willingness to communicate in english inside efl classrooms a case study at tran hung dao high school, hcm city, vietnam

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH INSIDE EFL CLASSROOM AMONG VIETNAMESE HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY AT TRAN

WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH INSIDE EFL CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY AT

TRAN HUNG DAO HIGH SCHOOL,

HCM CITY, VIETNAM

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by: TRAN HO THUY HUONG

Supervisor: Dr BUI THI THUC QUYEN

HO CHI MINH City, 2017

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE

IN ENGLISH INSIDE EFL CLASSROOM AMONG VIETNAMESE HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY AT TRAN HUNG DAO HIGH SCHOOL, HCM CITY” is the result of my own work except as cited in

the reference

This thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not currently submitted in candidature of any other degree

Ho Chi Minh City, 2017

Tran Ho Thuy Huong

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Bui Thi Thuc Quyen, who patiently guided me through the research process Without her invaluable suggestions and comments, I could not have finished this thesis

I would also like to thank the administrators of Tran Hung Dao high school for allowing me to carry out the research there Besides, I am profoundly grateful

to Tran Hung Dao high school students who enthusiastically participated in my study

Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for giving birth to me, my husband for his support and encouragement, and my two daughters as an inspiration for my effort to fulfill this thesis

ABSTRACT

With a view to accelerating international integration process, Vietnamese government has taken a number of measures, including improving the quality of teaching and learning English in state education system so that students there can use it as a means of communication As a result, the issues of whether students will communicate in English inside language classroom and the impact of classroom context factors on their willingness to do so have gained importance In spite of abundant research on willingness to communicate (WTC) in second/ foreign language worldwide, few studies were conducted in Vietnam, especially among high school students The current study was to fill this gap It aimed to explore the level of WTC in English inside EFL classrooms and investigate the extent to which

it may be affected by classroom context factors

This case study was carried out at Tran Hung Dao high school, Ho Chi Minh City Results from data analysis revealed that the students there were not really willing to communicate in English inside EFL classrooms Besides, their WTC in English was found to be greatly affected by a number of classroom context factors, categorized into interlocutors, tasks and class management These findings have shed light on the nature of WTC in English inside EFL classrooms among Tran Hung Dao high school students It helps the teachers there better understand why their students choose to speak up or remain silent during the lessons The study also presents some pedagogical implications for English language teachers as well as policy makers to promote learners’ L2 WTC Besides, its limitation and suggestions for future research are also supplied

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

ABBREVIATIONS ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 2

1.3 Aims of the study 4

1.4 Research questions 4

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Scope of the study 5

1.7 Context of the study 5

1.7.1 The history of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam 5

1.7.2 Current situation of English teaching and learning at General Education Level in Vietnam 7

1.8 Organization of the study 11

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 12

2.1 Willingness to communicate 12

2.2 Heuristic models of WTC in L2 14

2.2.1 MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément and Noels (1998)’s models of WTC in L2 14

2.2.2 Wen and Clément (2003)’s WTC model in China 16

2.3 Dual characteristics, trait and situational, of L2 WTC 17

2.4 Variables underlying WTC in L2 18

2.4.1 Affective/ individual variables underlying WTC in L2 18

2.4.2 Social contextual variables underlying WTC in L2 22

2.5 Conceptual framework of the current study 28

2.6 Empirical studies on learners’ WTC in EFL classroom and the impact of classroom environment on it 31

2.7 Summary 34

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 35

3.1 Research design 35

3.2 Research site 36

3.3 Research Participants 38

3.4 Data collection instruments 40

3.4.1 The questionnaire 40

3.4.2 Classroom observation 41

3.4.3 Participants’ diary entries 42

3.4.4 The semi-structured interview 43

3.5 Data collection procedure 44

3.6 Data analysis 46

3.7 Validity and reliability in the present study 48

3.7.1 Validity and reliability in the quantitative part of the study 48

3.7.2 Validity and reliability in the qualitative part of the study 49

3.8 Ethical considerations 50

3.9 Summary 50

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 50

4.1 Research question One 50

4.1.1 Results of the questionnaire survey 50

4.1.2 Discussion Research question One 55

4.2 Research question Two 56

4.2.1 Findings of Research question Two 57

4.2.1.1 Interlocutors 57

4.2.1.2 Tasks 61

4.2.1.3 Class management 65

4.2.2 Discussion of Research question Two 69

4.3 Summary 73

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 74

5.1 Summary of the findings 74

5.2 Pedagogical implications 75

5.3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research 78

REFERENCES 79

APPENDIX A: WTC Questionnaire (English version) 88

APPENDIX B: WTC Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 90

APPENDIX C: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET 92

APPENDIX D: EXAMPLE OF CLASSROOM OBSERVATION NOTES 93

APPENDIX E: EXAMPLE OF PARTICIPANTS’ DIARY ENTRY 99

(Vietnamese version) APPENDIX F: EXAMPLE OF PARTICIPANTS’ DIARY ENTRY 102

(English version) APPENDIX G: INTERVIEW QUESTION PROTOCOL (English version) 105

APPENDIX H: INTERVIEW QUESTION PROTOCOL (Vietnamese version) 106

APPENDIX I: EXAMPLE OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 107

(Vietnamese version) APPENDIX J: EXAMPLE OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 110

(English version) APPENDIX K: Descriptive statistics of each item/ situation in the questionnaire 112

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Phase I participant information 39

Table 3.2 Phase II participant information 39

Table 3.3 Data collection procedure 45

Table 3.4 Classroom observation schedule 46

Table 3.5 Research questions, their purposes, data sources and data analysis 47

Table 4.1 Questionnaire respondent demographics 52

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of the respondents’ overall WTC 52

Table 4.3 Frequency statistics of the respondents’ level of WTC 53

Table 4.4 Group Statistics 54

Table 4.5 Independent Samples Test 55

Table 4.6 Phase Two participant demographics 57

in Pattapong (2010)’s study 29 Figure 2.6 Conceptual framework of the current study 32 Figure 4.1Conceptual framework of the current study 53

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL English as a Second Language

EFL English as a Foreign Language

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study

English is undoubtedly a global language It is spoken as a mother tongue in the USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, several Caribbean countries and some other territories Besides, it is spoken as an official language, the language used in government, law courts, media and education system, in more than seventy countries (Crystal, 2003) Remarkably, it is the language most widely learnt as a foreign language in over one hundred countries all over the world (ibid) By the early 2000s, about one fourth of the world’s population, around one and a half billion people, is fluent or competent in English, and this number is expected to continue rising (ibid) English is second to no other languages in terms of users (Crystal, 2003; Strevens, 1992)

In Vietnam, nowadays, together with the improvement of socio-economic conditions, the development of science and technology, and the impact of globalization and integration, the need to learn English as a foreign language has increased more sharply than ever before (Kieu, 2010; Nguyen, 2012; Hoang, 2011) People need to know English in order to do business with foreign counterparts, work for international companies, serve international tourists, understand computer language, travel or study abroad, make friends with people around the world, or simply enjoy a plenty of movies or songs in English Therefore, English should be first and foremost learnt for communication purposes Communication, according

to MacIntyre and Charos (1996), is more than a means of facilitating language learning; it is an important goal in itself Enhancing learners’ communicative competence, the competence that enables them to express and understand messages and to negotiate meanings with other people within particular contexts (Prasad, 2013), must be the objective of teaching English in Vietnam

In that sense, in order to become competent in English, Vietnamese students should practice using it as much as possible Harmer (1991) believed that “plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it are vitally important for a student’s development of knowledge and skill” (p 69) Skehan (1989) shared the same idea when stating that “learners have to talk in order to learn” (p.48) Hashimoto (2002) emphasized the use of the target language as it is

an indicator of and a necessary condition for successful second language acquisition However, in Vietnam, a country where English is neither spoken as a mother tongue (L1) nor an official language, language learners do not have much chance to use it in their daily life They mostly practice speaking English through classroom communicative activities Peng and Woodrow (2010) pointed out that where English is learnt as a foreign language (EFL), the language classroom is “an essential platform for learners to experience interactive communication using the target language” (p.835)

1.2 Statement of the problem

English has long been taught and gradually become the major foreign language learnt in Vietnam (Hoang, 2011; Le, 2011) The number of people who can use English has been increasing dramatically not only in big cities but also in the countryside However, for the purpose of enhancing international integration process and improving national human resources with proficiency in English, the teaching and learning English, especially in state schools in Vietnam, does not seem adequate enough to meet the demands (Le, 2013) The fact is that a large number of students, after graduating from high school, can do grammar exercises quite well, but fail to understand other people and express themselves in simple English conversations It causes them to lose further education and job opportunities or spend a great deal of time and money to study English again in a language center

With the aim to renovate the teaching and learning of foreign languages within the national educational system, in 2008, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam introduced the National Foreign Language 2020 project One of the goals

of this project is that “by the year 2020, most Vietnamese students graduating from secondary, vocational schools, colleges and universities will be able to use a foreign language confidently in their daily communication, their study and work…” It means that the learners’ ability to communicate should be the aim of the English language classroom

In Vietnam, as communication is the objective of English teaching and learning, and is significantly practiced inside classrooms, the issue of whether students speak

up during language lessons when they have a chance to do so gains importance However, from my own experience as an English teacher, I have found that students are not equally enthusiastic about speaking in English While some of them take advantage of every opportunity to communicate in English, others try to avoid it

In 1998, MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, and Noels (1998) developed a heuristic model to describe, explain and predict a person’s communication in a second language (L2) In this model the direct predictor of a person’s frequency in communication in L2 is his/ her willingness to communicate (WTC) WTC in L2 is defined as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using L2” (ibid, p.547) It is affected by a number of individual and social factors (ibid)

MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) model has stimulated a great deal of research carried out

in different learning contexts to identify factors underlying a person’s L2 WTC as well as to investigate its trait-like and situational characteristics In spite of the rich findings of previous studies, most of them were conducted in Western countries, particularly among Canadian Anglophone students learning French as a foreign

language (e.g Baker and MacIntyre, 2000; MacIntyre et al., 2002) or Asian overseas students learning English as a second language (e.g Cao, 2009; Cao and Philp, 2006; Kang, 2005) Recently, there have been a number of studies investigating EFL learners’ WTC in Asian countries, like China (Peng, 2012; Peng and Woodrow, 2010; Xie, 2011), Japan (Yashima, 2002), Korea (Kim, 2004), Iran (Ghonsooly et al., 2013), Thailand (Pattapong, 2010) and Turkey (Centikaya, 2005)

However, almost all of them were conducted among university students Very few studies were to explore high school students’ L2 WTC or carried out in the Vietnamese context Therefore, the current study was conducted to explore the WTC in English among Vietnamese high school students inside EFL classrooms

1.3 Aims of the study

The current study had two aims The first aim was to explore the level of WTC in English inside EFL classroom among Vietnamese high school students The second

aim was to investigate the extent classroom context factors affect it

1.4 Research questions

In order to achieve the objectives of the study stated above, the following two research questions were explored:

1 To what extent are Vietnamese high school students willing to communicate

in English inside EFL classrooms?

2 To what extent do classroom context factors affect the Vietnamese high school students’ willingness to communicate in English?

1.5 Significance of the study

The current study provided important information about Tran Hung Dao high school students’ WTC in English in class This information could help the teachers there predict the students’ actual oral behaviours in English class Besides, the

study shed light on the extent this willingness could be promoted or hindered by various classroom context factors

1.6 Scope of the study

The current study focused on the WTC in L2 of the students at Tran Hung Dao high school in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam They were learning English as a foreign language in formal classes

1.7 Context of the study

As the current study was carried out at a Vietnamese high school and aimed at exploring Vietnamese students’ WTC in English, general information about Vietnamese EFL context is important This chapter starts by a brief history of English teaching and learning in Vietnam It is then followed by a description of the current situation of English teaching and learning in Vietnamese National education system

1.7.1 The history of English language teaching and learning in Vietnam

English was first taught in Vietnam during the time the French invaded the country

in the 19th century (Hoang, 2011; Le, 2011) Since then, together with the development of the country, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has undergone dramatic changes

Before 1954, during the French invasion, English was taught with translation method and did not obviously compare with French in terms of significance and popularity (Hoang, 2011)

grammar-From 1954 – 1975, Vietnam was divided into two parts, North Vietnam and South Vietnam, each of which was politically allied with the former Soviet Union and the USA respectively The teaching and learning English were therefore deeply

different between these two parts of the country In the North, while Russian was the dominant foreign language, English was taught in limited classes and institutions in the formal educational system with the goals to understand the USA and to fight against the US invasion on the diplomatic front (ibid) In the South, in contrast, English was most widely learnt for the purpose of direct interactions with the USA (ibid)

From 1975 – 1986, due to the withdrawal of Americans from South Vietnam, the American Trade Embargo and the economic support from the former Soviet Union, Russian was actually the top-ranking foreign language to be learnt in the country The number of people learning English decreased sharply (Nguyen, 2012; Hoang, 2011)

From 1986 to the present, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has turned over

a new leaf With the open-door policy (Doi Moi) initiated in 1986 by the Vietnamese Communist Party, the economy of the country shifted from centrally planned to market oriented Since then, the cooperative relationships between Vietnam and other countries in the region as well as all over the world have continually expanded English, as a result, has become the foreign language of first choice to facilitate this integration (Hoang, 2011; Kieu, 2010; Le, 2011; Nguyen, 2012) Now English is taught in almost every secondary school, high school, college and university In big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, English is taught as an elective subject at primary schools and even as an extra-curriculum activity at nursery schools English is a compulsory paper in the National High school Examination, which students have to pass to get a diploma At tertiary level, students must reach a certain level of English in order to graduate from universities

or colleges, guaranteed by certificates like TOEIC or IELTS State office workers are also required to be able to use English, the level of which depends on the nature

of their work To meet such large demand, language centers blossom everywhere and a large number of people of all ages come there to study English

1.7.2 Current situation of English teaching and learning at General Education Level in Vietnam

Vietnamese general education is made up of three levels with 12 grades: primary level (grade 1 – 5, for students aged 6 – 11), secondary level (grade 6 – 9, for students aged 11 – 15), and high school level (grade 10 – 12, for students aged 15 – 18)

From 1982 to 2002, students in rural, underdeveloped regions started learning English at grade 10 while those in towns or cities did at grade 6 As a result, there were two sets of textbooks used nationally: the 3-year set (for the former) and the 7-year set (for the latter) These textbooks were mainly grammar-based, with the dominance of grammar sections and little focus on reading comprehension or oral skills (Hoang, 2011)

From 2002, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) organized the design of the new curriculum and the writing of new textbooks for all school subjects, including English, starting from Grade 6 This design and writing took seven years to finish, one year for each grade from 6 to 12 From 2008 up to now, the new textbooks have been used across the whole Vietnamese general education system The new English textbooks, according to their writers, are theme-based and skill-based, with the adoption of the learner-centred approach and the communicative approach (Hoang et al 2006) It is also at this stage that English is

a compulsory subject at both secondary and high school levels Students from Grade 6 to Grade 8 and from Grade 10 to Grade 12 study 3 periods (each period lasts forty-five minutes) of English a week during the school year Students at Grade 9 study less, 2 periods per week Students at primary level from Grade 3 to

Grade 5 learn English as an optional subject with two periods per week As a total, Vietnamese students spend from 525 to 682 hours learning English at school (ibid)

These students, when graduating from high school, are expected to be able:

 to use English as a means of communication at a certain level of proficiency in four macro-skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing

 to read materials at the same level of their textbook, using a dictionary

 to have mastered basic English phonetics and grammar, to have acquired the minimum of around 2500 vocabulary items of English

 to attain a certain level of understanding of English and American cultures, to become aware of cross-cultural differences in order to be better overall communicators, to better inform the world of the Vietnamese people, their history and culture, and to take pride in Vietnam, its language and culture

(MOET, 2007, cited in Hoang, 2011)

Besides being the compulsory subject at secondary and high school level, English is also one of the three compulsory subjects in the National High school exam, which all high school leavers have to take in order to get a diploma

In spite of great efforts and expectation from policy makers and educators and learners, English communicative competence of Vietnamese students is still far from meeting the requirements for deeper and wider integration and globalization nowadays Many researchers (i.e Hoang et al., 2006; Le, 2011; Nguyen, 2013) find that students have great difficulty understanding other people and expressing themselves in English conversation As for high school leavers, Le (2013) remarks that “their real level is just somewhere between elementary and lower-intermediate”

(p.66) According to him, many school leavers can neither read simple texts in English nor communicate with English speaking people in some most common cases

In reality, the implementation of learner-centered approach and communicative approach in teaching English in Vietnam is facing a number of obstacles First, teacher-centered approach is so deep-rooted in Vietnamese culture Because of the impact of Confucianism, students from young are taught to respect their teachers and consider them as a source of knowledge (Le, 2011; Nguyen, 2013; Thompson, 2009) They are, therefore, obedient and quiet during the lesson, listen attentively

to, copy into notebooks and try to memorize what teachers are saying or explaining

Second, a large number of students learn English first and foremost to get high mark

in exams, especially the National High school, because it guarantees them a place in

a university (Le, 2011) Unfortunately, Vietnamese testing system seems to focus

on measuring learners’ lexico-grammatical knowledge (Hoang, 2011) This examination-oriented practice distracts teachers and learners from investing time and effort in communicative activities

Third, in Vietnam, the textbook is also the curriculum, which makes it understandable that classroom instruction is mostly textbook-driven, and teachers are under pressure of finishing the entire syllabus within the time allotted (Le, 2011) It makes them reluctant to adapt the textbook to the classroom situation for fear of violating what has already been set up The communicative tasks which have been rigidly written in the textbooks, as a result, may be not interesting or suitable for all kinds of learners throughout the country

Forth, big size class with mixed-level of learners may hinder communicative teaching approach (Le, 2011; Van, 2011) With formal testing system measuring

learners’ lexico-grammatical knowledge, students at the same grade may possess different communicative competent levels Together with big class size, it is very difficult for teacher to handle students’ interaction activities

Last but not least, there is a lack of qualified teachers, who are able to conduct a lesson in a communicative way (Hoang, 2011; Le, 2011) Even in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, most schools, especially primary ones, are in short of English language teachers (Bich, 2017) This is maybe because of teachers’ heavy workload and insufficient salary

Recently, with a view to further promoting and improving the quality of English teaching and learning in Vietnam to meet the increasing trends of globalization and international interdependency of the global village, on September 30th, 2008, the Vietnamese Prime Minister issued the Decision 1400/QĐ-TTg on the Approval of the Project entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008–2020” One of the goals of this project is that by

2020 most Vietnamese students graduating from secondary, vocational schools, colleges and universities will be able to use a foreign language confidently in their daily communication, their study and work in an integrated, multi-cultural and multi-lingual environment, making foreign languages a comparative advantage of development for Vietnamese people in the cause of industrialization and modernization for the country A series of measures have been taken nationally to achieve the goal like making English be introduced to young learners as early as they are at Grade 3, renovating testing systems, designing course books, improving learning facilities and standardizing teachers’ quality

In short, teaching and learning English in Vietnamese state school system are now required to improve dramatically to meet the needs of the society

1.8 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of five chapters Chapter One provides an introduction of the study, consisting of eight sections: background of the study, statement of the problem, aims of the study, research questions, significance of the study, working definition of key terms, scope of the study, context of the study and organization of the study

Chapter Two provides the review of literature It is made up of six sections: the construct of WTC, heuristic models of L2 WTC, dual characteristics of L2 WTC, variables underlying L2 WTC, empirical studies on learners’ WTC in EFL classroom and the impact of classroom environment on it, and the summary

Chapter Three describes the methodological issues considered in the current study

It outlines the research design, research site, research participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, data analysis, validity and reliability of the current study, ethical considerations and summary

Chapter Four reports the results from data analysis and discussion about the findings in relation to previous relevant research It is divided into two sections corresponding to two research questions: the level of WTC of the participants and the extent it might be affected by classroom context factors

The thesis ends with Chapter 5 It presents the conclusion and recommendations and is divided into three sections: summary of the findings, pedagogical implications, and limitations of the current study and suggestions for further research

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

As the current study aimed to investigate Vietnamese high school students’ WTC and identify the classroom variables affecting it, this chapter is dedicated to reviewing the notion of WTC in first, second and foreign language, heuristic models

of L2 WTC, dual characteristics of L2 WTC, variables underlying it and empirical studies on WTC in L2 classroom

2.1 Willingness to communicate

Willingness to communicate (WTC) is a relatively new individual difference variable in second language acquisition (Dörnyei, 2005) L2 WTC represents the psychological preparedness to use the target language when the opportunity arises (MacIntyre, 2007b) As the decision to speak or not, through time, influences the person’s success at language learning (Kang, 2005; MacIntyre, 2007b), L2 WTC has been extensively studied in recent years (Peng and Woodrow, 2010) To better understand the notion of L2 WTC, the researcher reviews how this concept has developed through time

The notion of willingness to communicate, first introduced by McCroskey and Baer (1985), based on the concept of unwilling to communicate by Burgoon (1976), was originally conceptualized with reference to first or native (L1) communication (MacIntyre et al., 1998) They conceptualize WTC as the probability of engaging in communication when free to choose to do so Although somehow influenced by the situation, WTC was “a personality-based, trait-like predisposition, which is fairly consistent across a variety of communication contexts and types of receivers” (McCroskey and Baer, 1985, p.4)

After the introduction of the concept of L1 WTC and a scale to measure it in 1985, McCroskey and his assistants continued to refine the construct McCroskey and Richmond (1987, cited in House, 2004) find a significant negative correlation between communication apprehension and WTC McCroskey and Richmond (1990) claime that introversion, self-esteem, communication competence, communication apprehension and cultural diversity were associated with WTC In

1994, MacIntyre proposed a model describing the interrelation among factors of WTC Communication and perceived competence were the variables most immediately responsible for determining a person’s WTC Though MacIntryre (1994) continues to consider L1 WTC as a trait-like variable and a stable part of one’s personality, he suggests investigating it in conjunction with specific situational characteristics in future research

Several years later, MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément and Noels (1998) initiated the notion of WTC in L2 They claime that due to “the uncertainty inherent in L2 use that interacts in a more complex manner with those variables that influence L1 WTC” (p.546) and the fact that “L2 use carries a number of intergroup issues, with social and political implications that are usually irrelevant to L1 use” (p.546), WTC

in L2 is not a simple manifestation of WTC in L1 MacIntyre et al (1998) then define L2 WTC as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2” (p.547) They also outline a comprehensive conceptual model showing the range of potential influences on WTC in L2, including both immediate situational factors – the desire to communicate with a specific person and the state of communicative self-confidence – as well as more enduring ones, such as interpersonal motivation, intergroup motivation, self-confidence, intergroup attitudes, social situation, communicative competence, intergroup climate and personality WTC in L2, according to them, is a situation-based variable

Supporting the notion that L2 WTC is a situational variable that can change moment-to-moment, Kang (2005) emphasizes its dynamic emergence and fluctuation during a conversation situation He redefines WTC as “an individual’s volitional inclination towards actively engaging in the act of communication in a specific situation, which can vary according to interlocutor(s), topic, and conversational context among other potential situational variables” (p.291) In another attempt to capture WTC in L2 classroom setting, Cao (2009) defined it as

“observable behaviors in class, which refer to occasions on which learners initiate

or engage in communication when they have the choice” (p 10)

2.2 Heuristic models of WTC in L2

This section reviews two heuristic L2 WTC models, proposed by MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément and Noels (1998) and Wen and Clément (2003) While MacIntyre et al.’s model is considered as the most comprehensive, powerful and influential so far in the area of WTC research (Xie, 2011), Wen and Clément’s model reflects more closely the situation found in China, where English is learnt as

a foreign language

2.2.1 MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément and Noels (1998)’s models of WTC in L2

In an attempt to explain the interrelations of affective variables influencing L2 communication behaviors, MacIntyre et al (1998) developed a theoretical L2 WTC model based on the L1 WTC model of McCroskey and Baer (1985) According to them, this model provides “an account of the linguistic, communicative, and social psychological variables that might affect one’s willingness to communicate” (p.545)

Figure 2.1 Heuristic model of WTC in L2 of MacIntyre et al (1998)

In a pyramid shape, the model comprises twelve variables arranged in six layers The first three layers, Communication Behavior (layer I), Behavioral Intention (layer II) and Situated Antecedents (layer III) represent situation-specific influences

on WTC at a given moment in time The latter three layers, Motivational Propensities (layer IV), Affective-Cognitive Context (layer V) and Social and Individual Context (layer IV), represent stable, enduring influences on the process Each of the six Layers has one or more than one variable

WTC, in this model, is viewed as “the final step in preparing the language learner for communication” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p 558) It is directly influenced by the desire to communicate with a specific person and state communicative self-confidence – a momentary feeling of confidence, which is transient within a particular situation These two variables in turns are influenced by more stable variables such as the personality of the language learner, the social context in which he/ she lives, his/ her attitudes towards native speakers and second language groups,

his/ her general self-confidence, and his/ her motivation to learn English WTC, therefore, is conceptualized at the state level rather than at the trait level (MacIntyre, 2007)

The significance of this heuristic model is that it is the “first attempt at a comprehensive treatment of WTC in the L2” as a situation-based variable (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p 558)

2.2.2 Wen and Clément (2003)’s WTC model in China

In an attempt to investigate the WTC in English language Chinese classrooms, Wen and Clément (2003) find out that this variable is deeply rooted in Chinese philosophy and culture They argue that while MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) heuristic model of WTC in L2 is based on research principally conducted in the Western world, in a Chinese setting, where Confucianism with an emphasis on the collective has a profound impact, WTC is “a far more complicated notion entailing the interplay of affect, the teacher and the learner’s environment” (p.24) According to them, having the desire to communicate does not necessarily imply a willingness to communicate There are several variables (i.e societal context, personality factors, motivational orientation and affective perceptions) moderating the relation between the desire to communicate and the willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFl classroom as shown in the model below

Figure 2.2 Wen and Clément’s (2003) model of variables moderating the relation

between DC and WTC in the Chinese EFL classroom

This model is of great importance in that it helps localize the original WTC of MacIntyre et al (1998) in an Asian EFL setting where variables affecting WTC can

be viewed from a cultural perspective (Cao, 2009)

2.3 Dual characteristics, trait and situational, of L2 WTC

WTC in L1 is mainly conceptualized as a trait variable that stays unchanged across situations (McCroskey and Baer, 1985) However, McCroskey and Richmon (1990) acknowledge that it is also related to situational variables in that with a specific trait-determined level of WTC, persons will still vary in their willingness to speak across situations When it comes to the area of L2, MacIntyre et al (1998) argue that it should be treated as a situation-based variable, open to change across situations WTC in L2, according to them, is affected by transient factors and enduring influences This notion is confirmed by Dörnyei (2005) as he claimes that WTC in L2 displays dual characteristics, the trait WTC and the situational WTC The trait WTC is a stable disposition while the situational WTC bears a situated nature

There have been several empirical carried out to shed light on this nature of L2 WTC especially in the context of classroom (Cao, 2009; Cao and Philp, 2006; Xie, 2011) Cao and Philp (2006) conducted a qualitative research to explore the dual characteristics of WTC construct in ESL context The participants were 4 male and

4 female students learning English at a language school in New Zealand, with diverse L1 background (Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Swiss German) and intermediate level of L2 They employed a self-report WTC questionnaire to measure trait WTC and classroom behavior observation to measure state WTC Data collected revealed that there was mismatch between their self-report WTC and their actual classroom behavior Besides, individual’s WTC pattern varied significantly across contexts – whole class, pair work and group work Cao and Philp (2006) then suggested that learners’ WTC was influenced both by trait-level and state-level WTC Similarly, Xie (2011) carried out a study to find out the correspondence between Chinese EFL learners’ trait WTC and their behavioral WTC The findings were well consistent with thoset of Cao and Philp (2006)

of two components: self-evaluation of L2 skills and language anxiety when using a L2 Learners who have higher perceptions of their communication competence and experience lower levels of communication anxiety tend to be more willing to initiate communication (ibid) Clark (1989) claimes that “confidence allows a

student to develop a desire to communicate” (p.237) Onwuegbuzie et al (2000) stated that L2 students with higher levels of self-confidence tend to be more active

in interacting with their target L2 community members

In the ESL context, Hashimoto (2002), framed by socio-educational model and WTC model, conducted a study with 56 Japanese undergraduate and graduate students learning English in a university in the USA Structural equation of modeling of self-report survey data showed that L2 learning motivation and L2 WTC predicted L2 use frequency, language anxiety and perceived competence affected L2 WTC and perceived competence affected motivation

In EFL context, Kim (2004) conducted a study with 191 Korean university students learning English as a foreign language to examine the reliability of MacIntyre et al (1998)’s model in explaining the interrelations of affective variable influencing WTC Also through structural equation of modeling of self-report survey data, the researcher found that L2 communication anxiety and L2 perceived competence directly influenced L2 WTC, and international posture affected motivation, which

in turn affected communication confidence

The influence of perceived competence and communication anxiety on WTC is also supported by other researchers like Baker and MacIntyre (2000), MacIntyre, Baker, Clément and Conrod (2001), Yashima (2002), Centikaya (2005), de Saint Léger and Storch (2009), etc

Motivation, Attitudes and Beliefs in L2 learning

Another variable found to be associated with WTC in L2 is motivation Motivation has been considered as one of the most important factors predicting a person’s success in second language learning (Dörnyei and Csizér, 1998; Gadner, 1985) and

a construct closely related to L2 WTC (Peng, 2007) Motivation to learn a second

language is defined as “the extent to which an individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity” (Gardner, 1985, p.10)

In ESL context, Hashimoto (2002)’s study, as mentioned in the previous section, found that a path from L2 WTC to motivation was significant It demonstrated that WTC had motivational properties In EFL context, Peng (2007) carried out a study with 174 Chinese university students attending an intensive English language program in China to examine the relationship between their WTC in English and their integrative motivation Integrative motivation in this study, based on socio-education model (Gardner, 1985), consisted of three components: integrativeness, attitude toward learning situation and motivation Data analysis from a questionnaire survey revealed that integrative motivation accounted for a small proportion of variation in L2 WTC and motivation was the strongest predictor of L2 WTC

Also according to socio-education model (Gardner, 1985), motivation results from integrativeness and attitudes toward learning situation Gardner defined integrativeness as a positive attitude toward the L2 community and a desire to affiliate with members of the L2 community without the desire to be like members

of the L2 community Researchers have shown that integrativeness is related to frequency and quality of contact with the L2 community (MacIntyre et al., 1998)

In the EFL context, where there is little daily contact with native speakers of English, Yashima (2002) proposes “International posture” as a replacement of

“integrativeness” This concept includes “interest in foreign or international affairs, willingness to go overseas to stay or work, readiness to interact with intercultural partners” (Yashima, 2002, p.57) In this study, 297 Japanese university students learning English as a foreign language in Japan responded to a set of questionnaires

Structural equation of modeling of self-report survey data showed that International posture had a direct path to WTC She suggested that the more internationally oriented the learners are, the more willing they are to communicate in English This finding was strongly supported by Centikaya (2005)’s study, which was conducted among 356 Turkish students learning English in Turkey

Instead of investigating International posture, Peng and Woodrow (2010) argue that learner beliefs about English learning and classroom communication were more relevant to the understanding of classroom WTC than integrative attitudes towards L2 community In a study (n= 579) conducted among Chinese non-major English students, they found that learner beliefs directly influenced learners motivation and confidence and indirectly affected WTC in L2 classroom through motivation and confidence If learners believed that they did not learn much through engaging in classroom communication or that grammar lessons should be given more time, their motivation in trying to communicate reduced; hence, become less willing to do so

Or students would be less confident and more anxious to communicate when they believed that frequently speaking up in class may be criticized as “show-off”

Personality – extrovert vs introvert

Together with Self-confidence in L2 communication, Motivation, Attitudes and Beliefs in L2 learning, Personality is also found to influence a person’s L2 WTC It

is proposed by MacIntyre et al (1998) as a variable that sets “a stage for L2 communication” (p 558) It is one of the two components of layer VI in their WTC model In an EFL context, Cetinkaya (2005) conducted a study among 356 Turkish freshmen who had just graduated from high school She found that the students’ personality (introvert/ extrovert) correlated with their L2WTC through their perception of their communication competence Extroverted students seem to be more positive about their communication competence than introverted ones and because of that, they are more willing to communicate in English

2.4.2 Social contextual variables underlying WTC in L2

According to the holistic approach to linguistics, “language is not studied as an isolated, self-contained system, but rather in its natural surroundings” (Kramsch and Steffensen, 2008, p.18) In MacIntyre et al (1998)’s WTC model, social situation variable, a component of the affective and cognitive context layer, indirectly influences a person’s WTC in L2 They list five central components of this variable

as the participants, the setting, the purpose, the topic and the channel of communication

In Wen and Clément’s (2003) model of WTC in EFL classroom, two most important components of societal context variable moderating the relation between the desire to communicate and the WTC are group cohesiveness and teacher support Cohesiveness is “based on task attractiveness, referring to the satisfaction

of achieving goals that could not effectively be attained outside the group context” (Wen and Clément, 2003, p.26) Teacher support is the teacher’s attitude, involvement, immediacy and teaching styles (Wen and Clément, 2003) High group cohesiveness leads to learners being “motivated with task orientation or preoccupied with the prestige of group members” (ibid, p.27), while teachers who are friendly, willing to help and interested in their students help these students feel more secure and promote their engagement in the tasks (ibid)

Previous studies on variables underlying WTC in L2 show that L2 WTC is affected

by several social contextual variables, such as social support, learning context and classroom environment

Social support

MacIntyre, Baker, Clément and Conrod (2001) examined the relations among WTC, social support, and language learning orientation 79 Canadian 9th grade immersion students learning French as a second language participated in this study Data

collected from questionnaire survey revealed that social support from parents and teachers led to students’ WTC inside class, while support from peers influenced their WTC outside class The researchers also found that learning orientations positively correlated with L2 WTC

Learning context

Baker and MacIntyre (2000) conducted a study to explore the impact of learning context on linguistic outcomes of two groups of Canadian high school students learning French in an immersion program (n= 71) and non-immersion program (n= 124) The contrast between these two kinds of programs is similar to that of second language and foreign language learning environment in terms of contact with the target language and the kind of stimulation necessary to master communication in the target language (Baker and MacIntyre, 2000) Data were collected from questionnaire survey and participants’ essays on their positive or negative experience about speaking French

The findings suggested that learning context (immersion and non-immersion) affected L2 anxiety, L2 communication competence, L2 WTC and L2 use In addition, while perceived competence was strongly correlated with non-immersion students’ WTC, among the immersion students, it was communication anxiety

Classroom environment

In an informal classroom context, Kang (2005) conducted a qualitative research to examine how situational L2 WTC could dynamically emerge and fluctuate during a conversation situation between four non-native speaking learners (Korean students) and native-speaking tutors at a university in the United States Data collected through interview and stimulated recalls revealed three newly emerging antecedents

of situational WTC – security, excitement and responsibility, all of which were

subject to momentary change and influenced by situational factors, such as topic, interlocutors and conversational context

The antecedent “security” in Kang (2005)’s study refers to “the feeling of safe from fears that students have in L2 communication” (ibid, p.282) Students tend to feel less secure if they have to talk with a new interlocutor who does not know their L2 proficiency, in the presence of other students who share the same L1 background or with more interlocutors They also feel less secure if the topic is what they lack knowledge of On the other hand, they feel safer when the conversation goes on but immediately insecure when experiencing difficulties in producing utterances or understanding the interlocutor(s)

The antecedent “excitement” refers to “a feeling of elation about the act of talking” (ibid, p.284) Students tend to be more excited to talk if the topic is what they are interested in, have background knowledge about and have experience with They also feel more excited if they talk to a more competent and attractive interlocutor

The antecedent “responsibility” refers to “a feeling of obligation or duty to deliver and understand a message, or to make it clear” (ibid, p 285) Students tend to feel more responsible to carry out a conversation when the topic is useful or important to them, when the number of people attending the conversation is small or when they want to clarify in order to avoid misunderstanding

In an attempt to explain how WTC in L2 emerges in a particular situation, Kang (2005) presents a multilayered construct as shown on the next page

Figure 2.3: Kang’s (2005) model of situational WTC in L2

In a formal ESL classroom context, Cao (2009) conducted a qualitative study among 18 Chinese university students learning English as an additional language in New Zealand Framed by a socio-cognitive perspective on L2 learning, the researcher aimed to investigate the dynamic and situated nature of learners’ WTC in second language class Data collected from classroom observations, diary entries and stimulated-recall interviews indicated that the classroom WTC construct was more of a dynamic situational variable than a trait disposition, and that the dynamic L2 classroom WTC emerged from the interdependence between individual characteristics, classroom environmental conditions and linguistics factors A classroom L2 WTC model was proposed in this study as shown on the next page

In this model, Environmental dimension, together with Linguistic and Individual dimensions, facilitates or inhibits a learner’s L2 classroom WTC

Figure 2.4 Cao (2009)’s Classroom L2 WTC Model

In EFL classroom context, Pattapong (2010) conducted a study to examine the L2 WTC within its context and understand the teachers’ perspectives on what they did and how they attempted to promote students’ WTC through their teaching practices The participants of this study were 29 undergraduate Thai students, studying in five first-level English speaking classes at two universities in Bangkok, Thailand, and five teachers of these classes Data collected from interviews, stimulated recall and classroom observations revealed that four identified variables, with Cultural orientation, classified as: Cultural Context, Social and Individual Context, Classroom Context, and Social and Psychological Context affected learners’ WTC, and that students’ choice to use English in the specific activities depended on task, class management, and interlocutors She proposed a figure displaying all these variables, which is shown on the next page

Figure 2.5 The variables contributing to the participants’ WTC in Pattapong (2010)’s study

In summary, previous research has shown that learners’ WTC in L2, especially in L2 classroom, is affected by various individual and social factors However, due to its pedagogical purpose and scope, the current study focused on classroom environment as a direct predictor of learners’ WTC in L2 classroom In the following section, empirical studies aiming at investigating the tendency to communicate in EFL classroom and the influence of classroom environment on learners’ communication behaviours in EFL classroom will be reviewed These studies’ limitation will also be discussed

2.5 Conceptual framework of the current study

Inspired by the studies of Pattapong (2010), which closely investigated the impact

of classroom context factors on Asian EFL learners’ WTC inside classroom, the conceptual framework of the current study was proposed

L2 ORAL PERFORMANCE

in EFL classroom

Situational WTC in L2

Classroom context

Interlocutors Teachers

Peers

Tasks Topic

Nature

Classroom management

In this framework, the key terms are defined as follows:

“Second language” (L2), in a broad sense, is “any language learned after one has learnt one’s native language” (Richards and Schmidt, 2013, p 472) When contrasted with foreign language, “second language” is “a language that is learnt in

a location where that language is typically used as the main vehicle of everyday communication” (Oxford and Shearin, 1994, p.14) In the current study, “second language” is used with both meanings

“Foreign language” (FL) is a language that is learnt in a place where that language

is not typically used as the medium of ordinary communication” (Oxford and Shearin, 1994, p.14) In the current study, if a Vietnamese student learns English in Vietnam, he learns it as a foreign language If he studies it in America, he studies it

as a second language

“Willingness to communicate in second language” (L2 WTC) is “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2” (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p.547) In the current study, a learner’ L2 WTC refers

to the desire or intention to communicate in the second/foreign language when he is given a chance to do so

“Situational WTC”: Along with the personality trait construct, WTC is also a situational variable Kang (2005) emphasizes that WTC is “an individual’s volitional inclination towards actively engaging in the act of communication in a specific situation, which can vary according to interlocutor(s), topic, and conversational context among other potential situational variables” (p.291) In the current study, situational WTC in L2 refers to the immediate predictor of a person’s oral behavior in the second/ foreign language, which is affected by situational factors