The Use of Foreign Language Enjoyment in the Promotion of EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate

Abstract

Willingness to communicate in a second or foreign language (L2 WTC) is of great importance when it comes to individual difference variables, which influences largely the target language learning process. The growing emphasis on real communication in language learning has greatly promoted studies of L2 WTC and made it a significant goal of L2 pedagogy. In view of that, many potential antecedents of L2 WTC were examined to with anticipations of facilitating it. However, emotional factors, especially positive ones, remain relatively rare touched. Thus, present study aims to explore the effects of foreign language enjoyment, one of the positive emotions applied in pedagogy, upon Chinese high school EFL learners’ WTC through the review of relevant studies, and provide some solutions on how to take advantage of foreign language enjoyment in the promotion of EFL learners’ L2 WTC. The first solution concerns learners’ motivations, interests, and their attitudes towards the target language. The second solution related to teachers themselves, including their enthusiasm, teaching styles and their emotions. While the third solution deals with learning environment, a friendly and safe atmosphere probably leads to higher degrees of FLE, and further more engagement.