





































English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

Vol. 5, No. 2, August 2022, pp. 143-156  

       https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v5i2.2806          http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index        eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id  

On the interrelationships between Iraqi EFL learners’ classroom 

environment, foreign language classroom anxiety and 

willingness to communicate: A SEM approach 

Alyaa Abdulkareem Obaid a,1 , Mitra Zeraatpishe b, 2*, Akram Faravani c,3 

a, b, c English Department, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran. 
1 aalyaa585@gmail.com ; 2 mitra.zeraatpishem1398@gmail.com*; 3 afaravani@yahoo.com  

* corresponding author 

  

A R T I C L E  I N F O 

  

ABST RACT   

 

 

Article history 

Received 16 June 2022 

Revised 12 August 2022 

Accepted 15 August 2022 

  Different factors play their roles in communication especially when 
the concern is a foreign language such as classroom environment, 
foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate. 
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship 
among EFL Iraqi learner’s classroom environment, foreign language 
classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate. First, from 
among the available 260 English university students at Babylon 
university, 204 EFL intermediate language learners who studied 
English language were selected. The selection was based on their 
score in Cambridge Quick Placement Test 2004(QPT). The 
participants, then filled three questionnaires of anxiety, classroom 
environment, and willingness to communicate. The three 
questionnaires were filled out by the participants.  To consider the 
extent of the interrelationships among classroom environment, 
willingness to communicate and speaking anxiety, a model of 
associations among them was proposed. To analyze the obtained 
data, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used and the model 
was probed using AMOS. Results of SEM indicated a complete fit 
and significant interrelationship among the variables were found. The 
findings have several implications for EFL teachers and learners.  

 

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 
Keywords 

Classroom Anxiety 

Foreign Language Learning 

Environment 

Willingness to Communicate 

Second Language Learning 

 

 

  

How to Cite: Obaid, A. A., et.al. (2022). On the interrelationships between Iraqi EFL learners’ classroom 
environment, foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate: A SEM approach. English 
Language Teaching Educational Journal, 5(2), 143-156. 

1. Introduction  

 To learn English, students are taught the English language in schools and institutes. As for 
school they learn it from the first grade of elementary school up to their diploma. English is 
considered as a foreign language in many countries and most of the teaching and learning of the 

language happens in the context of the classroom (Scager, et al., 2017; Soruç, et al., 2021; Curle, et 

al., 2020). So, factors related to classroom such as its environment and the anxiety which can happen 
may also influence students’ learning as well as their willingness to communicate in English.  

There is always one challenging idea why some students are so willing to participate in 
classroom communication activities, while others try to keep away from such participations. Many 
language teachers have been thinking about this question and they need to know more about the real 
factors which affect the willingness of their learners to communicate in communications. However, 
in most cases, second language students are not willing to communicate in the second language and 
as a result remain silent (MacIntyre, 2007; Smith, 2003; Soifah, & Pratolo, 2020).   

https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v5i2.2806
http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index
mailto:eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id
mailto:aalyaa585@gmail.com
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mailto:afaravani@yahoo.com
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1.1 Importance of Willingness to Communicate 

 According to MacIntyre and Charos (1996) the most important reason for learning a 
second/foreign language is using it for communication whether one’s reason for language learning is 
to meet other people, to go to journey, to acquire more information about cultures, or only to utilize 
it for one’s profession. Especially since the development of Communicative Language Teaching 
(CLT), “authenticity, real world and meaningful tasks” have become the main features of language 
classrooms (Khajavy, 2016; Chan, 2017). Therefore, willingness to communicate is the key factor to 
learn a foreign language. Learners have to be willing to communicate in the foreign language in 
order to learn it, and their participation in oral tasks is very important. Willingness to communicate, 
developed as a model by MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clement, and Noels (1998), is defined as “a readiness 
to enter into discourse at a particular time with an especial individual or people, through the use of a 
second language” (p.547). The model consists of influential factors such as personality traits and 
situation-specific influences such as desire to communicate in a specific situation. Therefore, 
willingness to communicate is a multi-dimensional trait which depends on many other factors. 
Khajavy (2016) emphasizes that it is generally a basic concept for reaching effective communication 
and language production.  

In countries where English is learned as a foreign language, learning the target language occurs 
only in the classroom in a formal way, and thus willingness to communicate plays a very important 
role as learners are bound to have fewer opportunities to use the foreign language outside the 
classroom (Charos, 2015; Jin, et al., 2021; Khajavy, et al., 2016; Khodarahmi & Nia, 2014; 
Zarrinabadi et al., 2021). However, foreign language learners sometimes miss this golden 
opportunity and this is one of the deficiencies learners faces. Using foreign language communication 
in the class is a great benefit. McCrosky (1990) believed that the first, most obvious and best-
established reason for getting language learners communicate is that communication practice in the 
classroom is pedagogically useful because it represents a necessary and productive stage in the 
transfer of classroom learning to the outside world (Ito, 2022). Moreover, classroom environment 
includes a wide variety of learning issues, like the physical atmosphere, the psychological setting 
made by social setting, and some other educational factors related to teacher characteristics and 
behaviors (Fraser, 2002; Neff & Rucynski, 2021; Ahmadi-Azad, et.al., 2020). 

1.2 Classroom Environment and Anxiety impacts on WTC 

Speaking is the most significant skill for foreign language learners who are keen on becoming 
real speakers of a second or foreign language. With this regard, investigating willingness to 
communicate (WTC) in EFL contexts, seems to be an important concern for ELT practitioners, and 
is of great importance for a number of reasons. First, a great amount of tendency to communicate 
probably develops higher amount of motivation among learners to start finding new chances to use 
English in the classroom (Peng, 2012; Zhang, et al., 2020). Second, it is important for language 
teachers to understand the social interaction and interdependence among individual, environmental 
and linguistic factors underlying WTC since it is a direct indicator of amount of communication in 
the foreign or second language in the classroom (Cao, 2011; Fielden-Burns & Piquer-Píriz, 2022; 
Cao, & Wei, 2019). Furthermore, recognizing the role of WTC in language learning as an important 
learner factor will help ELT practitioners attend to their students’ WTC behavior more 
appropriately. MacIntyre (2007) believes that success in language learning is measured in terms of 
the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language. Charos (2001) believes that FL learners 
usually have little chance to use their communicative abilities to speak English outside the 
classroom setting. Perhaps this situation for foreign language learners causes them to feel anxious 
and to remain silent in the classroom. 

So, anxiety has a negative effect on students’ capability to reach academic goals (Chowdhury, 
2014; Rajitha, & Alamelu, 2020; Walker, 2004). According to Dörnyei (2005), the fear of having 
communication with other individuals in foreign/second language causes anxiety; so, removing this 
anxiety should be regarded as a very important concern. An individual may not be willing to 
communicate because of the anxiety he/she has in regard with communication (McCrosky, 1990). 

Since 1990, many studies have been done on the role of willingness to communicate and the 
success of the EFL learners. In addition to the wide variety of investigation in relationship to 
classroom environment, this area of study has also been of interest to language teachers and 
researchers (Zhang, et al., 2018; 2019). Many different methodologies, research methods including 



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surveys, observations, and interviews have been used to study different aspects of the classroom 
environment from students’, teachers’, and observers’ views.  

The importance of such an obstacle, classroom anxiety, in the way for the Iraqi EFL learners 
calls for more research in this area to shed lighter on the potential problems that students face in 
learning a foreign language in Iraq. The researcher made an attempt to study the role of classroom 
environment and foreign language classroom anxiety towards the willingness to communicate 
among Iraqi Intermediate EFL learners (Dryden, 2021; Liu, et al., 2021; Pratolo, & Solikhati, 2020).  
Therefore, this study aimed at proposing and fitting a model based on the existing interrelationship 
among classroom environment, foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to 
communicate.  

The present study findings contribute to add to the available body of knowledge on the 
interrelationships among willingness to communicate, classroom environment and anxiety in the 
context of Iraq in particular and for language teaching in general. Secondly, the findings will be of 
use to language teaching stakeholders including researchers in the field of language teaching, 
language teachers, and teacher trainers. 

1.3 Purpose of the Present Study 

As communication is one of the most important skills that most programs in language teaching 
focus on, willingness to communicate can be a determining factor in one’s success in learning a 
language. Thus, it is and has been the focus of research in language teaching. Findings of the present 
study can enlighten the researchers in this field to gain more knowledge of its relationship with two 
of the important factors of anxiety as well as classroom environment. Thus, based on the findings, 
researchers can set future research on the probable results of the present study. Moreover, language 
teachers will benefit the findings of the present study. Classroom environment is known as a key 
aspect in a teacher’s success. On the other hand, teachers always aim to lower the students’ anxiety 
especially if the focus is on language communication. Knowing the probable relationships among 
these variables can be a contributing element for teachers to promote communication among their 
learners. Having a broader knowledge of these relationships can help teachers in caring for the 
variables than can either lower or raise willingness to communicate among the language learners. 

2. Review of the Related Literature 

In a scholarly study, Prihartanti (2017) focused on Indonesian university student’s readiness to 
communicate and participate in English language learning and how they reported their anxiety in 
such interactions. The goals of this study were to find the exact definition of the willingness to 
communicate among Indonesian language learners of English, and to find the relationship between 
classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate in English language classes. Those who 
participated in this study were 426 students of Bachelor’s Degree in Muhammadiyah University of 
Surakarta (UMS). In that study, about half of the students (51%) showed low readiness to 
communicate in English. More than half (68%) of students showed that their language anxiety 
affected their willingness to communicate in English, it was while 12% of them does not show that 
their anxiety had any impact on their willingness to participate in classroom interactions. In that 
research, the searcher found a significant relationship between language anxiety and willingness to 
communicate. 

Another study from Murtiningsih (2016) revealed students’ anxiety and willingness to 
communicate in Vocational Program Universitas Brawijaya. She studied 67 participants and used 
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) 
scale. The research findings showed that English students of vocational program Universitas 
Brawijaya have high level of anxiety and low level of willingness to communicate. In addition, this 
study showed that there was a meaningful negative correlation between students’ anxiety and their 
willingness to communicate. Cao (2011) studied the willingness to communicate (WTC) in second 
language and studied the features that remain stable in different contexts and its nature. This multi-
dimensional study focused on the dynamic and stable nature of WTC in second language classrooms 
was structured with an ecological dimension in second language learning. Data were collected 
through classroom observations, interviews, and reflective diaries, it was found that willingness to 
communicate which is situation related second and foreign language classrooms appeared from the 



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common attempts of personal features like self-image, personality, emotion and simulated 
opportunity to interact, classroom environmental situations such as discussion topic, communicative 
task, discussion group, teacher and the number of the participants, along with some linguistic 
factors. The outcomes showed that language teachers should be careful of the interrelationship of all 
these factors that create students’ WTC in class. 

According to Worde (2003) the primary goal of his study was to identify those factors that may 
cause anxiety, and those factors that may decrease anxiety in the process of research to understand 
the role that anxiety may play in learning a foreign or second language. This study used the 
qualitative research method, an interview, along with a quantitative part of the study. The 
participants' ideas, personal experiences, and feelings were under focus in order to create a clear 
explanation of the participants' views of foreign language anxiety. The participants also filled the 
"Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale" questionnaire (FLCAS) made by Horwitz, Horwitz, 
and Cope (1986). The FLCAS is a 33-item, self-report questionnaire, scored on a five-point Likert 
Scale, expressing from strongly agree to strongly disagree, and was created to get the specific nature 
of foreign language anxiety in a classroom environment and to provide the researchers with a 
standard measure. The interviews presented highly negative experiences with the language class. 
Several participants expressed their feelings and gave examples of how anxiety can lead to 
embarrassment and even disappointment. Both the interviews and the answers to the FLCAS 
questions revealed that 73% (11) of the sample of 15 participants would be regarded anxious 
learners with 34% (5) of these regarded very anxious. This was a small group of 15 participants and 
only limited generalization may be made on that base, but several conceptions for removing anxiety 
in the classroom were concluded from the ideas of the participants and other outcomes of the study. 
These suggestions encompassed enlarging awareness of foreign language anxiety and some 
recommendations regarding educations practices. 

Léger, and Storch (2009) studied the learners’ conceptions of their speaking abilities and their 
participations in oral class activities (whole class and small group discussions) and their ideas about 
these activities, and how classroom environment and such conceptions and ideas affected the 
learners’ willingness to communicate in the L2. The study used a variety of data gathering means, 
but the main source of data came from prepared questionnaires. In this study, thirty-two students of 
French language took part in this study. The questionnaires which were filled by the students 
showed their learning environment at different points in the semester and self-assess their speaking 
skills. This study showed that the students’ conception of the speaking activities and their 
conceptions of themselves as learners in the foreign language classroom influenced their willingness 
to communicate in different ways. In summary, as learners’ self-image increased in the course of 
time, their willingness to use the second language in class increased. Although, the learners’ 
willingness to communicate with fellow students in small groups was not stable and was affected by 
friendliness reasons. 

3. Method 

3.1 Sample 

The participants or the target population of this reported study were students who were studying 
English as a foreign language in the Babylon university in the city of Hillah; because there was no 
access to the target population of all university students of Iraq, only accessible population were 
selected including students in Hillah city of Iraq. Therefore, the researcher used sampling for 
selecting the sample of the study. The target population for the present study consisted of 204 EFL 
intermediate language learners (102 female students and 102 male students) who studied English in 
Babylon University and were selected from among the available 2000 English university students at 
Babylon university. The selection was based on their score in Cambridge Quick placement test 2004 
(QPT). According to the QPT manual those participants who score 39- 47 were categorized as 
intermediate language learners and were selected to participate in this study. 

3.2 Instrument 

In order to study the interrelationships among classroom environment, foreign language 
classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate researcher used different questionnaires as 
follows: 



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1) The Quick Placement Test 

The Quick Placement Test (QPT) (Syndicate, 2001) is a test of English proficiency made by 
Cambridge universities to measure EFL level of proficiency (Syndicate, 2001). In this study the 
researcher used the paper and pencil version. According to the manual accompanying the test, those 
test takers who score between 39 – 47 out of 60 were called intermediate EFL learner and chosen as 
the intermediate participants.  

2) Anxiety Questionnaire 

The Anxiety questionnaire of Zarei, & Aghamohamadi (2018) measures the anxiety level of the 
learners in the classroom. It had 25 items based on Likert scale. It was developed by Zarei, & 
Aghamohamadi (2018). The questionnaire includes 25 items based on Likert scale from entirely 
agree to entirely disagree. The reliability index was reported as 0.85 by Zarei, & Aghamohamadi 
(2018). The needed time for the participants to fill the questionnaire was 10 minutes. They reported 
the validity of Anxiety questionnaire of classroom Anxiety of Zarei, & Aghamohamadi (2018). In 
this study the reliability was calculated as .74. 

3) Classroom Environment questionnaire 

The classroom environment questionnaire used in this study was a modified version of the What 
Is Happening in this Class (WIHIC) which was developed by Hill, & Epps (2010). It includes 20 
items in Likert scale from almost never to almost always. Hill, & Epps (2010) reported a reliability 
of 0.88 and the validity was measured by the researchers (Hill, & Epps, 2010). In this study the 
classroom environment questionnaire consisted of 20 items based on the Likert scale which took 10 
minutes for the participants to fill it. The reliability was calculated as 8.7. 

4) Willingness to Communicate Questionnaire 

This questionnaire which measures the willingness to communicate of English learners as a 
foreign language has 20 items based on Likert scale. It was developed by Ivana Simic (2014). The 
questionnaire includes 20 items based on Likert scale from completely agree to completely disagree. 
The reliability index was reported as 0.85 and the needed time for the participants to fill the 
questionnaire was 5 minutes. Simic (2014) reported the validity of willingness to communicate 
questionnaire (2014). In this study the reliability was calculated as .91. 

4. Design 

First, from among the available 204 English university students at Babylon University, 120 EFL 
intermediate language learners who studied English in Babylon University were selected. The 
selection was based on their score in Cambridge Quick placement test 2004 (QPT). The researcher 
explained about the procedure in order to avoid any anxiety on the part of the participants. The 
participants, then filled three questionnaires of anxiety, classroom environment, and willingness to 
communicate. The researcher collected the three questionnaires filled out by the participants to 
consider the extent of the interrelationship among classroom environment, willingness to 
communicate and speaking anxiety. The proposed study of the relationships among classroom 
anxiety and classroom environment and willingness to communicate was a quantitative correlational 
survey study. The researcher calculated the Pearson correlation among the three variables in order to 
reach a conclusion about the relationship between classroom anxiety, classroom environment and 
willingness to communicate.  

1.1 The Researcher’s Model 

The interrelationship among the variables of WTC and classroom environment and classroom 
anxiety could be easily observed based on what has been discovered already in this study and also 
studies of different scholarly works of research. Rastegar and Karami (2015) presented the results of 
their study on the interrelationships among foreign language classroom anxiety, willingness to 
communicate, and the learning environment and achievement of Iranian EFL learners. 

Worde (2003) focused primarily on his goal of his study to identify those factors that may cause 
anxiety, and those factors that may decrease anxiety in the process of research to understand the role 
that anxiety may play in learning a foreign or second language and WTC in a foreign language. 



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Fig. 1. The proposed model 

5. Result 

1.2 Data Analysis 

To check the normality of data distribution, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to decide if a 
sample comes from a population with a specific distribution.  Table 1 presents the results of the 
Normality Test. 

Table 1.  The Results of Normality Test 

 df Sig. 

Willingness to Communicate 204 .07 

Classroom Environment 204 .06 

Classroom Anxiety 204 .09 

 

As it can be seen, the obtained sig value for all variables is higher than .05. Therefore, it can 
safely be concluded that the data is normally distributed across all the variables. The present section 
reports the descriptive statistics of the sample. Table 2 presents descriptive statistics of Willingness 
to Communicate. Descriptive statistics shows the number of students, mean, standard deviation, 
maximum and minimum scores. The possible range of score for the Willingness to Communicate 
with 20 items with five-point Likert scale (1-5) answers is between 20 and 100. 

Table 2.  Descriptive Statistics of Willingness to Communicate 

 N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation 

Willingness to 

Communicate 

204 35.00 84.00 60.60 9.38 

 

The first column of the table shows that 204 students participated in the present study. As Table 
2 indicates, minimum and maximum scores for Willingness to Communicate Scale are 35 and 84 
and the mean score is 60.60.  Table 3 presents descriptive statistics of Classroom Environment. The 
possible range of score for the Classroom Environment with 20 items with five-point Likert scale (1-
5) answers is between 20 and 100. 



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Table 3.  Descriptive Statistics of Classroom Environment 

 N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation 

Classroom Environment 204 40.00 78.00 62.15 6.58 

 

The first column of the table shows that 204 students participated in the present study. As Table 
3 indicates, minimum and maximum scores for Classroom Environment Scale are 40 and 78 and the 
mean score is 62.15. Table 4 presents descriptive statistics of Classroom Anxiety. The possible 
range of score for the Classroom Anxiety with 25 items with five-point Likert scale (1-5) answers is 
between 25 and 125. 

Table 4.  Descriptive Statistics of Classroom Anxiety 

 N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation 

Classroom Anxiety 204 25.00 122.00 57.46 12.12 

 

The first column of the table shows that 204 students participated in the present study. As Table 
4 indicates, minimum and maximum scores for Classroom Anxiety Scale are 25 and 122 and the 
mean score is 57.46. Table 5 summarizes the information obtained from Cronbach alpha analyses 
for the main variables of the study. 

Table 5.  Results of Cronbach Alpha Indexes after Reliability Analysis 

Scale Number 

of items 

Cronbach alpha 

Willingness to 

Communicate 

20 .91 

Classroom Environment 20 .87 

Classroom Anxiety 25 .74 

 

As can be seen, the utilized questionnaires gained acceptable indexes of Cronbach alpha for all 
the variables. The reliability of the Willingness to Communicate scale with 20 items is .91, for 
Classroom Environment with 20 items is .87, and for Classroom Anxiety scale with 25 items is .74. 
To find relationship between foreign language classroom cnvironment and their willingness to 
communicate, Pearson correlation was used. Table 6. Shows the results of Pearson correlation 
between foreign language classroom environment and their willingness to communicate. Table 6 
shows that the correlation is significant. R mean the correlation amount which should be between -1 
and +1 and if p is lower than .05, it means that the correlation is significant. In statistics, the Pearson 
product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of the linear correlation between two variables 
X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1 inclusive, where 1 is total positive correlation, 0 is no 
correlation, and −1 is total negative correlation  (Galton, 1885). 

Table 6.  Results of Pearson Correlation between foreign language Classroom Environment and their 

willingness to communicate 

 Classroom 

Environment 

WTC Pearson Correlation .271** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 

N 204 

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 

 



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As it can be seen in Table 6, there is a positive significant relationship between overall 
Classroom Environment and their willingness to communicate (r=.27, p<.05). Therefore, the first 
null hypothesis was rejected. Figure 2 shows the scatter plot of the relationship between Classroom 
Environment and willingness to communicate. 

 

Fig. 2. The scatter plot of the relationship between classroom environment and willingness to communicate 

As shown in Figure 2 the relationship between classroom environment and willingness to 
communicate in this study is presented. In order to find relationship between classroom anxiety and 
their willingness to communicate, Pearson correlation was used. Table 7 shows the results of 
Pearson correlation between classroom anxiety and their willingness to communicate. 

Table 7.  Results of Pearson Correlation between Classroom Anxiety and their Willingness to Communicate 

 Classroom Anxiety 

WTC Pearson Correlation -.20** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .003 

N 204 

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 

 

As it can be seen in Table 7, there is a negative significant relationship between overall 
Classroom Anxiety and their willingness to communicate (r=-.20, p<.05). Therefore, the second null 
hypothesis was rejected. Figure 3 shows the scatter plot of the relationship between anxiety and 
willingness to communicate. 



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Fig. 3. The scatter plot of the relationship between anxiety and willingness to communicate 

As shown in Figure 3 the relationship between classroom anxiety and willingness to 
communicate is presented. To examine the structural relations, the proposed model (Figure 4) was 
tested using Amos 24 statistical package. 

 

Fig. 4. The proposed model 

To check the strengths of the causal relationships among the components, the standardized 
estimates were examined. Figure 5 shows the model of associations among classroom environment 
and foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate fit the context of Iraq. 



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Fig. 5. The model of associations among classroom environment and foreign language classroom anxiety and 

willingness to communicate fit the context of Iraq 

As indicated in Figure 5, an estimate is displayed on each path. This standardized estimate is the 
standardized coefficient or beta coefficients (β) resulting from an analysis carried out on 
independent variables that have been standardized. It explains the predictive power of the 
independent variable and the effect size. The closer the magnitude to 1.0, the higher the correlation 
and the greater the predictive power of the variable is (Barrio, 2021).  

As indicated in Figure 5, classroom environment positively and significantly predicts willingness 
to communicate positively and significantly (β= .25, p<.05) and negatively and significantly predicts 
classroom anxiety (β= -.16, p<.05). In addition, classroom anxiety is a negative significant predictor 
of willingness to communicate (β= -.19, p<.05). 

A number of fit indices were examined to evaluate the model fit: the chi-square magnitude which 
shouldn't be significant, Chi-square/df ratio which should be lower than 2 or 3, the normed fit index 
(NFI), the good fit index (GFI), and the comparative fit index (CFI) with the cut value greater than 
.90, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of about .06 or .07 (Schreiber, et 
al., 2006). Table 8 shows the goodness of fit indices. 

Table 8.  Goodness of Fit Indices 

 X2/df GFI NFI CFI RMSEA 

Acceptable fit <3 >.90 >.90 >.90 <.08 

Model 2.89 .93 .93 .90 .06 

 

As demonstrated by Table 8, all the fit indices lie within the acceptable fit thresholds: the chi-
square/df ratio (2.89), RMSEA (.06), GFI (.93), NFI (.93) and CFI (.90). Therefore, it can be 
concluded that the proposed model had perfect fit with the empirical data. 

 



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6. Discussion 

The present research attempted to study the interrelationships among classroom environment, 
foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate among Iraqi EFL learners. 
Results of SEM indicated a perfect fit of the model of associations among the three variables of 
classroom environment, foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate among 
Iraqi EFL learners.  

One of the main subfactors of willingness to communicate is communication anxiety which is a 
level of fear or anxiety with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons 
(McCrosky, 1990). As the analysis of data show clearly, language learners with higher 
communication anxiety tend to avoid communication because of their anxiety to communicate that 
influences their performance. The results of the data analysis are quite in line with McCrosky (1990) 
who believes that communication and classroom anxiety is one of the destructors of a person’s 
willingness to communication. In other words, higher levels of communication anxiety lower a 
learner’s willingness to communicate. The findings are also in line with Von Worde’s (2003) 
findings who found the negative effect of classroom anxiety on the willingness to communicate 
among Iraqi EFL learners.  

Besides, the significant relationship among the variables of the study is also confirmed by 
Rastegar and Karami’s (2015) study which was conducted in the context of Iran. They also proved 
the significant interrelationships among foreign language classroom anxiety, willingness to 
communicate, and achievement of Iranian EFL learners. 

7. Conclusion 

The researchers came to the conclusion that there was negative significant relationship between 
overall classroom anxiety and their willingness to communicate. Therefore, the second null 
hypothesis which had stated that there was no significant relationship between overall classroom 
anxiety and their willingness to communicate among Iraqi EFL learners was rejected.  

The researchers came to the conclusion that the proposed model of association among classroom 
environment and foreign language classroom anxiety and willingness to communicate fit the context 
of Iraq had perfect fit with the empirical data. 

Communication is one of the most important human skills which plays important roles not only 
in fulfilling social functions but also in the process of learning a language. In the last decades, many 
different researchers have tried to study the basic factors related to the classroom communication 
which in itself influences learning and practice of language skills in the classroom environment. 
Many researches have studied all aspects of classroom communication which are related to the 
learning and practice of different language skills. Different methods have been made to increase the 
efficacy of classroom communication. 

One of the important factors affecting classroom communication are classroom anxiety and 
classroom environment. Different performance levels in classroom communication lies on such 
factors as language learners are always under their influences. 

Teachers can focus on such factors affecting classroom communication such as classroom 
anxiety and classroom environment. What they have to focus in class should be those negative 
factors like anxiety which should be eliminated and enhance those positive classroom environments. 
All teachers can play important roles in making appropriate learning environment in teaching 
classrooms.  A language teacher is expected to know his or her students in order to establish better 
communicative environment in order to take his or her students to better levels of understanding. 
Effective teaching methods and strategies can be applied in classrooms in order to eliminate anxiety 
factors which lead to negative classroom participation and increase stress among learners. Focusing 
on positive classroom environment, a teacher can increase learners’ enthusiasm which leads to 
willingness to participate in class activities. 

Teachers can manage happy and enthusiastic classes to increase willingness to communicate 
among learners. All psychological features which are considered as deterrent to learning and 
participation in classroom activities should be born in mind. Teachers should decrease learners’ 



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anxiety as a basic cause of learning problems in class. Instead, teachers should create happy learning 
environments for learners. 

Syllabus designers should keep the negative effect of classroom anxiety in mind. The syllabus 
they design should focus more on the individual preferences and the impact such as negative factors 
on the decrees of learning excitement. In designing materials to be studied as lessons, syllabus 
designers should bear these negative factors of anxiety and under specific attention.  

Also, classroom designers and school managers should pay especial attention to the negative and 
positive effect of classroom environment on the efficacy of learning a second or foreign language.  

Finally, other researchers in the field of language teaching and testing should pay more attention 
to other factors which are effective on the communication process and willingness to communicate 
in order to reach the answers to many questions in the field of language use and willingness to 
communicate among EFL learners. 

 

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