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

Abstract

he present study attempts to investigate how motivation, proficiency level, personality and the strategies to teach speaking influence at the moment of speaking English in the class. Five intact classes at one public High School in Quito, Ecuador were selected. The students were aged between 15 and 17 years old, most of them were female. There were approximately 20 students per class. A questionnaire was administrated to them before finishing the English lesson. The questionnaire was applied to know whether students feel motivated to speak English, and if they believe that motivation, personality, proficiency level and teachers’ strategies influence at the moment of speaking. The questionnaire required yes/no answers except for the fourth and the sixth question. Students’ performance was taken into account to determine whether it has any relationship between Willingness to orally Communicate (WTC) and the studied factors. The obtained results showed that there was a lack of motivation to speak or to be in speaking activities during English classes. The findings also displayed that proficiency level, personality and teachers’ strategies play a major role in students’ willingness to orally communicate