The Effects of Pronunciation Anxiety and Motivation on English Learners’ Willingness to Communicate

Abstract

The present quantitative study intended to investigate the effect of Iranian EFL learners' pronunciation anxiety (PA) and pronunciation motivation (PM) on their L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC) in English classes. Additionally, it aimed at identifying which of these two independent variables (PA or PM) could better predict their L2 WTC. To these aims, a convenient sample of 134 upper-intermediate EFL learners were recruited from two private language institutes in one of the large cities of Iran. Their proficiency level had already been determined by the institutes using written and oral placement tests. To gather the necessary data, three questionnaires, namely, Baran-Lucarz's (2017) PA, and PM, and Simić’s (2014) WTC questionnaires were used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to answer the research question of the study. Findings indicated that both variables under study, PA and PM, had significant correlations with learners’ L2 WTC. However, although results suggested that both independent variables predicted the learners' L2 WTC, PA was found to be a stronger predictor. Implications of the study findings and suggestions for further research are also offered.