Willingness to Communicate in L2 English: Impact of Learner Variables

Due to the growing emphasis of modern language pedagogy on meaningful communication, L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) has recently become an important concept in second language learning and communication. The present study investigated the effects of individual differences on Iranian EFL learner's willingness to communicate. As many as 431 students who were learning English as a foreign language in language centers served as the participants of the study. McCroskey's (1992) questionnaire was utilized to measure student's willingness to communicate. A series of independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were run to provide answers to the research questions. The results indicated no significant difference among the participants in terms of gender, major, age, and personality types; however, significant difference was found with respect to other variables such as proficiency level, length of studying, being abroad, and communicating with foreigners. Therefore, the effects of Iranian EFL individual differences on their L2 WTC were partially confirmed. The importance of the present study lies in its theoretical contributions to the WTC research and the pedagogical implications for both second language teaching and learning.