Willingness to Communicate in an ESP Class: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how the students are willing to communicate in an ESP class. This in-depth study employed students’ TOEIC scores as a reference to select the subjects of the study. An in-depth interview was used as the main research procedure together with the primary data. The in‐depth interview allowed the us to develop deeply into social and personal matters that the students have experienced in communicating in English. For the sake of an effective interview, a set of questions related to the WTC was prepared prior to the implementation of the interview. This study found that students’ willingness to communicate in L2 is not solely due to proficiency. Yet, other factors such as interlocutors, classroom activities, topics, tasks, classroom contracts, and teaching media are the factors that also influence students ’WTC in ESP classrooms. It is expected that this study can provide recommendations in order to improve communication. This study was conducted at a State Polytechnic based in Malang, Indonesia.