The Impact of Free Discussion Classes on Iranian EFL Learners' Willingness to Communicate

The present study was conducted to see whether holding free discussion classes has any impact on Iranian EFL learners willingness to communicate in English language classes. To do so, ۲۰ EFL learners form institutes of Khorramabad with the age range of ۲۰-۲۵ participated in free discussion classes. This study had three stages. At the first stage learners answered Willingness to Communicate questionnaire developed by McIntyre et al. (۲۰۰۱ (WTC) as a pretest. In the next stage, they received treatment which was included topics for free discussion. The total sessions of holding free discussion classes were ۱۲ sessions. Students participated in discussion classes three days a week. During these sessions a teacher, experienced in TEFL, engaged participants to discuss the selected topic. In the third stage, participants answered WTC questionnaire as a posttest. Paired t-test was utilized to compare the means of participants’ scores in pre-test and posttest. The results showed that there was statistically significant difference between the means of two scores in pre and posttest and it was concluded that free discussion classes improved Iranian EFL learners’ willingness to communicate. This study had implications for syllabus designers to include free discussion topics in their course books and also for teachers to include free discussion sessions in their teaching programs.

Keywords:

Willingness to communicate , Free discussion , Communication , Negotiation