THE IMPACTS OF THE TEACHER STUDENT INTERACTION ON STUDENTS WILLINGNESS TO SPEAK DURING ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
CAO VĂN TUYÊN
THE IMPACTS OF THE TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION
ON STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO SPEAK DURING ENGLISH
SPEAKING CLASSES
NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA MỐI TƯƠNG TÁC GIỮA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI
VỚI SỰ THAM GIA CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC TIẾT HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH
M.A. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
HANOI – 2015
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
CAO VĂN TUYÊN
THE IMPACTS OF THE TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTION
ON STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO SPEAK DURING ENGLISH
SPEAKING CLASSES
NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA MỐI TƯƠNG TÁC GIỮA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI
VỚI SỰ THAM GIA CỦA HỌC SINH TRONG CÁC TIẾT HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH
M.A. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Lê Văn Canh
HANOI – 2015
DECLARATION
I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “The impacts of the teacher-student
interaction on students' willingness to speak during English speaking classes”
is my own research for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts at University of

Languages and International Studies, VNU – Hanoi, and that this thesis has not,
wholly or partially, been submitted for any degree at any other universities or
institutions.
Hanoi, 2015
Cao Văn Tuyên
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Dr. Lê Văn Canh, who allowed me to draw fully on his wisdom and
experience in implementing this study. His guidance, encouragement and invaluable
detailed critical feedback have been most generous.
Secondly, I would like to convey my special thanks to all my teachers of
the Post graduate course 20, whose fundamental knowledge about language
teaching and learning has been greatly important to the achievement of my minor
thesis.
And am in debt to the Board of Management of Post Graduate for their
supports and the favorable conditions they have granted me during my study and
thesis.
I am also thankful to the teachers and students at Kim Son A High School,
whose cooperation has been of great significance to the completion of the thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, who supported me
during the thesis training and have supplied me with great encouragement. Without
their love and thoughtful understanding, I would not have completed this thesis
successfully.
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ABSTRACT
A common problem for teachers of English is dealing with a passive class,
where students are unresponsive and avoid interaction with the teacher. This is
especially true when a teacher seeks interaction in a teacher-class dialog, such as
asking questions to the class as a whole, expecting at least one student to respond.

This can be a frustrating experience for both parties. Obviously, there will be times
when no student can answer a teacher's question, but often students do not answer
even if they understand the question, know the answer, and are able to produce the
answer. Furthermore, students can often be very reluctant to give feedback or ask
the teacher a question in front of the class. One of the reasons is claimed to be the
poor teacher-student interaction. My study attempted to explore this problem and
sought to create a more interactive teacher-class interchange in one class of English
learners.
This study was therefore conducted with the hope to find out if the teacher-
student interaction may affect students’ willingness to speak in speaking lessons
and how it affects students' interest. In this study, the data was collected at Kim Son
A High School. By doing this, I can know the attitude of students towards teacher-
student interaction in speaking lessons and its effects on their willingness to speak.
The researcher also gives some suggestions to help teachers at Kim Son A High
School enhance students' interest in speaking lessons.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vi
Table 1: The importance of speaking skill vi
Table 2: The students’ speaking competence vi
Table 3: The students’ willingness to speak vi
Table 4: Factors that impact the students’ willingness to speak vi
Table 5: What teachers often did to encourage students to speak vi
Table 6: Willingness to speak English vi
Table 7: The teacher-student interaction’s impacts on students’ willingness to speak vi
Table 8: Students participation in speaking classes (cycle 1) vi

Table 9: The students’ survey questionnaires (cycle 2) vi
Table 10: Students’ participation in speaking classes (cycle 2) vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale for the study 1
2. Aims of the research 1
3. Questions of the research 2
4. Scope of the research 2
5. Methods of the research 2
6. Organization of the study 3
PART B – DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1. Speaking skill overview 5
1.1. Definition of speaking 5
1.2. Features of speaking skill 6
1.3. Speaking lessons 7
1.4. The teacher’s roles in the stages of teaching speaking 8
1.5. Difficulties encountered in teaching and learning speaking 9
1.5.1. Difficulties in teaching speaking 9
1.5.2. Difficulties in learning speaking 10
1.5.3. Methods of teaching speaking 10
1.5.4. A successful speaking lesson in classroom 12
1.6. Willingness to Communicate – Willingness to speak 13
1.7. Teacher-student interaction 14
1.7.1. Interaction 14
1.7.2. Teacher-student interaction 15
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 18
1. Description of the subjects 18
2. Settings and subjects of the study 18
3. Current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill at Kim Son A High School19
3.1. Questions of the research 19

3.2. Research methods 19
iv
4. Justification for data collection instruments 20
4.1. Questionnaires 20
4.2. Interviews 21
4.3. Observations 21
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 23
1. Data analysis and findings 23
1.1. Data analysis and findings of cycle 1 23
1.1.1. Data analysis and findings of teachers’ questionnaire survey (Pre-
questionnaires) 23
1.1.3. Data analysis and findings of students’ questionnaire survey (Pre-
questionnaires) 30
1.1.4.Data analysis and findings of the researcher’s observation on students’ 33
participation in speaking classes (Please refer to Appendix 4) 33
1.2. Data analysis and findings of cycle 2 35
1.2.1. Data analysis and findings of students’ questionnaire survey (Post-
questionnaires) (Please refer to Appendix 5) 35
1.2.2. Data analysis and findings of the researcher’s observations on students’ 36
participation in speaking classes (Please refer to Appendix 6) 36
1.2.3. Data analysis and findings of teachers’ questionnaire survey (Post-
questionnaires) (Please refer to Appendix 7) 37
PART C: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 40
1.Conclusion and implications 40
1.1.1.Making corrections in constructive ways 41
1.1.2.Caring about students 42
1.1.3.Creating equality among students 42
1.1.4.Encouraging students to speak up 42
1.2. For the students 43
2. Limitations and suggestions for further studies 43

REFERENCES 45
APPENDIX I
Appendix 1: I
Appendix 3: III
Appendix 4: IV
Appendix 5: V
Appendix 6: VI
Appendix 7: VII
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The importance of speaking skill
Table 2: The students’ speaking competence
Table 3: The students’ willingness to speak
Table 4: Factors that impact the students’ willingness to speak
Table 5: What teachers often did to encourage students to speak
Table 6: Willingness to speak English
Table 7: The teacher-student interaction’s impacts on students’ willingness to speak
Table 8: Students participation in speaking classes (cycle 1)
Table 9: The students’ survey questionnaires (cycle 2)
Table 10: Students’ participation in speaking classes (cycle 2)
vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the study
The teacher-student interaction is of significant importance in foreign
language teaching and learning. It is argued that interactions between teachers and
students facilitate language development and lead to better language learning. The
present study is an attempt to investigate the impacts of the teacher-student
interaction on students' willingness to speak during English speaking classes.
In the school where I work as a teacher of English, speaking skill receives the
attention from both teachers and students. However, the result of students in learning

speaking skill has fallen short of expectations. Amazingly, among the four skills of the
language, speaking skill seems to be the worst one. Students can hardly use the
language in their oral communication. This has resulted in our shock that a student with
years of studying the English language even cannot make an oral self introduction. It is
the result of students’ unwillingness to speak during English speaking classes.
In the last 7 years of my experience as an English teacher at a high school, it
has been clear to me that there are many factors causing such an unwillingness to
participate in English classes of students, one of which is the poor teacher-student
interaction.
This was the reason why I decided to study the impacts of teacher-student
interaction in students’ willingness to speak during English speaking classes. The
success of my plan is supposed to contribute to motivating students’ participation in
English speaking activities together with improving their speaking skill.
Consequently, this may be useful when applied in other schools with the quite
similar situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill.
2. Aims of the research
The research was conducted to identify how the teacher-student interaction
affects students’ willingness to speak during their English classes. Furthermore, the
researcher tried to find out the factors that can help contribute to the good teacher-
1
student interaction in order to enhance students’ participation in English speaking
classes and their speaking ability.
3. Questions of the research
To achieve the aims mentioned above, the following research questions were
raised for exploration:
1. How can teacher-student interaction impact students’ willingness to speak
during English speaking classes?
2. What can help form a good teacher-student interaction to enhance students’
participation in their speaking activities?
4. Scope of the research

In this individual research, the researcher focused only on the impacts of the
teacher-student interaction on students' willingness to speak during English
speaking classes to the students of class 10B1 of Kim Son A High School, which is
located in Ninh Binh Province. There were 40 students, 25 male and 15 female in
that class. Most of them were between 15 and 16 years old who were in their first
year at the high school. The data collected from classroom observations, informal
interviews and questionnaires were then analyzed by the researcher himself.
Besides, three teachers were involved in the research. All of them were
female and had at least three-year experience of teaching English at the school.
Interviews were conducted with those teachers as participants before the researcher
performed his teaching of speaking in the class 10B1 so that he could have a brief
understanding on how the teacher-student interaction affected students’ willingness
to take part in speaking activities.
5. Methods of the research
In this research, a qualitative approach was used to the question of the
impacts of teacher-student interaction on students’ willingness to speak during
English speaking classes. The researcher conducted a survey of high school students
and teachers. In addition, the researcher made an observation when he was invited
to observe class 10B1 addressed by Ms. Lan, one of the three teachers interviewed
2
in the research. Then, other observations were made by the researcher during the
time he conducted his teaching of speaking lessons in that class. Also, the three
teachers involved were invited to observe the speaking classes of the researcher.
The teachers were chosen purposefully because the researcher knew viable
participants who were available in the time allotted. The interviews were conducted
at a mutual place, to avoid the feeling of control on the part of the researcher. The
intention was to make each respondent comfortable and able to answer questions
freely. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, so the researcher was not
tempted to filter or alter the responses. After the interviews of all three participants
were conducted and transcribed, the results were coded and themed through

analysis. These themes, weaved together, formed the foundation of the findings and
results of this study.
The survey aspect of the study was given out to all 40 students of class 10B1
at Kim Son A High School. These students were all surveyed in order to reach valid
and authentic results. Age, gender, and religion subjects were completely
disregarded. The answer choices of questions were assigned a point value which
was then analyzed. All of those questions revolved around the teacher-student
interaction and the students’ feelings about its impacts on their learning of speaking
at their high school. The results of the survey were coded, analyzed and merged
with the results from the interviews and those of class observations to contribute to
the conclusions of this study.
6. Organization of the study
The study is divided into three main parts. The contents covered in each part
are as follows:
- Part A is the introduction which gives the rationale of the study, the aims of the
research, the research questions, the scope of the research, methods of the research
and organization of the study.
- Part B is the development of the study which comprises 3 chapters:
• Chapter 1 presents the literature reviews of the study.
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• Chapter 2 describes the process of implementation of the study.
• Chapter 3 involves data analysis, findings and discussions.
- Part C is the conclusion and implications of the study.
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PART B – DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Speaking skill overview
1.1. Definition of speaking
According to Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009:414), speaking is
“the action of conveying information or expressing ones’ thoughts and feelings in

spoken languages”.
Chaney and Burke (1998:13) stated that speaking is “the process of building
and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety
of context.”
According to Zuraidah Ali (2008), speaking is a productive skill which
requires a lot of back-up factors like knowledge, confidence, self esteem and
enthusiasm. Speaking a second language, particularly, brings about its own
prerequisites: exposure, consolidation, motivation as well as acknowledgment.
These determinant factors can be made to exist in a supportive learning
environment of English as a Second Language classroom.
In terms of language teaching and learning, speaking is considered as one of
the four important language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) to
practice and master. According to Nunan (2003:48), “speaking is the productive
oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning.”
Also regarding speaking as a skill, Bygate (1987:3) investigates the distinction
between knowledge and skill in a speaking lesson, which he considers as crucial in
the teaching of speaking. He argues that speaking is considered as a skill which
deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills in both first and second
language (Bygate, 1987:2). Indeed, to be a good learner of speaking, studying
grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. is not enough but the skill to use this
knowledge to communicate successfully is indispensable.
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In general, there are various ways definitions of speaking skill. It may be
considered as an action, a process and a skill as well. In this research, the term
“speaking” is regarded as a skill which is related to language teaching and learning.
1.2. Features of speaking skill
Speaking is recognized as critical for functioning in an English language
context, both by teachers and by learners. This skill is also a logical instructional
starting point when learners have low literacy levels or limited formal education. So
far, speaking has been considered to be the top priority as it is probably the most

important aspect of the language for communication and students enjoy it.
Moreover, speaking activities improve the atmosphere in the classroom and group
dynamics. In general, speaking may involve:
• Producing the sounds, stress patterns, rhythmic structures, and
intonations of the language;
• Using grammar structures accurately;
• Assessing characteristics of the target audience, including shared
knowledge or shared points of reference, status and power relations
of participants, interest levels, or differences in perspectives;
• Selecting vocabulary that is understandable and appropriate for the
audience, the topic being discussed, and the setting in which the
speech act occurs;
• Applying strategies to enhance comprehensibility, such as
emphasizing key words, rephrasing, or checking for listener
comprehension;
• Using gestures or body language;
• Paying attention to the success of the interaction and adjusting
components of speech such as vocabulary, rate of speech, and
complexity of grammar structures to maximize listener
comprehension and involvement (Brown, 1994:75)
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1.3. Speaking lessons
Speaking lessons may follow the usual patterns below:
1.3.1. Preparation is step to establish a context for the speaking task (where, when,
why, and with whom it will occur) and to initiate awareness of the speaking skill to
be targeted (asking for clarification, stressing key words, using reduced forms of
words).
1.3.2. Presentation involves the teacher supplying learners with a preproduction
model that furthers learner comprehension and helps them become more attentive
observers of language use.

1.3.3. Practice involves learners in reproducing the targeted structure, usually in a
controlled or highly supported manner.
1.3.4. Evaluation involves directing attention to the skill being examined and
asking learners to monitor and assess their own progress.
1.3.5. Extension consists of activities that ask learners to use the strategy or skill in
a different context or authentic communicative situation, or to integrate use of the
new skill or strategy with previously acquired ones (Brown, 1994:75).
Below is an example of a speaking lesson (Carter & McCarthy, 1995:141-158)
(Choosing appropriate topics for small talk)
* Preparation. Show the learners a picture of two people conversing in a familiar
casual setting. (The setting will be determined by a prior needs assessment.) Ask
them to brainstorm what the people might be discussing (i.e., what topics,
vocabulary, typical phrases).
* Presentation. Present several video clips of small talk in casual situations. Have
learners complete a worksheet in which they describe or list the topics discussed,
the context in which the speech is occurring, and any phrases that seem to typify
small talk. Follow up with a discussion of the kinds of topics that are appropriate for
small talk, the factors in the specific situations that affect topic selection (e.g.,
relationships of participants, physical setting), and typical phrases used in small
talk. Chart this information.
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* Practice. Give learners specific information about the participants and the setting
of a scenario where small talk will take place. In pairs, have them list topics that
might be discussed by the participants and simple phrases they might use. Learners
then engage in improvised dialogues based on these simple phrases.
* Evaluation. Give pairs a teacher-prepared dialogue. Ask them to compare their
improvised dialogues with the prepared dialogue, analyzing the similarities,
differences, and reasons for both.
* Extension. Have learners go individually or in small groups into various contexts
in the community (work, school, church, bus stop) and record the conversations

they hear. Ask them to report their findings back to the class, and then have the
class discuss these findings.
1.4. The teacher’s roles in the stages of teaching speaking
According to Byrne (1986), there are three stages of teaching speaking: the
presentation stage, the practice stage and the production one. In each stage, the role
of the teacher is different.
At the presentation stage, the teacher is considered an informant role. The
teacher introduces something new to be learned and present it in such a way that the
meaning of the new language is as clear and memorable as possible. The students
listen and try to understand. It means that the teacher is at the centre of the stage.
Therefore, teacher’s time spending should be sensible so that the students get
enough time to practice themselves.
At the practice stage, it is the students’ turn to do most of the talking while
teacher’s main task is to devise and provide the maximum amount of practice,
which must the same time be both meaningful and memorable. The teacher’s role,
then, is completely different from that at the presentation one. The teacher is like
the skillful conductor of an orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to
participate, observing and monitoring their performance to see that it is satisfactory.
At the final stage, the production one, the teacher takes on the role of
manager and guide. Students are given opportunities to use language freely.
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Sometimes students can make mistakes at this stage, but mistakes are unimportant.
What is more important is that students have chance to use language as they wish,
to try to express their own ideas.
In addition, they become aware that they have learnt something useful to
them personally, and are encouraged to go on learning. It will not be so easy for the
teacher to measure students’ performance as it was at the practice stage, nor is there
any easy recipe for success. So, what is needed is flexibility, tolerance, patience on
teacher’s part- and, above all, an understanding of the learners’ difficulties.
To summarize, the teacher through speaking lesson should work as an

instructor. His/ her roles closely relate to the three stages of learning. Whatever the
teacher is doing in the classroom, his/ her ability to enhance the students’ interest, to
create motivation and involve them in what they are doing, will be crucial.
1.5. Difficulties encountered in teaching and learning speaking
1.5.1. Difficulties in teaching speaking
Classroom activities that develop learners’ ability to express themselves
through speech is an important component of a language course. However, it is
more difficult to design and administer such activities than to do so for listening,
reading or writing. Ur (1996:121) states four problems in teaching speaking skills
that teachers often come across. They are:
• Inhibition
Unlike other skills of the language, speaking requires some degrees of real
time exposure to an audience. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things
in a foreign language in the classroom. They are worried about making mistakes,
being criticized or losing face or it is simply their shyness of the attention that their
speech attracts.
• Nothing to say
Even if the learners are not inhibited, teachers often hear learners complain
that they cannot think of anything to say.
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• Low or uneven participation
Only one participant talks at time if he or she is to be heard, and in large
group, this means that each one will have only little talking time. This problem is
compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate the activity, while others
speak very little or not at all.
• Mother tongue use
In classes where all, or a number or the learners share the mother language,
they may tend to use the mother tongue because it is easier, and because they feel
less ‘exposed’ if they are speaking their mother tongue.
1.5.2. Difficulties in learning speaking

Based on a survey of EFL teachers, the main challenges in the EFL
classroom are to be lack of motivation, students’ reluctance to speak, and the use of
the first language (Nunan, 1993 in Celce-Murcia, 2001). It implies that in speaking
class, it is not easy to make students speak. Students’ reluctance to speak, according
to Burns and Joyce’s survey (in Nunan, 1999) may be caused by some factors:
cultural factors, linguistic factors and /or psychological factors. As a result of these
limitations, there may be also affective factors such as lack of confidence of self-
consciousness, which might inhibit fluency.
When the students don’t feel confident to speak, teachers are supposed to
help them build their self-confidence, teachers are called on to sustain self-
confidence where it already exists and to build it where it does not. In sum, as
teachers, they need to be aware of any problems that students might face in
speaking class.
1.5.3. Methods of teaching speaking
Now many linguists and English as a second language (ESL) teachers agree
with creating a classroom environment where students have real-life
communication, authentic activities and meaningful tasks that promote oral
language. This can occur when students collaborate in groups or pairs to achieve a
goal or to complete a task. Byrne (1991:22-31) points out that there are three phases
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in the teaching of a speaking lesson to develop learners’ oral ability, which are
presented as follows:
• The presentation phase
In this phase, teachers are the centre. It means that they work as information
provider. So far, oral materials are written mainly in two forms in every course-
book. They are dialogues and prose. And obviously these two forms must be
presented in different ways.
According to Byrne (1991:22) ten different steps are used to present a
dialogue. They are the following:
- Establish setting by using pictures. At this phase English should be used as

much as possible.
- Draw out learners’ experience related to situation.
- Explain some key words.
- Set listening task by asking key information of the dialogue.
- Ask learners listen without looking at the books.
- Allow learners to have a look at their book when necessary for them.
- Ask the learners to listen and repeat.
- Ask learners to pick up difficulties (good chance for them to speak) and
explain difficulties.
- Ask them to practice (role-play).
- Ask them to dramatize the dialogue.
It is known that this procedure is perfectly and logically arranged. However,
it is dependent on learner’s competence so some steps can be left out. It is quite
hard for Vietnamese learners to conduct the ten steps because they are generally
shy and time is limited.
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• The practice phase
Unlike in the presentation phase, in this phase learners have to do most of talking.
Teachers provide maximum amount of practice. Practice is usually in the forms of
activities to improve fluency of speaking. At this phase, pair work or group work is used.
• The production phase
Learners need chances to speak English freely at this phase. A real chance to
speak English takes place when the learner is able to use English naturally for
themselves, not for their teachers.
Byrne (1991:22) concludes that in order to improve speaking ability of
learners, these three phases above should be followed orderly. But in fact, they
might not be applied as expected due to time limitation, types of learners and
materials in use. The teachers should pay attention to what has been spoken by the
students during the Practice and Production phases so that they can see how far
students have improved their speaking skills and what mistakes they might produce.

A speaking lesson is successful or not depends on many factors such as learners’
participation, the use of language, etc.
1.5.4. A successful speaking lesson in classroom
Ur (1996:120) explains four elements of a successful speaking lesson. They are:
• Learners talk a lot
A speaking class indicated by most of the period time allotted the activity is in fact
occupied by learner’s talk. It seems obvious, but most time is taken up with
teacher’s talk or pause.
• Participation is even
A monitoring of talkative participants doesn’t dominate classroom discussion here.
It is hinted that all get a chance to speak and are fairly evenly distributed.
• Motivating is high
This is indicated by the eagerness of the learners to speak. Students are interested in
the topic and have something new to say about it.
• Language is of an acceptable level
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It means that learners need to express themselves in utterances that are
relevant, easy to comprehend each other and can be acceptable level language
accuracy. According to Nunan (1996: 32) successful oral communication should
involve developing:
 The ability to articulate phonological features of the language
comprehensibly;
 Mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns; an acceptable degree of
fluency;
 Transactional and interactional skills;
 Skills in talking short and long speaking in turns, in the management of the
interaction, and in negotiating meaning;
 Conversational listening skills (successful conversations require good
listeners as well as speakers);
 Skills in knowing about and negotiating purposes for conversations;

 Using appropriate conversational formulate and fillers.
In summary, there are many factors of a successful speaking lesson.
However, it is not easy at all to implement such a speaking activity that
satisfies all above mentioned criteria, but it is necessary to remind language
teachers of them as they design and administer such activities.
1.6. Willingness to Communicate – Willingness to speak
Recent studies investigating affective variables have focused on the attribute
willingness to communicat. These studies have been conducted with immersion
students from middle school to those in university settings (Baker & MacIntyre,
2003, Donovan & McIntyre, 2004; MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Conrod, 2001;
MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Donovan, 2003; Peng, 2007).
Willingness to communicate conceptualizes a speaker’s intention to engage
in communication when given a choice. Some individuals may be very hesitant to
initiate or respond in the target language, and this hesitance may affect their
language outcomes in negative ways. This variable may have particular significance
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in contexts that differ in the amount of participation and communication required of
students such as that in immersion and non-immersion contexts. To date,
willingness to communicate has not been studied in primary school children. The
willingness to communicate construct was initially adapted for an second language
con-text by McIntyre (1994) who developed a path model which suggests that
willingness to communicate has two key antecedents: communication apprehension
and perceived communication competence. Both of these affective variables were
examined in the current study.
1.7. Teacher-student interaction
1.7.1. Interaction
Human interaction, according to Abarca (2004), is a process whereby two or
more people engage in reciprocal action. This action may be verbal or non-verbal.
Thus for the purpose of teaching a language, teachers mainly focus on the verbal
interaction or communicative interaction (Cummins, 1994) without separating the

nonverbal interaction that is present at an early phase and which has been called the
silent period.
In the educational context, interaction can be regarded as taking place at
various levels. Ordinal interaction is unidirectional and consists of the ordering or
selection of pre-structural elements. Reciprocal interaction (or tutorial interaction)
involves the presenting system accepting student input and actively shaping the
interaction in response to it (www. Imuaut. Demon.co.uk/trc/edissues/ptgloss.htm).
Elsewhere Abarca (2004) believes that interaction can be described as
depending on the dominant type of interaction that is taking place in the English
classroom. In other words, we have teacher-dominated classroom where the teacher
is most of the time talking and students’ participation is limited; teacher-centered
classroom where the teacher is controlling the students’ participation through some
classroom activities and the students have the chance to participate. Finally, the
student-centered classroom is the one where the students can participate more
actively.
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According to Lyster (2006: 270) interaction plays a key role in "deriving
second language development forward because learners rely on semantically
contingent speech as a primary source of positive and negative second language
data". Seedhouse (1999) mentions three characteristics of task-oriented interaction.
These characteristics are:
• that there is a reflexive relationship between the nature of the task
and the turn-taking system,
• that there is a tendency to minimalization and indexicality, and
• that tasks tend to generate many instances of clarification
requests, confirmation checks, comprehension checks, and self-
repetitions.
Long (1996) and Gass (2003) have claimed that second language interaction
facilitates learning because, while focusing on communicating, learners can receive
feedback and receive opportunities to make use of that feedback by modifying their

output.
1.7.2. Teacher-student interaction
Wubbels and his colleagues (Wubbels, Brekelmans, van Tartwijk, &
Admiral, 1999; Wubbels & Levy, 1993) identify appropriate dominance as an
important characteristic of effective teacher-student relationships. They define
dominance as the teacher's ability to provide clear purpose and strong guidance
regarding both academics and student behavior. Teachers can exhibit appropriate
dominance by establishing clear behavior expectations and learning goals and by
exhibiting assertive behavior.
According to Eschenmann (1991), teachers can motivate their students to
learn if they take the time to build relationships. Further research (Whitaker, 2004)
also suggests that teachers need to have a strong belief that building relationships
are important to the motivation process. It is important that educators recognize the
impact they have on their students, and consider strongly their students’ perceptions
of them (Eschenmann, 1991). Teachers have to ensure that they are meeting student
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needs, both academically and emotionally. Creating classroom environments that
promote positive cultures with healthy interactions can motivate students to channel
their energies and desires to reach their goals. According to Whitaker (2004), the
main variable in the classroom is not the student, but the teacher. Great teachers
have high expectations for their students, but even higher expectations for
themselves (2004). These teachers recognize the importance of connecting with
their students, that if they are unable to connect with them emotionally then
influencing their minds may be impossible (2004).
Both teachers and students have to value their contribution. A student has to
feel worthwhile and appreciated. A teacher needs to recognize that he or she can
have a positive effect on their students. Wiseman and Hunt (2001) refer to this as
“teacher efficacy” and note that the more the teacher believes in this, the more they
will cause it to happen (p.11). Research acknowledges (Whitaker, 2004; Tyler &
Boelter, 2008) teacher expectations as strong and reliable predictors of performance

among elementary, middle and high school students.
A student wants to feel connected to people and to feel as though he or she
deserves to be loved and respected (Stipek, 2002). According to Stipek many of the
children who are not doing well academically, are the same ones who have a poor
relationship with their teachers. Typically, the more they fall behind academically,
often, the more this relationship is weakened. If they are constantly reprimanded in
class, the environment and the teacher-student relationship begin to hold negative
associations. Stipek found that students who perceived a more nurturing
relationship with their teachers tended to have better attitudes towards academics
and often did better than their peers who lacked the same support system. Stipek
also referenced a Belmont and Skinner study conducted in 1993, which supported
the idea that a good teacher-student relationship positively influenced learning.
“The more connected a child feels, the more they are willing to attempt tasks and to
seek help when necessary. The student who feels this sense of connectedness may
want to maintain it or please the teacher by doing well in class (2002)”
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According to Tyler and Boelter (2008), positive teacher expectations were
associated with high academic performance or academic gains; whereas negative
teacher expectations resulted in decrease in academic performance. The significance
of knowing teachers’ beliefs regarding their roles in student motivation is crucial
due to the accepted correlation between this perception and actions (2008).
Whitaker (2004) argues that it is better to create the relationship that will motivate
the student to behave versus advertising the consequences. School climate and
culture will enable or restrict classroom instruction and student learning (Stewart,
2008), since students adapt to their environment. If educators create a culture where
students are expected to succeed, many often conform. Researchers van der
Westhuizen, Mosoge, Swanepoel, and Coetsee, (2005) suggest that an effective
organizational culture can enhance academic achievement and lead to reduced
student drop out and failure rates, effective discipline, and regular attendance.
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