The predictive impact of linguistic anxiety and ‘fear of lecturers’ on students’ willingness to communicate in class

Current educational reforms in Ghana advocate for the development of students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills through a dialogic and interactive classroom environment where students have the liberty to voice out their critical thoughts on a subject matter. Unfortunately, the ‘culture of silence’ among students in classrooms remains a prevailing issue, even at the university level in Ghana. The current study, therefore, aimed to explore how L2 (English) communicative anxiety and fear of lecturers’ authoritative disposition influence students’ willingness to communicate in class. A predictive statistical modelling approach was employed for this investigation. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling, the study found that students’ apprehension in using English and their fear of lecturers’ authoritative dispositions negatively influenced their willingness to communicate in class. Based on these insights, we recommend that curriculum developers consider introducing translanguaging pedagogies to ensure that students who have limited L2 communicative competence can also share their views in the classroom using a familiar language they feel comfortable speaking.