The Relationship between EFL Learners' Language Anxiety and their Willingness to Communicate

Recently, the purpose of teaching has shifted from the mastery of structure to the ability to use the language for communicative purposes. This study examines the relationship between the foreign language anxiety (FLA) of Iranian EFL students with willingness to communicate (WTC) in relation to four language skills i.e. speaking, listening, reading and writing at intermediate level. Data were collected from 60 participants who were learning English as a foreign language by the use of a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and an adapted version of Likert-type Willingness to Communicate Questionnaire. A series of descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Pearson Correlation test were run to provide answers to the research questions. Results of this study revealed that the foreign language anxiety which was experienced by EFL learners differed in relation to language skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to try to see whether anxiety is a significant barrier to WTC, to find the source(s) of language anxiety, and to provide suggestions and strategies to help minimize anxiety to increase WTC in four language skills.