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

Abstract

The theme of this research refers to the factors that influence students´ willingness to orally communicate in the EFL classroom in Ecuadorian high schools. The purpose of this study was to analyze the students´ perceptions on the factors that affect their willingness to orally communicate in class. The general approach of this study was qualitative and quantitative in order to collect, explain, analyze, and describe the students´ perceptions on the factors that influence their willingness to communicate in EFL classrooms in Ecuadorian high schools. This study took place in five different classrooms at a private high school located in the town of Conocoto, Quito. Five classes and teachers were observed and one hundred students were surveyed. Two instruments were applied, one for the class observations and a students´ questionnaire; consequently, their results were later tabulated and analyzed. This study demonstrates that students´ willingness to orally communicate depends on different factors such as, motivation, proficiency level, and activities that teachers propose in class; furthermore, the meaning they find in each class and communicative activity they face in the EFL classrooms.