VietTESOL International Convention 2026

As Vietnam moves toward an EFL-to-ESL transition, learners are increasingly expected to use English beyond the classroom in academic and global communicative contexts. While Willingness to Communicate in English has been widely examined in formal classroom settings, less attention has been paid to non-English majored students’ willingness to communicate outside the classroom where authentic communication occurs. This study was conducted with the participation of 150 non-English majors who study in various faculties. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data about participants’ willingness to communicate and the effect of two factors namely language anxiety and international posture on their willingness to communicate. Semi-structured interviews were followed to investigate this more in depth. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation also were used in this study. Results indicated that most students hold a generally high level of willingness to communicate outside the classroom. While language anxiety affected students differently depending on individual experiences, international posture showed a strong positive correlation with willingness to communicate, emphasizing the importance of global orientation in promoting learners’ confidence and motivation to use English. Qualitative findings further indicate that students with strong international posture tend to perceive English as a valuable tool for international and intercultural communication, whereas highly anxious learners often avoid spontaneous interaction due to fear of making mistakes. From the findings, suggestions are made on how to enhance students’ willingness to communicate and foster an environment conducive to effective communication in language learning for non- English majors.