Saudi Students’ Willingness to Communicate and Success in Learning English as a Foreign Language

Background: Willingness is an important factor that is instrumental in carrying out an activity successfully. Learning a foreign language is useful for having a meaningful and effective way of communication with different members of a society. This paper examines willingness among Saudi students towards learning English as a second language. It will also explore some of the difficulties that are faced by students learning English. Method: The paper used mixed methodological approach i.e. qualitative (literature) and quantitative data (survey). A survey was conducted where questionnaires were used for gathering information related to the research topic. There were 658 participants who belonged to the educational institutions of Saudi Arabia. Results: 50 % of the participants showed that they had a willingness to learn English as a second language. It was also examined that students were willing to learn and communicate in English with individuals in their groups that had English as a native language. Findings: It was revealed that there are several factors such as motivation level, social and cultural factors that affects students willingness to learn and communicate in English. Conclusion: Therefore, this study concludes that Students in Saudi Arabia are willing to learn and communicate in English as their second language. Moreover, the paper suggests some recommendations for overcoming EFL students’ willingness to communicate in English.