Willingness to Communicate Among Pre-University ESL Learners: Teachers’ Perceptions and Teaching Strategies

In many regions of the world, the necessity to promote learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) has become a primary aspect of language instruction. Sensing the importance of WTC in ESL education, this study aims to explore Malaysian pre-university ESL teachers' perceptions towards learners' WTC and the teaching strategies employed to enhance it in ESL classrooms. The researcher employed qualitative means by employing semi-structured interview with 7 pre-university ESL teachers in providing extensive insights. The findings of this study depicts a concerning perceptions towards pre-university ESL learners' WTC, where five teaching strategies were discussed by the participants in promoting learners' WTC which comprises teacher immediacy, corrective feedback strategies, positive classroom climate, topic selection, and awareness raising strategies. This study implies that pre-university ESL teachers play a crucial role in reducing learners' apprehension to communicate using English language where a variety of teaching strategies should be integrated together in maximising their communicative potentials.