The Role of Single-sex and Mixed-sex Context on Iranian Students' Willingness toCommunicate

Abstract

Willingness to communicate as the most immediate predictor of language use
is claimed to be influenced by both individual and contextual variables. Given this, this
study addresses the effect of single-sex and mixed-sex context on EFL students' inside
the classroom and outside the classroom willingness to communicate (WTC). To
conduct the study, WTC questionnaires were issued among three hundred students in
private English language institutes; one hundred of whom (both males and females)
were studying in the mixed-sex context, one hundred females, and one hundred males
studying in a single-sex context. A 2 × 2 ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects
of context and gender on the students' WTC. The results indicated that a) students
studying in single-sex contexts enjoy higher amount of WTC both inside and outside the
classroom b) males are more willing to communicate than females. Other findings and
pedagogical implications of the study are discussed.