Examining EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Strategies for FosteringLearners’ Willingness-to-Communicate in Online Classes

Communicating in the target language is a significant element contributing to success in language acquisition (Swain and Lapkin ۱۹۹۵). Authentic use of L۲ is an important part of language teaching and learning with the objective of promoting learners' communicative competence. Teachers' role is very important here as they can boost learners' desire to communicate at a specific moment by their interventions. In online classes in English institutes, teachers provide the students with authentic material, but without any good results. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of strategies to foster willingness to communicate with learners in online classes. The participants of this study were ۳۸ teachers from an English Language institute in Yazd, Iran. The data was collected both quantitatively and qualitatively. Five teachers were interviewed as to their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of fostering WTC in online classes. The results revealed that the motivational strategies employed by the teachers were helpful to foster WTC in the online classes followed by teacher immediacy. In addition, the findings of the qualitative part also confirmed the results. Teachers have a vital role provoking a positive atmosphere and encourage the learners to participate in communications.

Keywords:

Willingness to Communicate , Teachers’ Perceptions , Motivational Strategies , Teacher Immediacy