UNDERSTANDING SILENCE AND PARTICIPATION: WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH AMONG EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has been recognized as a key factor influencing learners’ participation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. However, research focusing on non-English department students in higher education, particularly from a qualitative perspective, remains limited. This study aimed to explore 15 non-English department students’ willingness to communicate in English and to identify the factors shaping their communicative behavior. Employing a qualitative research design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations involving undergraduate students enrolled in compulsory English courses at an Islamic Indonesian university. The data were analyzed thematically using Willingness to Communicate framework. The findings reveal that students’ WTC is dynamic and context-dependent, influenced by psychological factors such as self-confidence and anxiety, classroom environment and teacher support, peer interaction, linguistic limitations, and situational factors. The study also found that students were more willing to communicate in informal and small-group activities than in formal, whole-class settings. These findings suggest that creating a supportive and low-anxiety classroom environment is crucial for enhancing students’ willingness to communicate in English. This study contributes qualitative insights to the WTC literature and offers pedagogical implications for English instruction in non-English department contexts.