Language Teachers’ Willingness to Communicate: The Role of Education Level, Workplace, and Locality

The concept of willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) has long received considerable attention in scholarly research focusing on language learners. However, the scope of L2 WTC in foreign language settings transcends the learner population and encompasses language instructors as well. Limited research exists regarding the potential association between foreign language teachers’ education level, workplace, and locality, and their L2 WTC. Thus, the current study aimed to fill this gap in the literature, investigating how these factors can be associated with Iranian foreign language teachers’ willingness to communicate in second language (FLT WTC). To that purpose, a validated FLT WTC questionnaire was administered to 137 Iranian L2 teachers, and fifteen EFL sessions were observed in three different educational workplaces in Iran. Analytical methods such as multinomial logistic regression (MLR) analysis, ANOVA, and post-hoc Scheffé test were employed to analyze the collected data. It was found that foreign language teachers’ workplace could be a significant factor in their L2 WTC. Yet, their latest education level and teaching locality could not prove to be determining factors. These findings offer valuable insights for foreign language institutions, particularly regarding teacher recruitment considerations. The study also provides significant implications for educators and teacher trainers to pay careful attention to the impact of such factors on language teachers’ L2 WTC across various educational contexts.