Shyness and Willingness to Communicate

This study employed a mixed-methods design to determine the levels of shyness and willingness to communicate (WTC) among tertiary-level English language learners in Bangladesh, examine their interrelationships, and explore their impact on spoken performance and self-perceived communication ability. A total of 221 students, selected through purposive sampling, participated in a survey, and 107 of them completed a spoken test. Statistical analysis conducted using SPSS revealed that learners exhibited a moderate level of shyness (mean = 3.12), with scores leaning toward the higher end (skewness = −.612), and a nearly moderate level of WTC (mean = 3.33), with a slight tendency toward lower scores (skewness = .317). While gender did not influence these levels, the duration of study did. Shyness showed a significant negative correlation with communication-related variables. Specifically, shyness and communication confidence demonstrated a moderate negative correlation (r = −.252), indicating that greater shyness is associated with lower communication confidence. A similar negative correlation was observed between shyness and WTC (r = −.251), suggesting that students with greater shyness are less willing to communicate. Regression analyses further showed that both WTC and shyness significantly predict communication confidence. Students’ spoken scores were found to be average and influenced by their levels of shyness and WTC. Although WTC uniquely predicted spoken performance (p = .002), its strong correlation with shyness indicates an indirect influence of shyness on spoken ability. These findings highlight the need for increased exposure to English use and enhanced learner awareness of shyness and WTC.