Abstract: Previous literature has demonstrated that the willingness to communicate(WTC) of second language(L2) learners is affected by a variety of factors, among which individual difference factors such as foreign language anxiety and classroom contextual factors such as teacher behavior have been the hot topic. This study aims to develop a hypothetical model to explore the correlations between L2 learners' WTC, foreign language anxiety and teacher immediacy. Questionnaire data was collected from 497 non-English-major college students in Anhui Province and processed in a hypothetical model through measurement and confirmation via AMOS 17.0. It was found that when the foreign language anxiety decreases or the immediate teacher behavior increases, learners' WTC, correspondingly, increases. However, teacher immediacy had no direct effect on foreign language anxiety, which means the immediate teacher behavior failed to alleviate learners' anxiety. This finding, to some degree, bridges the research gap by providing statistical testimony on the factors influencing WTC and sheds pedagogical insights for college English teaching.

Key words: willingness to communicate, foreign language anxiety, teacher immediacy, structural equation modeling