Learners’ perceptions and attitudes: Implications for willingness to communicate in an L2 classroom

This paper investigates learners’ perceptions of their speaking abilities, of their contributions to oral class activities (whole class and small group discussions) as well as their attitudes towards these activities, and how such perceptions and attitudes influenced the learners’ willingness to communicate in the L2. The study employed a range of data gathering instruments, but the main source of data came from self-assessment questionnaires. Thirty-two students of French (L2) participated in this semester long study. The self-assessment questionnaires asked students to reflect on their immediate learning environment at various points in the semester and self assess their speaking skills. This study concludes that the students’ perception of the speaking activities and of themselves as learners in the foreign language classroom affected their willingness to communicate in a range of ways. In general, as learners’ self-confidence increased over time, so did their willingness to use the L2 in class. However, the learners’ desire to communicate with peers in small groups was not uniform and was affected by affiliation motives.