Undergraduate Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English during Remote Learning Classes

Lutfi A. Abulhaija; Hamzah Faleh Migdadi; Ibrahim  Bashir; Kamariah  Yunus; Bowroj Sameh  Taany

doi:10.35516/hum.v51i3.4181

Authors

Lutfi A. Abulhaija Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7084-7239
Hamzah Faleh Migdadi Department of English Language, Al. Hussan Group for Education and Training, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4683-0416
Ibrahim Bashir Department of English, Northern College of Nursing, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2360-8468
Kamariah Yunus Department of English, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300, Kuala Nerus, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7103-6911
Bowroj Sameh Taany Department of English Language, Al. Hussan Group for Education and Training, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3416-1811

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v51i3.4181

Keywords:

The COVID-19 pandemic, L2 communication anxiety, remote learning, willingness to communicate (WTC)

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines Jordanian undergraduate students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English during remote learning.

Methods: The data were collected using a 61-item Likert scale questionnaire from 285 undergraduate students (118 males and 167 females) studying English at a public university. All the responses collected were analysed using descriptive analysis (e.g., mean, standard deviation) and Pearson’s Correlation coefficient.

Results: The results of the descriptive analysis showed that students had an overall moderate level of online experiences (M 2.98, SD 0.98), and high levels of WTC (M= 3.61, SD= 0.969), self-perceived communicative competence (M=3.62, SD=1.038), L2 communication anxiety (M=2.91, SD=1.156) and virtual intercultural experience motivation (M=3.5, SD=1.111). On the other hand, the results of the 2-tailed correlation revealed that there was a statistically medium-positive correlation between students’ online experiences and their WTC in online classes (r=.359, p<.001), a strong positive correlation between students’ self-perceived communicative competence and their WTC in online classes (r=.664, p<.001), an insignificant low positive correlation between L2 communication anxiety and their WTC in online classes (r =.031, p < .605), a strong positive correlation between students’ virtual intercultural experience motivation and their WTC in online classes (r = .535, p<.001).

Conclusions: The study shows that despite the lack of experience in e-learning, the students tend to have good self-perceived communicative competence. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies are given based on the results of the study.

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