PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

 

e-ISSN 2231-8534
ISSN 0128-7702

Home / Regular Issue / JSSH Vol. 30 (3) Sep. 2022 / JSSH-8490-2021

 

Pakistani Teachers’ Views About Their Undergraduates’ Willingness to Communicate in English Inside the Classroom

Ubaid Ullah Ubaid, Joseph Ramanair, Souba Rethinasamy and Irfan Bashir

Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Volume 30, Issue 3, September 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.3.16

Keywords: Classroom, dynamic, second language, teachers’ views, Willingness to Communicate (WTC)

Published on: 6 September 2022

The main goal of modern second language (L2) pedagogy is to engender effective communication among its learners. Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has emerged as the most vibrant topic in L2 pedagogy, especially in the last two decades. A plethora of research on students’ views about their WTC has been conducted in a variety of contexts. However, research on teachers’ views about their students’ WTC in English is still in its infancy. Thus, this study investigated ESL teachers’ views about their undergraduates’ WTC in English inside the classroom. The cluster sampling technique was used to collect data from 80 ESL teachers from eight universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The results revealed that the teachers viewed the undergraduates’ level of WTC as high in most classroom situations, such as during groups, during activities with the same and opposite gender, when given preparation time, seated in the middle of the class, and in front of the whole class. However, students showed a moderate level of WTC in situations such as sitting in front of the class and at the back of the class. A one-way ANOVA was performed to examine the differences between different classroom situations. The results showed significant differences in the teachers’ views about their students’ WTC in most classroom situations. Thus, the current study affirms that WTC is a dynamic variable that changes from situation to situation.

  • Abbasi, A. M., Ahmed, R., Ahmed, M., & Hanif, U. (2020). Investigation of English communication skills of university students. International Journal of Publication and Social Studies, 5(2), 131-146. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.135.2020.52.131.146

  • Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality and behaviour. Open University Press.

  • Ali, M. (2017). Investigating Pakistani university students’ level of willingness to communicate (WTC) in English as a foreign language: A case study of students from the Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Northumbria University.

  • Ali, M. M., Khizar, N. U., Yaqub, H., Afzaal, J., & Shahid, A. (2020). Investigating speaking skills problems of Pakistani learners in ESL context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 9(4), 62-70. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.9n.4p.62

  • Asmali, M. (2016). Willingness to communicate of foreign language learners in Turkish context. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 232, 188-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.044

  • Ballester, E. P. (2015). Verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy and foreign language anxiety in an EFL university course. Porta Linguarum: Revista Internacional de Didáctica de Las Lenguas Extranjeras, (23), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.30827/Digibug.53759

  • Baran-Łucarz, M. (2015). Foreign language self-assessment and willingness to communicate in and outside the classroom. In E. Piechurska-Kuciel & M. Szyszka (Eds.), The ecosystem of the foreign language learner. Second language learning and teaching (pp. 37-57). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14334-7_3

  • Başöz, T., & Erten, I. H. (2018). Investigating tertiary level EFL learners’ willingness to communicate in English. English Language Teaching, 11(3), 78-87. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n3p78

  • Bernales, C. (2016). Towards a comprehensive concept of willingness to communicate: Learners’ predicted and self-reported participation in the foreign language classroom. System, 56, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.11.002

  • Borkowska, A. (2021). In-class willingness to communicate in English among third agers: Results of a questionnaire study. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), Investigating individual learner differences in second language learning (pp. 95-114). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75726-7_5

  • Breen, M. P. (Ed.), (2001). Learner contributions to language learning: New directions in research. Pearson Education Limited.

  • Bukhari, S. F., Cheng, X., & Khan, S. A. (2015). Willingness to communicate in English as a second language: A case study of Pakistani undergraduates. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(29), 39-44.

  • Cao, Y. (2009). Understanding the notion of interdependence, and the dynamics of willingness to communicate [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Auckland.

  • Cao, Y. (2011). Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39(4), 468-479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.10.016

  • Cao, Y. (2013). Exploring Dynamism in Willingness to Communicate: A Longitudinal Case Study. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 36(2), 160 -176. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.36.2.03cao

  • Cao, Y. (2014). A sociocognitive perspective on second language classroom willingness to communicate. TESOL Quarterly, 48(4), 789-814. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.155

  • Cao, Y., & Philp, J. (2006). Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System, 34(4), 480-493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.05.002

  • Cetinkaya, Y. B. (2005). Turkish college students’ willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Ohio State University.

  • Chang, C. F. M. (2018). Exploring factors influencing the willingness to communicate among English-as-a-second language university students [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of San Francisco.

  • de Saint Léger, D., & Storch, N. (2009). Learners’ perceptions and attitudes: Implications for willingness to communicate in an L2 classroom. System, 37(2), 269-285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.01.001

  • Dewaele, J. M., & Dewaele, L. (2018). Learner-internal and learner-external predictors of willingness to communicate in the FL classroom. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 2(1), 24-37. http://doi.org/10.22599/jesla.37

  • Eddy-U, M. (2015). Motivation for participation or non-participation in group tasks: A dynamic systems model of task-situated willingness to communicate. System, 50, 43-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.03.005

  • Fatima, I., Malik Mohamed Ismail, S. A., Pathan, Z. H., & Memon, U. (2020). The power of openness to experience, extraversion, L2 self-confidence, classroom environment in predicting L2 willingness to communicate. International Journal of Instruction, 13, 909-924. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2020.13360a

  • Gable, R. K., & Wolf, M. B. (2012). Instrument development in the affective domain: Measuring attitudes and values in corporate and school settings (Vol. 36). Springer Science & Business Media.

  • Gay, L., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2011). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (10th ed.). Pearson.

  • Gilakjani, A. P., & Sabouri, N. B. (2017). Teachers’ beliefs in English language teaching and learning: A review of the literature. English Language Teaching, 10(4), 78-86. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n4p78

  • Harran, T. J. (2006). A study of teachers’ behavior. Communication Studies, 19, 19-34.

  • Hsu, L. L. (2005). The relationship among teachers’ verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors and students’ willingness to speak in English in central Taiwanese college classrooms. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Oral Roberts University.

  • Islam, M., Lamb, M., & Chambers, G. (2013). The L2 motivational self-system and national interest: A Pakistani perspective. System, 41(2), 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.01.025

  • Javed, F. (2020). Adaptation challenges faced by Pakistani university entrants. Student Success, 11(2), 41-51. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v11i3.1164

  • Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.

  • Kalra, R. (2017). The effectiveness of using films in the EFL classroom: A case study conducted at an international university in Thailand. Arab World English Journal, 8(3), 289-301. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol8no3.19

  • Kalsoom, A., Soomro, N. H., & Pathan, Z. H. (2020). How social support and foreign language anxiety impact willingness to communicate in English in an EFL classroom. International Journal of English Linguistics, 10(2), 80-91. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n2p80

  • Kalyar, J. M., Pathan, H., Channa, M. A., Lohar, S. A., & Khan, J. (2019). An investigation of willingness to communication in ESL classroom: A quantitative study of elementary students in Pakistan. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(1), 357-366. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n1p357

  • Kang, S. J. (2005). Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language. System, 33(2), 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.10.004

  • Khan, H. I. (2013). An investigation of two universities’ postgraduate students and their teachers’ perceptions of policy and practice of English medium of instruction (EMI) in Pakistani universities [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Glasgow. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/4451

  • Khan, T. J., Zahid, M., & Akhtar, S. (2017). Obstacles in teaching English as a second language (ESL) among pre-university students of district Mianwali (Pakistan) - a Pakistani case study. International Journal of Pure and Applied Researches, 1(1), 62-72.

  • 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 of success in second language acquisition [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Ohio State University.

  • Li, X. (2012). The role of teachers’ beliefs in the language teaching-learning process. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(7), 1397-1402.

  • Lian, L., & Budin, M. (2014). Investigating the relationship between English language anxiety and the achievement of school based oral English test among Malaysian Form Four students. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2(1), 67-79.

  • Liu, J. (2002). Negotiating silence in American classrooms: Three Chinese cases. Language and intercultural communication, 2(1), 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708470208668074

  • Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2009). Reticence in Chinese EFL students at varied proficiency levels. TESL Canada Journal, 26(2), 65-81. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v26i2.415

  • MacIntyre, P. (2020). Expanding the theoretical base for the dynamics of willingness to communicate. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10(1), 111-131. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.6

  • MacIntyre, P. D., & Doucette, J. (2010). Willingness to communicate and action control. System, 38(2), 161-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.12.013

  • MacIntyre, P. D., & Legatto, J. J. (2011). A dynamic system approach to willingness to communicate: Developing an idiodynamic method to capture rapidly changing affect. Applied Linguistics, 32(2), 149-171. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq037

  • MacIntyre, P. D., & Wang, L. (2021). Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC. Language Teaching Research, 25(6), 878-898. https://doi.10.1177/13621688211004645

  • MacIntyre, P. D., Burns, C., & Jessome, A. (2011). Ambivalence about communicating in a second language: A qualitative study of French immersion students’ willingness to communicate. The Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01141.x

  • MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545-562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x

  • McCroskey, J. C., & Baer, J. E. (1985, November 7-10). Willingness to communicate and its measurement [Paper presentation]. Annual Convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver, Colorado. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED265604

  • Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2016). Dynamics of classroom WTC: Results of a semester study. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(4), 651-676. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2016.6.4.5

  • Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2018). Fluctuations in willingness to communicate during a semester: A case study. The Language Learning Journal, 49(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1469660

  • Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Pawlak, M. (2014). Fluctuations in learners’ willingness to communicate during communicative task performance: Conditions and tendencies. Research in Language, 12(3), 245-260. https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2014-0019

  • Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Pawlak, M. (2017). Willingness to communicate in instructed second language acquisition. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783097173

  • Nosheen, S. S., Javed, M., & Akhtar, H. (2020). Analyzing strategies for developing students’ speaking skills in public universities of Pakistan. Global Regional Review, 1, 92-99. http://doi.org/10.31703/grr.2020(V-I).12

  • Omar, Y. Z. (2019). Influence of grammar translation method (GTM) on Libyan students’ English performance in communicative situations. PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 5(2), 511-530. https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2019.52.511530

  • Oz, H. (2014). Big five personality traits and willingness to communicate among foreign language learners in Turkey. Social Behavior and Personality, 42, 1473-1482. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2014.42.9.1473

  • Pamuk, S., Ergun, M., Cakir, R., Yilmaz, H. B., & Ayas, C. (2015). Exploring relationships among TPACK components and development of the TPACK instrument. Education and Information Technologies, 20(2), 241-263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-013-9278-4

  • Panhwar, A. H., Baloch, S., & Khan, S. (2017). Making communicative language teaching work in Pakistan. International Journal of English Linguistics, 7(3), 226-234. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v7n3p226

  • Pathan, H., Shahriar, A., & Mari, M. A. (2010). Motivation for learning English in Pakistan. ELF, Annual Research Journal SALU, 12, 75-93

  • Pawlak, M., & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2015). Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System, 50, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.02.001

  • Peng, J. (2013). The challenge of measuring willingness to communicate in EFL contexts. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 22(3), 281-290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-012-0053-x

  • Peng, J. E. (2007). Willingness to communicate in an L2 and integrative motivation among college students in an intensive English language program in China. University of Sydney papers in TESOL, 2(1), 33-59.

  • Peng, J. E. (2014). Willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFL university classroom: An ecological perspective (Vol. 76). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783091560

  • Peng, J. E., & Woodrow, L. J. L. L. (2010). Willingness to communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies, 60(4), 834-876. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00576.x

  • Piechurska-Kuciel, E. (2018). Openness to experience as a predictor of L2 WTC. System, 72, 190-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.01.001

  • Riasati, M. J. (2012). EFL learners’ perception of factors influencing willingness to speak English in language classrooms: A qualitative study. World Applied Sciences Journal, 17(10), 1287-1297.

  • Riasati, M. J., & Rahimi, F. (2018). Situational and individual factors engendering willingness to speak English in foreign language classrooms. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1513313

  • Robinson, M. A. (2018). Using multi‐item psychometric scales for research and practice in human resource management. Human Resource Management, 57(3), 739-750. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21852

  • Saechou,T. (2005). Verbal and nonverbal immediacy: Sex differences and international teaching assistants [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Louisiana State University. https://doi.org/10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2912

  • Shamim, F. (2008). Trends, issues and challenges in English language education in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(3), 235-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188790802267324

  • Shamim, F. (2011). English as the language for development in Pakistan: Issues, challenges and possible solutions. Dreams and realities: Developing Countries and the English Language, 14(1), 291-310.

  • Sheybani, M. (2019). The relationship between EFL learners’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and their teacher immediacy attributes: A structural equation modelling. Cogent Psychology, 6(1), Article 1607051. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2019.1607051

  • Shirvan, M. E., Khajavy, G. H., MacIntyre, P. D., & Taherian, T. (2019). A meta-analysis of L2 willingness to communicate and its three high-evidence correlates. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 48(6), 1241-1267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09656-9

  • Shoukat, B., & Ghani, M. (2015). English language teachers’ opinion on intermediate English textbooks taught in Punjab Pakistan. Dialogue, 10(3), 313-324.

  • Syed, H. A. S. (2016). Dynamics of variables underlying willingness to communicate (WTC) in English (L2): A case study of postgraduate business students at a university classroom in Sukkur, Pakistan [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of York.

  • Syed, H., & Kuzborska, I. (2019). Understanding the nature of variations in postgraduate learners’ willingness to communicate in English. Cogent Education, 6(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1606487

  • Ubaid, U. U., Ramanair, J., & Rethinasamy, S. (2021). Development and validation of willingness to communicate, language use, and motivation questionnaires. Issues in Language Studies, 10(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.33736/ils.2763.2021

  • Weaver, C. (2005). Using the Rasch model to develop a measure of second language learners’ willingness to communicate within a language classroom. Journal of Applied Measurement, 6(4), 396-415.

  • Yashima, T. (2009). International posture and the ideal L2 self in the Japanese EFL context. In Z. Dӧrnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 144-163). Multilingual Matters.

  • Yashima, T., MacIntyre, P. D., & Ikeda, M. (2018). Situated willingness to communicate in an L2: Interplay of individual characteristics and context. Language Teaching Research, 22(1), 115-137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816657851

  • Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54, 119-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00250.x

  • Zarrinabadi, N. (2014). Communicating in a second language: Investigating the effect of teacher on learners’ willingness to communicate. System, 42, 288-295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.12.014

ISSN 0128-7702

e-ISSN 2231-8534

Article ID

JSSH-8490-2021

Download Full Article PDF

Share this article

Recent Articles