The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2018 Exploring Factors Influencing the Willingness to Communicate among English-as-a-Second Language University Students Chi-Fang (Michelle) Chang University of San Francisco, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons Recommended Citation Chang, Chi-Fang (Michelle), "Exploring Factors Influencing the Willingness to Communicate among English-as-a-Second Language University Students" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations. 451. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/451 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of San Francisco EXPLORING FACTORS INFLUENCING THE WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE AMONG ENGLISH-AS-A-SECOND LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International Multicultural Education Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Chi-Fang (Michelle) Chang San Francisco, California May, 2018 THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO DISSERTATION ABSTRACT This present study anchored its inquiry in English oral communication and learning English as a second language. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors that influence the willingness to communicate (WTC) of ESL university students from the perspectives of both the students and their oral communication professor. Since the 1980s, WTC among ESL university students has attracted increasing attention because helping them communicate authentically is essential. WTC is correlated with overall English language proficiency because of its equal weight with the other language skills. Therefore, ESL students have targeted WTC as a vital skill. However, research on factors that influence WTC of ESL university students draws largely from the perspective of the students, with little attention to the perspective of the professors. Moreover, no research focuses on the perspectives of the ESL university students and their professor. To fill in the gap, the current study has set out to explore factors influencing the WTC of ESL university students from the perspectives of students and their professor, by means of class observations, one-on-one and focus group interviews with students, as well as a narrative interview with course professor. The data were collected from ESL university students at the low intermediate ii level and their oral communication professor at a Northern California university. Thirteen out of 14 students participated in the one-on-one interviews; 11 out of the 13 students participated in the focus group interviews, along with a narrative interview with the professor. The student participants reported six factors influencing their WTC while the course professor identified four factors influencing his students' WTC. The researcher integrated the factors from the students and professor, and five themes emerged from the study, which mostly centered on the sociocultural theory and social constructivism of Vygotsky. The results of this study have implications for the fields of second language teaching pedagogy, teacher knowledge, second language training, classroom and cultural dynamics, and research methods. More studies on factors influencing the WTC of ESL university students would improve the WTC of ESL university students coupled with an increase in English proficiency. Keywords: English as a second language (ESL), willingness to communicate, factors, challenges, oral communication iii This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate's dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Chi-Fang Chang May 17, 2018 Candidate Dissertation Committee Sedique Popal, Ed.D. June 25, 2018 Chairperson Susan Roberta Katz, Ph.D. May 17, 2018 Sarah Capitelli, Ph.D. May 17, 2018 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family: Jia-Fu Chang, Yueh-Nu Hung, I-Jui Chang, Tinjung Chen, and Matthew Jeffrey Chen. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am pleased to have this opportunity to thank the faculty members, family, and friends that have supported me during the course of this project. There were many times when it felt like I believed in impossible things. These impossibilities became possible with the assistance of many. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my entire dissertation committee: Drs. Sedique Popal, Susan Roberta Katz, and Sarah Capitelli. I am grateful for the time they invested in my dissertation and the generous supportive feedback they offered. I am especially thankful to my advisor, Dr. Popal, for his conviction that I could embark on this study and make a contribution to second language acquisition research. The door to Dr. Popal's office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever he thought I needed it. I sincerely thank him for being an angel in my life holding a candle for me on the long and hard journey to its completion throughout my seven years in the program. I am grateful for his continuous encouragement during the ups and downs of my residence here. My sincere gratitude for his intellectual inspiration in, academic guidance on, and linguistic refinement of this work is beyond words. Besides Dr. Popal, I would also like to thank my committee members: Drs. Susan vi Roberta Katz and Sarah Capitelli, for their invaluable input and inspiring questions which motivated me to widen my study from various perspectives to shape this dissertation to satisfaction, but also their general empathy during my pregnancy and early motherhood. In addition, I am grateful for Dr. Katz, who patiently read and edited my study. Without their detailed insights and constructive comments, I could not move forward to complete my study. In addition to the support provided by my committee members, I would also like to thank all professors in the IME program participating in my qualification presentation for sharing their research expertise and wisdom. My special thanks goes to Dr. Brad Washington for his professional guidance and persistent assistance. I had never taken any courses from Dr. Washington, but he initiated contact after attending my qualification presentation to provide me his meticulous expertise and profound knowledge related to my study. He encouraged me and provided support when I was overwhelmed as a doctoral student. His warmhearted encouragement continued even after he moved to Notre Dame de Namur University. Also, Dr. Benjamin Baab deserves my very profound appreciation for his selfless guidance, insightful instruction in research design, organization, and prompt feedback on my questions. Without their precious support, it would not have been possible to complete this study. vii This dissertation exists in part due to the support of my friends and family whose continuous kind words and encouragement kept me going through challenges. Catherine Wang, Denise Tiffany, Dr. Hideki Goya, Dr. Julie Sullivan, Micaella Colla, Dr. Nancy Ryoo, Regina Tsen, Sarah McGregor, Sarah Quigley, Shao-Yu Kao, Tammy Chen, Dr. Yi Guan, and Dr. Yu-Han Lin have been my rocks during my studies and I am deeply grateful for their solid friendship, their kind care, continuous encouragement, and unfailing support. Dear friends, I will never forget the tears and laughs we shared. Furthermore, I would like to thank Denise Tiffany and Sarah Quigley, whose assistance in proofreading cannot be overestimated. Most importantly, I am indebted to my parents, Jia-Fu Chang and Yueh-Nu Hung, as well as to my brother I-Jui Chang, for their financial support and allowing me to pursue my dream. Although my father passed away in the midst of my doctoral pursuit and cannot witness my completion, I would love to express my utmost gratitude for his love. Additionally, I would like to recognize my husband, Tinjung Chen, who sacrificed much so I could complete my study and dissertation. Without his encouragement, understanding, company, and extra hours parenting, my dream would have remained impossible. I would also like to thank my beloved son, Matthew Jeffrey Chen, who was born midway through my doctoral journey and has grown with me and supported my viii study. And finally, last but by no means least, I would like to thank the director at SJSU and all participants who allowed me to carry out my study. I thank them for their time, their interest, and openness. I have had other supporters, too numerous to name, who are nonetheless appreciated and valued. All in all, without their support, I would never have thought it possible to pursue my doctorate in Education. Thanks for all