Willingness to communicate in a second language. : The influence of students’ perceptions, contributions and attitudes

The aim of this study is two-fold. On the one hand, it aims to investigate language learners’ perceptions of themselves in four different fields: (i) their speaking abilities, (ii) their contributions to oral class activities (including both whole class and small group discussions), (iii) their attitudes towards these activities, and (iv) how such perceptions and attitudes influence their willingness to communicate in the L2. On the other, it is designed to allow comparison with the findings of a similar self-rating study performed recently by de Saint Léger & Storch (2009), all in order to determine if the results seem to have a more general basis. The present investigation was performed during lessons in English A in eight groups at John Bauergymnasiet in Östersund. All in all, 134 students took part in the study by answering a self-assessment questionnaire on the target variables. In both investigations, anxiety and vocabulary were reported to be the most difficult aspects of oral interaction, and it was shown that students perceived whole-class discussion as the activity most difficult to handle. The results of this study also show that many of the students investigated in fact prefer to communicate in Swedish, or to use both English and Swedish in class. To counteract this pedagogical problem, teachers should focus on the dynamics between teacher and student and also the dynamics within the group of learners. If students feel safe in their learning environment, and if there is an ongoing dialogue regarding these issues, students’ willingness to communicate is likely to increase