Communication and Affective Variables Influencing Omani EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Faculty of Language Studies, Sohar University, Sohar, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

This study examined Omani EFL learners’ perceptions toward their willingness to communicate (WTC) in English. To this end, 204 students majoring in English language at a private university in Oman were assigned a questionnaire adapted from McCroskey’s (1992) WTC scale to determine possible effects of communication and affective variables on their WTC in English. After assessing the normality distribution of the data and the reliabilities of the scales, descriptive analyses were used to characterize the participants’ WTC. Also, repeated measures ANOVA analyses were conducted to measure the effect of different interlocutor types and the context type on the participants’ WTC. Overall, the results showed that the Omani students had fairly low WTC in English. Their WTC significantly varied based on the interlocutor types and the context types. It was also found that the participants had moderate motivation to learn EFL and positive attitudes toward English learning situations and the L1 community.

Keywords


Al-Issa, A. S., & Al-Bulushi, A. H. (2012). English language teaching reform in Sultanate of Oman: The case of theory and practice disparity. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 11(2), 141-176.
Baker, S. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2003). The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language orientations. Language Learning, 50, 311-341.
 Cetinkaya, Y. B. (2005). Turkish college students’ willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Ohio.
Clément, R., Baker, S. C., & MacIntyre, P. (2003). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The effects of context, norms and vitality. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 22(2), 190-209.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. London: Erlbaum.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
Gardner, R. C. (2006). The socioeducational model of second language acquisition: A research pardigm. In S. H. Foster-Cohen, M. M. Krajnovic, & J. M. Djigunović (Eds.), EUROSLA yearbook, volume 6, 2006 (pp. 237-260). Amesterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
Hashimoto, Y. (2002). Motivation and willingness to communicate as predictors of reported L2 use: The Japanese ESL context. Second Language Studies, 20(29-70).
Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture’s consequences (2nd ed.)Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Horwitz, E. K. (2008). Becoming a language teacher: A practical guide to second language learning and teaching. Bostton: Pearson Education, Inc.
Jung, M. A. (2011). Korean EFL university students' willingness to communicate in English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Ohio.
Kang, S.-J. (2005). Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language. System, 33, 277-292.
Kim, S. J. (2004). Exploring willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among EFL (English foreign language) students in Korea: WTC as a predictor of success in second language acquisition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Ohio.
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Liu, M. (2017). Adult Chinese as a second language learners’ willingness to communicate in Chinese: Effects of cultural, affective, and linguistic variables. Psychological Reports, 120(3), 423-442.
MacIntyre, P. D. (2007). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. Modern Language Journal, 91, 564-576.
MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S., Clément, R., & Donovan, L. A. (2003). Talking in order to learn: Willingness to communicate and intensive language programs. Canadian Modern Language Review, 59, 589-607.
MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S. C., Clément, R., & Donovan, L. A. (2002). Sex and age effects on willingness to communicate, anxiety, perceived competence, and L2 motivation among junior high school French immersion students. Language Learning, 52(3), 537-564.
MacIntyre, P. D., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15(1), 3-26.
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. Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-562.
MacIntyre, P. D., & Doucette, J. (2010). Willingness to communicate and action control. System, 38, 161-171.
MacIntyre, P. D., & Legatoo, 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.
McCroskey, J. C. (1992). Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly, 40(1), 16-25.
McCroskey, J. C., & McCroskey, L. L. (1988). Self-report as an approach to measuring communication competence. Communication Research Reports, 5(2), 108-113.   
McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1990a). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In M. Booth-Butterfield (Ed.), Communication, cognition, and anxiety (pp. 19-37). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Nydell, M. (1987). Understanding Arabs: A guide for westerners. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Obeidat, B. Y., Shannak, R. O., Masa'deh, R. E., & Al-Jarrah, I. M. (2012). Toward better understanding for arabian culture: Implications based on hofstede's cultural model. European Journal of Social Sciences, 28(4), 512-522.
Peirce, B. N. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31.
Peng, J. E. (2007a). 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, 33-59.
Peng, J. E. (2007b). Willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFL classroom: A cultural perspective. In J. Liu (Ed.), English language teaching in China: New approaches, perspectives, and standards (pp. 250-269). London: Continuum.
Peng, J. E., & Woodrow, L. (2010). Willingness to communicate in English: A model in the chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning, 60(4), 834-876.
Richmond, V. P., McCroskey, J. C., McCroskey, L. L., & Fayer, J. M. (2008). Communication traits in first and second languages: Puerto Rico. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 37(2), 65-73.
Sharabi, H. (1977). Impact of class and culture on social behavior: The feudal bourgeois family in Arab society. In L. C. Brown & N. Itzhowitz (Eds.), Psychological dimensions of Near Eastern studies (pp. 24-256). Princeton, NJ: The Darwin Press.
Wen, W. P., & Clément, R. (2003). A Chinese conceptualization of willingness to communicate in ESL. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 16(1), 18-38.
Yaghoubi, A. (2017). Critical thinking and willingness to communicate among EFL students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(2), 375-381.
Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.
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.
Yousef, F. S. (1974). Cross-cultural communication aspects of contrastive social values between North Americans and Middle Easterners. Human Organization, 33(4), 383-387.
Yu, M. (2009). Willingness to communicate of foreign language learners in a Chinese setting. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, Florida.
Zeng, M. (2010). Chinese students' willingness to communicate in English in Canada. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.