Students’ perceptions on the factors that influence their willingness to orally communicate in the EFL classroom in Ecuadorian high schools

Abstract

The present research work is about the students’ perceptions on the factors that influence their willingness to orally communicate in the EFL classroom and has been conducted in order to find out how do motivation, proficiency level, and personality influence student’s willingness to orally communicate. The field research was carried out at a private high school in the city of Quito and the population consisted of one hundred students whose mother tongue was Spanish and who learned English as a foreign language. In this research work the quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The data was collected through the techniques of Survey, Note-taking and Observation as well as the instruments of questionnaires and observation sheets. This research has confirmed that students’ willingness to orally communicate in English lessons is certainly linked to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. This is, the different environments in which students are immersed, the teachers’ attitudes, the methods and activities used in the classroom have an impact on the students’ learning development