The Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Willingness to Communicate Among Iranian EFL Intermediate Male VS. FemaleLearners

Different social, cognitive, and affective factors are believed to affect the second language acquisition process. The aim of the study was to investigate and see if there was any significant relationship between two fundamental variables of WTC and self-esteem. The participants of this study were 240 male and female language learners of the intermediate level who were learning English language in three language institutes in Gonbad-e- Kavus, Iran. WTC questionnaire by McIntyre, Baker, Clement, and Conrod (2001) and revised self-esteem questionnaire by Rosenberg (1965) were utilized for the present study. The participants took two questionnaires in the same sessions. The results showed that there exists a relation between the participants’ WTC and self-esteem, which was significant. The components of WTC were also significantly correlated with the participants’ self-esteem. The results showed that the correlation between the two variables was significant. Moreover, the null hypothesis was rejected in both males and females concerning the correlation between WTC and Self-esteem variables. Besides, the results of the study can inform the instructors about various psychological elements or factors rather than the linguistic ones to concern in the EFL circumstances so that they could handle the classes more efficiently and effectively, because some of the language learning difficulties are originated from psychological issues in the learners personalities influenced by many things that can cause them get into troubles of different kinds. These factors then influence the learners’ performance while studying or communicating in an EFL context like Language institutions.

Keywords:

Self-esteem , Willingness to Communicate , EFL