Bridging Communication, Emotion, and Academic Growth: Exploring Willingness to Communicate, Emotional Intelligence, and Well-Being in Thai International Colleges

This study examines how Willingness to Communicate (WTC), Emotional Intelligence (EI), and Academic Well-being (AWB) are associated with Thai EFL undergraduates in international colleges. Semi-structured interviews with 70 participants were conducted using a qualitative research design, and were analyzed thematically. The findings show that affective factors, motivational orientations, contextual influences, sociocultural norms, and individual differences shape WTC. Communication emerged as a central process: students who described more frequent and confident communication experiences also tended to report greater emotional self-awareness, adaptability, interpersonal competence, academic confidence, motivation, and resilience. Although the qualitative design does not permit causal inference, participants consistently perceived these experiences as closely associated with their emotional and academic development. The study emphasizes the importance of supportive classroom environments, authentic communicative tasks, and emotionally safe pedagogy for students’ communicative confidence, emotional growth, and academic persistence. These findings extend WTC theoretical models and have practical implications for EFL pedagogy and institutional policy in international higher education, as well as evidence for the Thai Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation’s language education policies.