The Effect of Learners’ Self- directed Study on Willingness to Communicate

Abstract

Self-directed study is a crucial need for learners to emphasize its central role in language education. Fostering and improving students’ ability to take initiative in their learning is considered crucial, for achieving success in both the present and future career. Additionally, recognizing the significance of being open to communication willingness to communicate works as a measure of learning, which can lead to attitudes, among students. This paper aims at finding out the relationship and the effect of learners’ self -directed motivation on willingness to communicate by answering the following questions. Is there any relationship between self-direction and willingness to communicate? Does self -direction have a positive impact on willingness? The paper examines willingness to communicate of 3rd grade students in English Department, from Collage of Basic Education at Salahaddin University –Erbil for the academic year 2022–2023. The participants are (60) students. The paper conducted through quantitative method. The data have been collected by a questionnaire and the tool adopted for analyzing the data is Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). It is concluded that the most common factors that influence on students’ willingness to communicate are motivation, reliance, and anxiety about making mistakes and challenging situations. Another concluding point is that, students were unwilling to utilize only English while expressing an idea or discussing a matter with classmates or teachers. Moreover, Students referred to linguistic factors represented as indicative of their preference in taking more foreign courses and feeling comfortable in the classroom.

Keywords

• Communication
• English as a foreign language learners
• Language learning
• Self-directed studies
• Willingness to communicate