(Luận văn thạc sĩ) factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in english classroom m a thesis linguistics 60 14 01 11

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHAN THI ̣ MAI HƢƠNG FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH IN CLASSROOM (NGHIÊN CỨU YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ TỰ GIÁC GIAO TIẾP CỦA SINH VIÊN BẰNG TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP HỌC) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HA NOI-2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ******************** PHAN THI ̣ MAI HƢƠNG FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH IN CLASSROOM (NGHIÊN CỨU YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ TỰ GIÁC GIAO TIẾP CỦA SINH VIÊN BẰNG TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP HỌ C) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Dr Lê Văn Canh HA NOI-2014 DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “Factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in English in classroom” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study Hanoi, 2014 Phan Thi Mai Hƣơng ̣ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many whose warm support, cheerful encouragement, and genuine guidance have been deeply appreciated First, I would like to express my immerse gratitude to Doctor Lê Văn Canh, my supervisor, who has patiently guided me through the research process for his insightful comments, invaluable guidance, thoughtful suggestions and inspiration I am profoundly grateful to all those who participated, the wonderful students at Hai Phong Private University, who acted as subjects I would like to make special mention to my husband, who has given me an unending supply of all sorts of help and whose support has made it possible for me to complete this study Thanks also go to family and friends for their encouragement ii ABSTRACT Willingness to communicate (WTC) has gained an increasing amount of attention in the area of second language acquisition (SLA) Despite the rich findings from previous researches, most of the previous studies have been conducted in Western countries Until recently, little research related to WTC has been conducted in a foreign language learning (EFL) context where there is usually no immediate linguistic need for learners to use English in their daily life The present study aimed to examine the extent to which the students are willing to communicate in English in the classroom according to their self-report, and factors that might affect the students‟ willingness to communicate in an English as a foreign language context A mixed-method approach design was employed in order to explore the different aspects of WTC construct Data was collected through a questionnaire and interviews The participants, 120 Vietnamese tertiary students, completed the WTC questionnaire Follow-up interview were then conducted with 12 participants The findings of this study shows that students‟ WTC is a complex issue because it is affected by multiple factors related to the nature of classroom tasks, the students‟ proficiency level and other learner factors A number of factors that appeared to affect their WTC in classroom were identified as: self-confidence, language attitude, self-perceived L2 proficiency, motivation and personality The results of this study contribute to the theoretical foundation and methodology of the WTC construct This study also provided pedagogical implications for English language teachers The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were also identified iii TABLE OF CONTENT PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Research Questions Scope of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of Willingness to communicate (WTC) 1.2 Heuristic Model of WTC in L2 1.3 Factors affecting students‟ WTC 1.3.1 Self-confidence 1.3.2 Personality 10 1.3.3 Language attitude 10 1.3.4 Motivation 11 1.4 Classroom WTC in L2 12 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH MOTHODOLOGY 15 2.1 Methodological Approach 15 2.2 Participants and context 16 2.3 Data collection 16 2.3.1 Instruments 17 2.3.2 Data collection procedures 18 2.3.3 Data analysis 18 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 19 3.1 Findings 19 3.1.1 Qualitative data (WTC interview) 19 iv 3.1.2 Qualitative data: Factors likely to influence L2 WTC 24 3.2 Summary 33 PART C: CONCLUSION 34 Concluding remarks 34 Pedagogical implications 34 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 35 LIST OF REFERENCES 37 APPENDIX A: WTC Questionnaire (English version) I v PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Among the four popular foreign languages in Vietnam: English, Chinese, Russian, and French, English has been the most popular since 1989 in political, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of Vietnam One reason for its popularity lies in Vietnam‟s establishment of diplomatic relationships with 174 countries, and economic and trade ties with almost all countries and territories in the world Evidently, English competence enhances the presence of Vietnamese because English is used as a means of communication in these organizations In addition, the current popularity of English in Vietnam arises from common demand because English is the key to science, technology and commerce In terms of how the popularity of English has influenced common Vietnamese, the processes of modernization, industrialization, integration, and globalization provide the Vietnamese with more opportunity to improve their study, work, and living conditions However, these processes and opportunities also force them to work harder to be better prepared for social demands In particular, Vietnamese more and more are required to be able to communicate in English and even be fluent in English for work and study in an international environment Modern language pedagogy attaches a lot of importance to communication and training language learners who are able to communicate effectively in the target language In a language classroom following communicative approach, language teachers are eager to have learners who are willing to use the language in class The reason is that researches have shown that a lack of willingness to use the language results in ineffective interaction and language production So, it is true that the notion of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) plays a key role in learning a second/foreign language MacIntyre et al (1998) conceptualized a heuristic model of WTC in L2 in order to explain the interrelations among affective variables influencing the WTC in L2 The heuristic model is associated with the perspective that “authentic communication in a L2 can be seen as the result of a complex system of interrelated variables” (MacIntyre et al., 1998) The heuristic model is also associated with the perspective that the L2 student‟s intention to communicate (WTC) is significantly connected to his/her actual L2 communication Despite the rich findings from previous researches, most of the previous studies have been conducted in Western countries Until recently, little research related to WTC has been conducted in a foreign language learning (EFL) context where there is usually no immediate linguistic need for learners to use English in their daily life Therefore, understanding the variables that might increase or decrease language learners‟ opportunities and readiness to speak in language classrooms seems to be pertinent in today‟s context Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at: (1) Exploring the extent to which students are willing to communicate in English classes; and (2) Identifying factors that might affect students‟ willingness to communicate in English classes These two aims are specified into the following objectives: (1) Gaining understanding of how students participate in English speaking tasks in the classroom (2) Finding out why students participate in classroom tasks and the way they Research Questions In order to achieve the above aims and objectives, the study was designed to find out answers to the following research questions: How willing are the students to communicate in English in the classroom according to their self-reports? What factors likely affects the students‟ willingness to communicate in the classroom? Scope of the study The study limits itself to the investigation into how students in one private university participate in classroom speaking tasks and the factors affecting their participation Thus, the study itself is largely a survey study Methods of the study A mixed-method approach was adopted in this study to achieve its aims and objectives For the quantitative part of the study, which could find out the general level of the selected participants‟ WTC, the researcher randomly selected four level classes (30 students each) of students to take part in the questionnaire survey For the qualitative part of this study, which could help to find out factors influencing students‟ WTC, the researcher randomly selected 16 students from the 120 students who had completed the questionnaire to take part in the individual interviews (four from each class) Design of the study This thesis consists of three chapters Chapter One reviews previous literature and research relevant to the research questions addressed in this study It also introduces the fundamental theoretical knowledge underlying WTC, and reviews some major findings from empirical research studies concerning L2 WTC Previous researches are subsequently listed and as a consequence, two research questions are raised for investigation Chapter Two describes the methodological approach employed in the current study A mixed-method design is adopted to enrich the data from different perspectives The major research instruments, the WTC questionnaire and semistructured interviews are identified This chapter also describes procedures for collecting and analyzing data Chapter Three reports key findings from an analysis of the research data These include results based on the use of both quantitative and qualitative research techniques Results from a content analysis of the interview data are also considered This chapter also summarizes the key findings of this study “My communication competence is poor because we seldom communicate in English, we have little chance to communicate in English So I will feel nervous Sometimes, I feel I have no real reasons to learn this language I never speak English outside classroom.” Opportunities for interaction lead to the development of greater actual competence, possibly through a combination of practice and the adjustment of learner beliefs Obviously, the learners‟ ability to communicate in the L2 will improve with practice Thus, the students‟ intention or willingness to engage in L2 communication is determined by a combination of the students‟ perception of his or her second language competence, the opportunity to use the language, and a lack of apprehension about speaking It also makes sense that in the classroom situation, students with high perceived L2 competence and less anxiety tend to be more willing to enter into communication  Self-perceived L2 proficiency It appeared that self-perceived L2 proficiency influenced the Vietnamese learners‟ WTC in this study As MacIntyre et al (1998) suggested, the degree of a person‟s L2 proficiency has a significant effect on his/her WTC Previous studies have found that low linguistic proficiency could prevent students from venturing to speak the L2 in class (Liu & Jackson, 2008) The current study found that a low level of linguistic proficiency could lead some students to feel anxious, which reduces their self-confidence, and consequently discourages them from communicating in the L2 During the interview, S11 and S15 stated that they felt nervous while communicating in English in class because their English proficiency was low For example, S11 stated in her interview: “I think my English is not good enough I feel nervous; I don’t feel confident because I can’t express everything that I want to Some other students are more confident than me because they are better at English If I am better at English, I will become more confident.” 29 This finding seems to support MacIntyre et al.‟s (1997) study examining young adult Anglophone students‟ self-assessed L2 proficiency and L2 anxiety The results indicated that anxious students underestimate their L2 proficiency and communicate less frequently than more relaxed students who overestimate their L2 proficiency MacIntyre et al (1997) claimed that speaking is more anxiety provoking than reading because there are “more public and ego involving activities, raising one‟s level of self-consciousness and reducing one‟s control over the environment” A number of studies (Cao & Philp, 2006; Liu, 2005; Peng, 2007) revealed that a lack of vocabulary in L2 was a factor affecting students‟ perceived proficiency, which in turn influenced WTC In Cao‟s (2009) more recent study, she revealed that a lack of linguistic competence negatively affected communication in terms of both comprehension and production Difficulty with the comprehension of keywords in an article or oral language reduced students‟ willingness to talk in the L2 A lack of lexical resources was also found to adversely affect the students‟ communication with others In the present study, S2 and S16 reported difficulty in finding appropriate words or structures to express their ideas In this way an inadequate level of communicative competence might add to students‟ cognitive load, with the result that they were not confident about expressing their ideas, which in turn led them to feel anxious and frustrated and contributed to their pessimism in class  Motivation Another underlying factors affecting students‟ WTC in L2 is motivation L2 researchers have argued that motivation to learn a foreign language is important for success in the attainment of L2 proficiency because L2 motivated tend to consider L2 learning enjoyable and beneficial, which then may lead them to become more active in their L2 use In their heuristic model of WTC in L2, MacIntyre et al (1998) regard attitudes, as located in layer IV, as having an indirect effect on L2 WTC through their influence on affective variables That is to say, motivation is important factors which influence WTC in English through their interaction with other affective variables If L2 students are motivated for English learning, they will 30 have greater confidence in English communication, which is directly related to L2 WTC and important for the success of SLA (Yashima, 2002) As shown in the results of this study, all the eight interview participants expressed their interest in going abroad for travelling, living or further study Although most of them have never had any chance to go abroad, their desire to study, work or travel abroad is huge and they understand that English is an effective tool for them to open their eyes and fly higher As S5 stated: “I have been always curious about Western cultures through Hollywood movies All I want is to go to America one day and I have tried my best to make my dream come true I read news about Western countries every day and I always make use of every chance to communicate with foreigners This is really fun and meaningful to me” Another student, S8 said that “I always want to get married to a foreigner As a result, I am preparing my cultural and language knowledge for my future.” Although their English is not very good, they have been working hard to improve their language proficiency The study carried out by Gardner (1985, 1988) also indicates that motivation is one of the important factors in predicting the success of SLA Gardner claims that motivated L2students extend their active and personal involvement in L2 learning, which can enable them to achieve successful L2 acquisition Because of the importance of motivation in SLA, it is argued that it is important for L2 educators and researchers to understand why L2 students learn their target L2  Personality According to the interview, personality is also considered one of the causes why students are not willing to speak in English in the classroom It has been a common belief among L2 students, teachers, and researchers that there is a positive relationship between extroversion and success in the attainment of L2 oral proficiency (Bush, 1982; Ellis, 1994) Naiman et al (1978) conducted a study with 31 34 adult L2 learners who were identified as good L2 learners According to research findings fromoral interviews with the participants, 31 percent of the participants in the study considered sociability as important, and 22 percent of the participants regarded extroversion as helpful, especially in achieving oral skills The findings seem to correspond to the perspective in SLA that “the best learners are likely to be extrovert because of their willingness to speak out and interact” (Brown, 1987) In regard to L2teachers‟ perception of personality in SLA, Brown (1973) states that L2 teachers, especially in Western society, consider extroversion as a desirable behavior in achieving L2 oral proficiency Thus, it is recommended that L2 teachers encourage their students to be extroverted in L2 learning contexts In accordance with L2 students‟ and teachers‟ perceptions of the importance of extroversion in SLA, L2 researchers have hypothesized that extroverted L2 learners have a better potential to acquire basic interpersonal communication skills, thus leading to better L2 oral communication Having the same result with theirs from previous studies, the interview data also reinforce the role of motivation in students‟ WTC in English in classroom S13 and S10 with the highest degree of motivation showed the best L2 competence level Moreover, it reveals that pair or small group discussions are often seen as a means of reducing learners‟ performance anxiety, and providing greater opportunities for communicative interactions It is clear that students received much more opportunity to speak in groups than in a teacher-fronted class That is, the smaller the size of a group, the greater the number of opportunities presented for learners to communicate Similarly, such a phenomenon also occurred in the current study Almost all of the participants reported that they enjoyed speaking English with their peers or in small group discussion as it brought a more relaxed and informal kind of interaction However, not all students enjoy involving speaking activities in small group As for participation in the whole class situation, S4 stated “I prefer talking in small groups, especially in pair I am afraid of being dominated by better students in big group and having no chance to communicate in 32 English In addition, when speaking in small group, if I speak one sentence incorrectly, only one person knows, thus, encouraging me to correct and speaking more in class.” 3.2 Summary This section summarized the findings from both the quantitative and qualitative data of the present study Analysis of the quantitative data aimed to identify Vietnamese tertiary students‟ level of L2 WTC while the qualitative data was intended to reveal factors likely to influence their L2 WTC Quantitative results from the self-report WTC data revealed that the selected 120 students‟ perception of their L2 WTC was generally low Further analysis found that students‟ WTC varied across contexts, and they were most willing to communicate in English when tasks were less cognitively demanding and psychologically safer This seemed to suggest that their actual L2 proficiency or self-perceived level of communicative competence may be a key factor affecting their L2 WTC This was further confirmed in the interviews with eight randomly selected participants Data from the interviews suggested that if students had a higher level of self-perceived competence, they would feel more confident, and thus their L2 WTC would increase According to the quantitative data collected in this study, it was found that the participants were least willing to communicate with teachers in class, yet more willing to communicate with their teachers when directly called upon This could be explained by the Vietnamese students‟ passive way of learning, and our cultural values of face-protection In other words, cultural values may have an influence on trait-level WTC Apart from the factors of L2 proficiency and cultural influence mentioned above, this study also identified some other factors possibly influencing HPU students‟ L2 WTC which were isolated from the interview data These factors included selfconfidence, language attitude, self-perceived L2 proficiency, motivation and personality These factors are consistent with previous studies which have been conducted into L2 WTC 33 PART C: CONCLUSION Concluding remarks The main focus of this study was on understanding the factors that might influence students‟ L2 WTC, including self-confidence, personality, language attitude and motivation and self-perceived L2 proficiency One aspect of the current study which differs from most of those previously undertaken is that this study identifies factors that influence L2 WTC in the classroom from the point of view of learners rather than merely revealing the antecedents of WTC via self-report survey In addition, through the research, the relationships between these main factors and WTC were deeply taken into consideration The findings of the present study show that students‟ WTC is a complex issue because it is affected by multiple factors related to the nature of the classroom tasks, the students‟ proficiency level and other learner factors However, it seems that students‟ proficiency in English affects most their WTC The students in this study reported that their oral communicative competence was limited (e.g limited vocabulary, speaking skills, etc.) Consequently, they were more willing to communicate in English if the tasks were less cognitively demanding such as apologizing, thanking or greeting For more cognitively demanding tasks, i.e transactional tasks students appeared to be divided In other words, approximately half of them were willing to participate in these tasks while the participation of the other half was comparatively low One interesting point to note is more than 85 % of the students reported that they were active in speaking English if they were allowed to prepare their speech in the form of notes Personality is also an important factor affecting students‟ WTC They reported that they felt nervous, inconfident or fearful of mistakes so they opted for avoidance strategies Pedagogical implications The present study, through its detailed descriptions of WTC, offers valuable information for the purpose of teachers‟ reflection and classroom practice The results of this study have confirmed that WTC needs to be seen as an important 34 component of SLA (Kang, 2005) Language teaching should ultimately foster learners‟ willingness to engage in communication and their willingness to talk in order to learn Therefore, it seems that an increased knowledge of the nature of WTC, coupled with its potential effects on classroom interaction, would benefit both individual instructors and students In EFL contexts like Vietnam, L2 learning mainly occurs in a classroom setting, so generating and enhancing students‟ L2 WTC in the classroom plays a decisive role in improving students‟ L2 learning On the basis of the information teachers gain about their students‟ WTC, they need to design tasks that are more suitable and more engaging Allowing enough time for the students to prepare before ask them to speak out in the classroom is necessary Students in this study said they would be happy to speak English in the classroom with their notes Most importantly, creating a friendly classroom environment is of great importance Many students said they were not willing to communicate because they felt nervous or they were afraid of making mistakes Teachers‟ tolerance to students‟ errors are so important Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies Although the researcher has tried her best, several limitations to the present study are noteworthy One obvious limitation results from the small sample involved in the interviews The interview data represent a sample of just sixteen learners; therefore, it was not possible to adequately address the research questions except as they relate to these learners, or to generalize the findings to a wider L2 population As a result, further research incorporating a similar design, and a larger sample size, would be of value The study use only the questionnaire and interview as instruments of data collection Therefore, the findings are based in the students‟ self-reports It is not clear whether their self-reports mirror accurately their actual participation in classroom communication in English This problem may affect both the reliability and validity of the study Despite this drawback, the findings of the study provided 35 some useful information about the need to design communicative tasks that are on par with the students‟ proficiency level and to create a safe learning environment in the classroom These may help to increase the students‟ WTC Classroom observation and students‟ diaries are needed in the future research to achieve better reliability and validity In addition, the focus of this study was confined to the speaking mode of L2 WTC However, MacIntyre et.al (1998) argued that L2 WTC not only covers the speaking mode but also other modes of communication In order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of L2 WTC, future studies could focus on L2 WTC not only in the oral mode but also listening, writing, and reading 36 LIST OF REFERENCES Cao, Y Q., & Philp, J (2006) Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction System, 34, 480-493 Cao, Y Q (2009) Understanding the notion of interdependence and the dynamics of willingness to communicate Unpublished doctoral dissertation, the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Clément, R.(2003) Willingness to communicate in asecond language: The effects of context, norms, and vitality Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 190209 Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K A (1994) Motivation, self-confidence, and group cohesion in the foreign language classroom Language Learning, 417-448 Dörnyei, Z (2003) Conceptualizing motivation in foreign language learning Language Learning, 45-78 Dörnyei, Z (2007) Research methods in applied linguistics: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies Oxford: Oxford University Press Gardner, R.C (1985) Social psychology and second language learning: the role of attitude and motivation London, England: Edward Arnold Gardner, R C.,(1980) Home background characteristics and second language learning Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18(4), 419-437 Johnson, B., & Christensen, L (2008) Educational research: quantitative, Qualitative, and mixed approaches (2nd Ed.) New York , NY: Pearson Johnson, D M (1992) Approaches to research in second language learning New York: Longman Kang, S J (2005) Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language System, 277-292 Kim, S J (2004) Exploring willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among Korean EFL (English as a foreign language) students in Korea: WTC as a predictor 37 of success in second language acquisition Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Ohio State University, Ohio, U.S.A MacIntyre, P D., Baker, S C., Clément, R., & Donovan, L A (2003) Talk in order to learn: Willingness to communicate and intensive language programs The Canadian Modern Language Review, 589-607 MacIntyre, P D., & Charos, C (1996) Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication Journal of Language and Social Psychology,3-26 MacIntyre, P D., Dörnyei, Z., Clément, R., & Noels, K A (1998) Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation The Modern Language Journal, 545-562 MacIntyre, P D., Noels, K A., & Clément, R (1997) Biases in self -ratings of second language proficiency: The role of language anxiety Language Learning, 265-286 McCroskey, J C (1992) Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale Communication Quarterly, 16-25 McCroskey, J C., & Baer, J E (1985) Willingness to communicate: The construct and its measurement Paper presented at the meeting of the Annual Convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver, CO McCroskey, J C., & Richmond, V P (1990) Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view Journal of Social Behavior and Personality ,19 - 44 Skehan, P (1989) Individual differences in second language learning London, England: Edward Arnold Yashima, T (2002) Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66 Yashima, T (2004) The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication Language Learning, 119-152 38 APPENDIX A: WTC Questionnaire (English version) I II APPENDIX B: WTC Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) Tên: …………… Giới tính: ………… Tuổi: … Bạn học Tiếng Anh rồi? … Hướng dẫn:Sau 15 tình bạn chọn giao tiếp không giao tiếp Tiếng Anh Giả định bạn có tồn quyền lựa chọn Hãy mức độ bạn sẵn sàng giao tiếp Tiếng Anh tình cách điền số từ đến 100 vào chỗ trống phía bên tay trái cạnh tình 0% = KHÔNG BAO GIỜ sẵng sàng giao tiếp Tiếng Anh 100%= LUÔN LUÔN sẵng sàng giao tiếp Tiếng Anh … Sẵn sàng trả lời câu hỏi Tiếng Anh giáo viên hỏi trước lớp … Trả lời câu hỏi Tiếng Anh giáo viên gọi … Nói chuyện Tiếng Anh với giáo viên trước sau tiết học … Hỏi giáo viên câu hỏi Tiếng Anh lớp học … Hỏi giáo viên câu hỏi Tiếng Anh riêng tư … Trình bày ý kiến Tiếng Anh trước lớp … Tham gia làm việc theo cặp Tiếng Anh … Nói Xin lỗi Tiếng Anh bạn sai … Giúp bạn khác trả lời câu hỏi Tiếng Anh ….10 Hát hát Tiếng Anh .11 Đọc to đoạn hội thoại Tiếng Anh sách giáo khoa ….12 Nói Cảm ơn Tiếng Anh bạn giúp ….13 Giới thiệu thân Tiếng Anh mà khơng cần nhìn vào ghi ….14 Chào bạn Tiếng Anh ….15 Thuyết trình Tiếng Anh có ghi III APPENDIX C: Semi-structured WTC Interview Questions (English version) Have you ever had the chance to communicate with a foreigner in English? How important is it for you to learn English? How good are you at learning English? What you think your English level is like? What about your speaking skill in particular? How motivated were you in learning English? How much did you like learning English with your classmate? How would you describe your personality (quiet or talkative, relaxed or tense)? How competent you think you were to communicate in English? Did you feel confident when speaking English in class? 10 Were you afraid that other students would laugh at you when you were speaking English? 11 In what situation did you feel most comfortable (most willing) to communicate (in pair, in small group, with the teacher in a whole class)? why? 12 How you like it if your teacher lectures in English? 13 Do you hope that your English teachers will speak English more in class? 14 Would you like to have more opportunities to speak English in class? 15 What you think are the main factors that affect your willingness to speak English in class? IV APPENDIX D: Semi-structured WTC Interview Questions (Vietnamese version) Bạn giao tiếp với người nước Tiếng Anh chưa? Đối với bạn Tiếng Anh quan trọng nào? Bạn học Tiếng Anh có tốt khơng? Theo bạn trình độ Tiếng Anh bạn mức độ nào? Bạn đánh giá kĩ nói bạn nào? Bạn có động lực để học Tiếng Anh khơng? Bạn có thích học Tiếng Anh với bạn lớp khơng? Bạn miêu tả tính cách bạn nào? (ít nói hay hoạt ngơn, thoải mái hay nghiêm khắc) Mức độ thành thạo giao tiếp Tiếng Anh bạn nào? Bạn có cảm thấy tự tin nói Tiếng Anh lớp khơng? 10 Bạn có e ngại sinh viên khác lớp chế nhạo bạn bạn nói Tiếng Anh lớp khơng? 11 Tình bạn cảm thấy thoải mái nhât (sẵn sàng nhất) để giao tiếp Tiếng Anh (theo cặp, theo nhóm nhỏ hay với giáo viên lớp học)? Tại sao? 12 Bạn nghĩ giáo viên giảng Tiếng Anh không? 13 Bạn có mong muốn giáo viên nói nhiều Tiếng Anh lớp khơng? 14 Bạn có muốn có them nhiều hội để giao tiếp Tiếng Anh lớp học không? 15 Theo bạn yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến mức độ sẵn sàng giao tiếp Tiếng Anh bạn lớp học? V ... training language learners who are able to communicate effectively in the target language In a language classroom following communicative approach, language teachers are eager to have learners... able to communicate in English and even be fluent in English for work and study in an international environment Modern language pedagogy attaches a lot of importance to communication and training... English Teaching Methodology Code : 601 4 011 1 Supervisor : Dr Lê Văn Canh HA NOI-2 014 DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled ? ?Factors affecting students’ willingness to communicate in English