teacher role

Second language (L2) education researchers have recently been concerned about students' willingness to communicate (WTC) since communication competence is considered an ultimate goal of L2 education. This study examines Vietnamese teachers' perceptions of L2 WTC and their strategies to encourage students to communicate inside the classroom. Data were collected from interviews with 30 Vietnamese EFL university teachers. Results showed that all the teachers believed students' L2 WTC inside the classroom influenced the development of second language acquisition (SLA) and perceived their role in encouraging WTC. Also, the teachers revealed that they used a wide range of strategies to encourage students to communicate. The findings suggest that L2 teachers use a wide range of strategies to promote students’ WTC inside the classroom. It might be necessary for Vietnamese EFL teachers to update strategies to encourage WTC inside the classroom.

Despite a currently proliferating interest in the second language (L2) willingness to communicate (WTC), much less has investigated Asian high school students’ beliefs about L2 teachers’ strategies to encourage WTC inside the classroom. This qualitative study explores the strategies employed by Vietnamese EFL teachers to encourage their students’ WTC inside the classroom and students’ beliefs about their teachers’ strategies. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with seven teachers and eight students. Results revealed that the teachers employed six main strategy groups, namely grouping, warm-up, topic choice, correction strategies, class atmosphere, and motivational strategies. Also, the students indicated their preferences for some strategies and suggested other strategies which they believed to be effective. They expressed expectations and suggested ways to improve their teachers’ strategies to encourage WTC inside the classroom. The students’ preferences and recommendations of strategies reflected contextual factors. As WTC is a context-sensitive construct, it might be necessary for L2 teachers to understand their students’ beliefs to foster L2 WTC effectively inside the classroom.