter covers the three major components of theoretical framework, which

is served as a backbone of the study The theories relating to the nature of reaching, the willingness to communicate in English, and strategies for improving WTC are mentioned to cement the background knowledge about WTC The second pole mentions factors affecting students’ communicate in With the vast of knowledge and information about how to teach communication skills ELT, the study also figured out some effective approaches to teach communication skills with the implementation different views and techniques Armed with all the necessary theoretical understanding and knowledge, the researcher felt confident to conduct her study

Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methods and techniques used for the data collection The chapter begins with research design which served as the roadmap of the research, following the locale of the study addressing where the study was implemented, then a restatement of research questions, which were used to guide the process of data collection, and next information about the participants also presented This is followed by the discussion of the instrument used for data collection, the data collection procedures and data analysis are clarified to get the results of the research

3.1 Research design

The survey research was cross- sectional in nature, being designed to find out from

a cross-section of 150 grade 10 students at a high school in Bac Ninh for their perspectives towards the main factors and the degree of those factors on their WTC in English classroom to improve their communication skills Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were adopted in this study, specifically employing primary resources to exploit survey techniques via questionnaires with 6 grade 10 students for their views of factors affecting their communication skills In order to verify the main factors to improve communication skills, a questionnaire was implemented to correlate and determine whether these factors were really influenced on developing tenth-graders’ WTC skills 150 grade 10 students in three classes were selected

as respondents of the descriptive method and then the results of the questionnaire were analyzed to find out the solution for the problems that students encountered In addition, the data of the survey questionnaire was also considered to address the students’ difficulties Basing on the aforementioned outcomes, the researcher came up with final confirmation of improving WTC skills for high school students

3.2 Locale of the study

The school is located in rural areas in Yen Trung commune, Yen Phong district, Bac Ninh province, which is regarded a newly growing district since agriculture and handicraft villages play a vital part in its economic structure In addition, with its rich traditional cultures, the high school inherits its studious legacy It is a high-quality

general education system under the Bac Ninh Department of Education and Training, functioning under a public model The school, which has an aim to reach a world-class education system standard and is filled with Vietnamese values, brings the mission that the school develops the full person and provides global learning for students Especially, its educational motto is to develop international exchange and integration

by focusing on teaching foreign languages with four basic skills to help students exchange and integrate well with international friends and organizing cooperation with

a number of international schools to help students familiarize themselves with the international standard educational environment

3.3 Research question restage

Generally, this study was undertaken to examine the factors affecting students

‘willingness to communicate in English in order to improve their communication skills Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions:

1 What factors affect 10 th grade students' willingness to communicate in English?

2 Which factors have the most influence on students' willingness to communicate? Which factors have the least influence?

3.4 Respondents and sampling procedure

After granting permission from the principal for conducting the research, the total samples were 150 grade 10 students in 10A3, 10A4 and 10A13 at a high school in the second term of the academic year 2022-2023 were selected by the designated choice Particularly, 6 students in chosen were appointed to participate on the semi-structured interviews Specially, the majority of the respondents in the study was female (60 female ones or 40%); while 90 male participants made up for 60% They all study English at school solely

3.5 Research instruments

After researching documents related to the study, the researcher also discovered that most of the previous research projects had relatively single research methods, some studies used quantitative methods and calculated, with research using quantitative methods And there are only a few studies that combine both research methods above, for example Cao and Philp (2006), Xie (2011), Le Thi Chinh (2018), and Phan Thi Mai

Huong (2014) After learning the advantages and disadvantages of research methods and applying them to relevant documents, the researcher believed that using quantitative methods with a survey tool help the researcher collect a large number of data, a large number of opinions from students, from which there is an overview of the content that the topic should aim for Then combining qualitative methods with interviews helped the researcher collect more detailed and in-depth opinions, which data from the survey cannot fully show These two methods had a complementary relationship

The researcher employed two main research instruments: questionnaires and semi

- structure interview questions to collect the data for the analysis

3.5.1 Questionnaires

The survey questionnaire used in the study consists of three parts, included

26 questions

The first questionnaire used in this study corresponds to the table survey

"Willingness to Communicate in English Questionnaire," according to a study by Cao

& Philp (2006) and Xie (2011), which was chosen and modified to fit the Vietnamese high school students' research context The first questionnaire included five questions, the majority of which were about activities or communication possibilities in English that students might encounter both during and outside of school hours It was divided into the following situations: with teachers (items 1 and 2); with friends (items 3 and 5); with the whole class (item 4) Communication opportunities were split into several contexts and objects The main objective was to find out to what extent the student's active communication condition exists This questionnaire also utilized a Likert scale

of 1–5, ranging namely (1) almost never willing, (2) sometimes willing, (3) willing half

of the time, (4) usually willing, and (5) almost always willing to assess the willingness

to communicate in English

There were 5 questions, as listed below

1 Volunteer to answer in English when the teacher asks a question in class

2 Ask the teacher a question in English in class

3 Participate in pair discussions in English in class

4 Read out the conversations in English from the textbook

5 Greet your classmates any time in English

(Adapted from Cao & Philp, 2006; Xie, 2011)

The second questionnaire was the "Factors affecting students' active communication questionnaire" The elements listed in the questionnaire relate to the study findings of Simić (2014), Syed and Kuzborska (2018) and Bawazir (2019), then adjusted to fit the real learning setting in Vietnam Specifically, variables such as: perceived speaking skills (PSS) of the speaker (item 1, 2, 3, 4, 5); relationship with the interlocutor (RWI) (item 6, 7); task type (TT) (item 8, 9); correction and grading (CAG) (item 10, 11, 12); topic (T) (item 13); class atmosphere (CA) (item 14, 15); preparedness (PR) (item 16); self-confidence (SC) (item 17); personality (PE) (item 18); embarrassment (EM) (item 19); mood (M) (item 20) The questionnaire was also employed a Likert scale of 1–5, ranging namely (1) 45 strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) unsure, (4) agree, and (5) strongly agree to assess students' awareness of the elements affecting their willingness to communicate

There were also 20 questions, which were listed below

1 I would like to speak to my classmates whose English levels are similar to mine

2 I avoid speaking to classmates whose English levels are higher than mine

3 I do not like to speak if my English grammar is not good

4 I avoid conversation if I do not master the pronunciation skill in English

5 The more vocabulary I have, the more I feel willing to speak

6 I prefer speaking in English to my close friends in the classroom

7 I like to speak English with the teacher

8 I prefer speaking in English in groups

9 I prefer speaking in English in pairs

10 I like to speak English even if I make mistakes that affect my grades

11 I like to speak English to get the teacher's recognition

12 I like to speak English to get the students' admiration

13 I think an interesting topic is important for speaking

14 An organized and equipped classroom motivates me to speak English

15 A classroom with a friendly atmosphere encourages me to speak English

16 I need to feel prepared to speak freely

17 I am confident when I speak English

18 I like the speaking skill to other skills because I am talkative in general

19 I am more willing to speak English when I know nobody will ridicule me

20 A good mood affects my willingness to speak in English

(Adapted from Simić, 2014, Syed & Kuzborska, 2018 and Bawazir, 2019) After that, there was an open-ended question intended to assess students' perspectives on the degree of the effect that factors have on students' willingness to communicate Students, based on their own ideas, chosen the variables that they believed were the most significant or contributed additional factors The particular question structure was as follows:

In your opinion, which of the following factors made you were willing to speak during your English classes? (You can choose more than one answer)

□ Confidence in my speaking abilities

□ Wish to practice speaking

□ Wish to make a good impression on the teacher

□ Wish to get a good grade

□ Relationship with my fellow students

□ Relationship with my teacher

□ Classroom atmosphere

□ Other:

(Adapted from Simić, 2014, Syed & Kuzborska, 2018 and Bawazir, 2019)

3.5.2 Interview

Following a basic assessment of the students' preparation level based on survey findings, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 6 students to learn more about self-communication and the variables that influence it

The interview questionnaire was organized in accordance with the study questionnaire used by Cao and Philp (2006) The interview was built in the form of a semi-structured interview The following questions were expected:

1 How would you describe your personality (quiet or talkative, relaxed or tense)?

2 How competent do you think you were to communicate in English?

3 Did you feel very sure and relaxed in English class?

4 Did you feel confident when you were speaking English in class?

5 Did it embarrass you to volunteer answers in class?

6 Did you feel that the other students spoke English better than you did?

7 How did you feel when you needed to use English to communicate?

8 Did you get nervous when your English teacher asked you a question?

9 In what situation did you feel most comfortable (most willing) to communicate: in pairs, in small groups, with the teacher in a whole class? Why?

10 What do you think the primary influences were on your willingness to use English in class?

(Adapted from Cao &Philp, 2006)

The interview was scheduled to be held 6 times In order to facilitate the interview

to go smoothly, the whole process was used Vietnamese

3.6 Data collecting procedure

The researcher collected data in the following stages:

Phase 1: Questionnaire distribution and collection The questionnaire was

translated into Vietnamese, and then Google Forms were used to design an online survey When the URL was accessed, the researcher utilized a QR code to make it easier to distribute the survey The researcher chose three 10th graders at a high school

in Yen Phong district, Bac Ninh province, with 48 students, 50 students, and 52 students, respectively The researcher took advantage of the 10-minute time before the conclusion of English class, allowing students to scan the QR code into Google Forms

to do the survey The dates to disseminate the QR code of the questionnaire for each class were 5/12, 6/12, and 9/12 The average duration for students to complete the survey was roughly 5-7 minutes, including certain items that require extra explanation from the researcher In the process of completing survey questions, the students all exhibited a very high spirit of collaboration; 150 students from three classrooms completed the survey

Table 3.1: Participation rate in surveys

Case Processing Summary

a Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure

After that, the researcher downloaded the students' survey answers in Excel format for further analysis

Phase 2: As soon as she was permitted to conduct the research, the researcher

called all 150 students to finish a survey form After completing a quantitative survey, the researcher chose six individuals (2 students in each grade) to conduct a face-to-face interview, and then each participant was given in the interview the list of questions in advance and established a fixed time for the interview so that they could mentally prepare for it The interview method was done six times, from 12/12 to 19/12 The interview time was selected by the researcher towards the end of the day after the 5th period, with 6–8 minutes for the duration of each interview The interview approach was then recorded by phone, and all materials from the interview were written down and then translated into English for additional study

Phase 3: The analysis of the data from surveys and interviews should be merged,

with the data being analyzed according to defined research goals and orientations

3.7 Data analysis

In order to process the data that were gathered and to assess descriptive statistics about the WTC, the research was anticipated to use the SPSS.22 program Since the questionnaire utilized in this study was referenced and selected from three independent

surveys, the reliability of the questionnaire was highly essential The first step when running the Excel table of student replies using SPSS was to assess the reliability of the questionnaire—the Cronbach Alpha index And it obtained the following result:

Table 3.2: The Cronbach Alpha index

survey and achieved the findings displayed in Table 3.3

Table 3.3: KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Approx Chi-Square 2070.642

The survey questions were meaningful and associated in the population, as shown

by the KMO index reaching 0.828 and the sig value being 0.000 (less than 0.05) At the same time, the questionnaire's scale was also assured with a total product variance

of 64.436%, according to Table 3.4