The relationships between affective variables, willingness to communicate in English, and English communication behaviors of Thai secondary school students

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the levels of affective variables (international posture, English learning motivation, and confidence in English communication), WTC in English, and English communication behaviors of Thai secondary school students, the relationships between five constructs and the model of English communication in Thai contexts. The participants were 438 eleventh grade students in 11 public schools under Bangkok Educational Service Areas 1-3 in the academic year 2009. The research instruments were questionnaire, classroom observation scheme, and interview questions. The findings revealed that Thai secondary school students reported having English learning motivation at the high level and other four constructs at the moderate level. About the relationships between five constructs, WTC in English was found to have the relationship with English communication behaviors at the moderate level, and affective variables were found to have the relationships with WTC in English and English communication behaviors at the low level at the significant level of .05. The observation data showed that the students with higher WTC communicated more frequently than the ones with lower WTC. The interview data showed that students with high and low WTC had similar levels of affective variables. For the model of English communication in Thai contexts, the findings exhibited the different model from the theoretical model. The new model fitted in with the empirical data. The validation indicated the goodness of fit test: chi-square = 18.51, p = .95, df = 30, GFI = .99, AGFI = .97 and RMR = .033.