Students’ perceptions on the factors that influence their willingness to orally communicate in the EFL classroom in Ecuadorian high schools. Estudio realizado en colegio público de Quito, Ecuador, en el año lectivo 2014 – 2015.

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine how willing Ecuadorian high school students are to participate in speaking activities in EFL classes. The investigation sought to determine if students are or are not motivated to communicate orally and the correlation between proficiency, personality and willingness to orally communicate (WTC). To accompany a thorough literature review of related academic texts and previous studies, a field study was carried out in a public school in Quito, Ecuador. The study consisted of observations of both year eight and year ten English classes (students aged 12 to 15) with particular attention paid to students’ participation and the activities implemented by the teacher. One hundred of the same students were surveyed about their opinions as to what affects their willingness to speak in class and if they felt WTC was more related to motivation, proficiency or personality. The findings demonstrate overwhelmingly that students are motivated to speak in class with the teacher but lack the desire to speak English with their peers; that there are insufficient opportunities to speak due to limited group work and that proficiency level is perceived by students to affect their WTC more than personality type.