The Gap Between Knowing and Speaking

Verbal communication is one of the most important and also one of the most difficult aspects of a second language, especially in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. Many students have a reasonable command of grammar, reading and sometimes listening, but they still struggle when they need to take part in a real-time conversation. This gap between what learners know and what they actually say is often connected with their Willingness to Communicate (WTC). WTC is a psychological construct that helps explain why learners decide to speak or stay silent when they are invited to speak, sometimes even when they have enough language to participate (MacIntyre et al. 1998: 547).

Speaking tasks are now common in language lessons, but learners do not always feel that they are using English for real communication. When activities are too mechanical or too risky, they can increase social anxiety and reduce students' actual speaking time. Speaking is not a simple mechanical skill. It is influenced by cognitive, social and emotional factors working together (Thornbury 2005:4; Harmer 2007:123). As Cao and Philp (2006:491) show, WTC is very sensitive to the classroom context and is affected by classroom dynamics, peer relationships and the way tasks are organised.

This study is motivated by the need to connect classroom speaking activities with learners' real willingness to communicate. Dörnyei (2003: 6) and Bygate (1987: 5–7) suggest that motivation, emotional safety and meaningful tasks are important conditions that support participation in speaking. Research on different types of speaking tasks—such as role plays, group discussions, task-based activities and communicative games—and their influence on learners' WTC can give useful suggestions for designing speaking lessons.

The main aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between speaking activities and WTC in an EFL classroom. In addition, the study examines how specific tasks can shape learners' communicative behaviour and looks for ways to encourage them to produce more spoken output. The research is based on the theoretical framework of MacIntyre et al. (1998: 547) and is supported by work by Yashima (2002:58–60), Peng and Woodrow (2010: 853), and Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011:19).

Chapter 1 provides the conceptual foundation. It discusses how speaking is defined, taught and assessed in EFL education, with a particular focus on classroom interaction and task-based work.

Chapter 2 turns to WTC as the main lens for understanding learners' decisions to speak. It describes the development of the construct and introduces the L2 WTC pyramid model, which links more stable and more situational influences.

Chapter 3 focuses on emotions, motivation and interactional processes that can support or limit speaking. The chapter connects these ideas with learners' self-perceptions, especially self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA).

Chapter 4 presents the empirical study. It describes the school and classroom context, the small group of four focal learners and the set of speaking activities used during the intervention. Child-friendly SPCC and FLCA scales are combined with classroom observation measures to trace changes in learners' WTC, emotional experience and speaking performance over the course of the project.