Examining the Role of Foreign Language Anxiety and Attachment Style in Willingness to Communicate

The increased emphasis upon communication as the ultimate goal of language learning in modern language pedagogy has created the need for examining the factors affecting willingness to communicate which is considered as an indicator of successful language learning. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating the effects of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and attachment style on foreign language willingness to communicate (L2WTC) in the classroom context among Iranian EFL learners. Using a cluster sampling method, ninety Iranian EFL learners with the ages of 13 to 14 from high schools in Neyshabour, Iran were randomly selected. The instruments used in this research consist of willingness to communicate scale (MacIntyre et al., Studies in Second Language Acquisition 23:369-388, 2001), foreign language classroom anxiety scale (Horwitz et al., The Modern Language Journal 70:125-132, 1986), and attachment style classification questionnaire (FinziDottan, R. (2012). Attachment style classification questionnaire for latency age children. Retrieved from http://www.raidss.org/sites/default/h es/ascq-eng-my. pdf). The statistical analysis of multiple regression indicated that EFL learners' L2WTC is negatively correlated with anxiety, and anxious-ambivalent attachment style; however, L2WTC is positively correlated with secure attachment style.