Original title: The role of grit and classroom enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate
The study asks what is linked to Korean learners’ willingness to speak English. Researchers surveyed middle school, high school, and university students who had no overseas experience. They found that perseverance—continuing to make an effort—and enjoyment of class were linked to willingness to communicate. Consistency of interests, meaning sticking with the same interests over time, was not a predictor.
Imagine joining a group activity where you can speak up, but you feel unsure about joining in. It is easier to try when you keep making an effort and enjoy being there; simply keeping the same interests does not necessarily make you speak. In this paper, making the effort and enjoying class are linked to learners’ readiness to speak English, while consistency of interests is not.
For students learning English in classrooms where English is not widely spoken, wanting to speak is an important step toward actually using it. The findings point to two things teachers can encourage: continued effort to start conversations and a positive classroom atmosphere.
The abstract reports survey results from Korean middle school, high school, and university students who had no overseas experience at the time. It does not establish that effort or classroom enjoyment causes greater willingness to communicate, or that the findings apply to learners in other settings.
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The role of grit and classroom enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate — Ju Seong Lee — Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development — doi:10.1080/01434632.2020.1746319
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.