Turkish adult learners' approach to learning English with regard to motivation, attitudes, reasons and willingness to communicate

Learning English has increasingly gained importance. Today, people need English not only for communication but also for getting a job, being promoted, traveling, achieving school subjects and other career-related ambitions. As suggested, people learn English for various reasons. Accordingly, they have attitudes towards learning English, its culture, instructors of it, and speakers of that language. Learners can have high or low motivation for learning English and communicating in English. When a learner desires to learn English, to use it for communication, it is called willingness to communicate (WTC). Three objectives guided this study: 1) to learn why Turkish, English as a foreign language (EFL) adult learners who attended English courses want to learn English as a foreign language; 2) to explore their motivation and attitudes toward the English language; 3) to find out how willing they are to communicate in English. Moreover, the correlation among these factors was analyzed. In order to accomplish these aims, a questionnaire consisting of three parts was applied. First, a descriptive analyses was conducted, using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. Second, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to test for the relationship between reasons to learn English, motivation/attitudes toward English, and WTC in English. Two hundred thirty-four (234) Turkish adult learners attending English courses at eight private language institutions participated in this study. A quantitative research method design was adopted. VIII The results of the study showed that, the participants in this sample chose mostly job-related statements for the reason why they wanted to learn English. Learning English for travel took the second place in the sequence followed by knowledge/friendship statements. Finally, the participants stated that they learn English for being successful in English. When learners' motivation and attitudes are considered, the participants regard themselves as motivated and had favorable attitudes toward English language. As for the participants' willingness to communicate in English, the results indicated that they preferred to talk more with their friends and acquaintances rather than with strangers. These results showed consistency with some other results related to WTC. According to correlation results, all these factors including learners' reasons for learning English, motivation and attitudes toward that language and WTC were significantly correlated with each other at .05 level. Based on the correlation results, it was implied that job-related reasons were highly (r=.56) correlated with the reasons about knowledge and friendship. Additionally, motivation had a positive effect on integrativeness (attitudes toward foreign language and its community). On the other hand, WTC and anxiety were negatively correlated. The importance of this research lies in its theoretical contributions to the research on EFL context. Moreover, its linguistics and pedagogical implications for EFL contexts contribute to conceptualization of motivation, attitudes and WTC. The implication of the study is Turkish adult EFL learners needed to be supported by language institutions and instructors to increase their willingness to communicate in English. To better understand the study participants' reasons to learn English as a foreign language, motivation and attitudes toward English and its community, as well as, their WTC in English, more studies examining more variables that possibly affect this issue may be carried out. Key Words: Turkish adult learners, reasons for learning English, motivation, attitude, WTC.