Sense of Classroom Community, Foreign Language Enjoyment, Foreign Language Anxiety, and Self Confidence as Predictors of Willingness to Communicate in English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The present study sought to scrutinize the contribution of perceived sense of classroom community, enjoyment, anxiety and self-confidence to willingness to communicate. Involving 402 senior high school students (Female: 249, Male: 153), the study was conducted in a sociocultural context which is under-represented in the international literature. Questionnaires gauging classroom community, foreign language enjoyment, foreign language anxiety, self-confidence, and willingness to communicate were administered to all respondents. Multiple regression analysis was calculated to predict students’ willingness to communicate. A significant regression equation was found. Perceived sense of classroom community, foreign language enjoyment, foreign language anxiety, and self-confidence concurrently contributed 21% of the total variance in willingness to communicate. Consistent with the literature, foreign language anxiety turned out to be the strongest negative predictor of willingness to communicate, whereas sense of classroom community, self-confidence, and foreign language enjoyment were all significant positive predictors.