Secondary school EFL students' in-class willingness to communicate in CLIL-based bilingual and non-bilingual programmes in Andalusia

Although extensive research exists on Willingness to Communicate (WTC), significant gaps remain. First, studies focusing on secondary students' in-class WTC in English as a foreign language (EFL) are limited. Second, comparative analyses of WTC across educational contexts – especially between mainstream and bilingual programmes adopting a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach – are scarce. Third, further research is needed to identify context-specific predictors of WTC. To address these gaps, this study investigated classroom WTC among 1102 EFL secondary students in Andalusia (Southern Spain), comparing CLIL-based bilingual and non-bilingual programmes. It also examined how sociodemographic, personality, affective, and intercultural factors influence WTC in each context. Participants were students from lower and upper secondary levels, recruited from ten schools across five Andalusian provinces. No statistically significant difference in in-class WTC emerged between bilingual and non-bilingual programme students, suggesting that CLIL-based bilingual education does not inherently enhance WTC more than mainstream programmes. While similar factors influenced WTC in both groups, their effects varied in strength. The study concludes with implications for EFL research and classroom practices, particularly for CLIL contexts.