The Effect of Adventure Education on Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English

In today’s world, where English is crucial for communicating with people from diverse cultures, investigating the factors that affect English speaking skills is of great importance. For instance, in foreign language learning, learners must be willing to communicate in the target language. Willingness to communicate (WTC) is influenced by various factors such as psychological, linguistic, sociological and personality characteristics. By understanding these factors, educators can create supportive environments encouraging participation and improving learning outcomes. In this sense, the aim of this study, in which adventure education serves as a supportive learning environment, is to examine the effect of adventure education on high school students’ WTC in English. In this study, 29 10th-grade high school students were included in speaking activities with a 10-week adventure education program. This 10-week process was documented by filling in observation forms. According to the descriptive analysis of the data obtained from the observation forms, the students demonstrated a lower level of WTC in the initial weeks. However, their WTC levels increased as the students got used to the activities in the following weeks. In addition, thematic analyses revealed that the increase in students’ WTC levels was due to positive experiences, English development, psychological and emotional developments, and the active engagement in learning. Keywords: Adventure education, WTC, English, speaking, willingness, communication