Abstract
Willingness to communicate can be considered as one of the important factors in modern language pedagogy which put emphasis on meaningful communication. The present study investigated the effect of class size on the Iranian EFL students’ willingness to communicate among three different class sizes. The researcher collected the data through observation of three classes in terms of students’ turn of talk and talk time. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation and one way ANOVA were run to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that class size had a substantial effect on the students’ willingness to communicate. Students were found to be more willing to communicate in small classes where they had more opportunity to practice oral skills and communicate. The current study had some pedagogical implications for both second language teaching and learning at the end.
Highlights
One of the main purposes in learning second or foreign languages for many second language learners is the use of target language for communication
The participants were selected from three separate classes: one class containing five students which was regarded as small class in this institute and we call it class A, the other class consisted of ten students and we named it class B, and in the large class there were fifteen students that is class C in this study
Does willingness to communicate (WTC) differ across different size class in Iranian EFL learners?
Summary
One of the main purposes in learning second or foreign languages for many second language learners is the use of target language for communication. Language use can indicate successful second language acquisition. Modern language teaching has emphasized the significance of cultivating communicative competence in second language learners (Canale and Swain, 1980). By the emergence of the communicative language teaching (CLT), “authenticity, real-world simulation and meaningful tasks” were the main characteristics of classroom conversation (Brown, 2001). For CLT to be effective there should be interaction between students and teacher as well as learners and their peers. To this end, students may need motivation and willingness to initiate interaction
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