Fluctuations in Learners’ Willingness to Communicate during Communicative Task Performance: Conditions and Tendencies

Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak; Mirosław Pawlak

doi:10.2478/rela-2014-0019

Authors

Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz
Mirosław Pawlak Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2014-0019

Keywords:

L2 willingness to communicate, classroom interaction, communicative tasks

Abstract

A person’s willingness to communicate (WTC), believed to stem from a combination of proximal and distal variables comprising psychological, linguistic, educational and communicative dimensions of language, appears to be a significant predictor of success in language learning. The ability to communicate is both a means and end of language education, since, on the one hand, being able to express the intended meanings in the target language is generally perceived as the main purpose of any language course and, on the other, linguistic development proceeds in the course of language use. However, MacIntyre (2007, p. 564) observes that some learners, despite extensive study, may never become successful L2 speakers. The inability or unwillingness to sustain contacts with more competent language users may influence the way learners are evaluated in various social contexts. Establishing social networks as a result of frequent communication with target language users is believed to foster linguistic development. WTC, initially considered a stable personality trait and then a result of context-dependent influences, has recently been viewed as a dynamic phenomenon changing its intensity within one communicative event (MacIntyre and Legatto, 2011; MacIntyre et al., 2011). The study whose results are reported here attempts to tap into factors that shape one’s willingness to speak during a communicative task. The measures employed to collect the data – selfratings and surveys – allow looking at the issue from a number of perspectives.

References

Asker, B. 1998. Student reticence and oral testing: A Hong Kong study of willingness to communicate. Communication Research Reports 15(2): 162-169. DOI: 10.1080/08824099809362110
Google Scholar

Baker, S. C. and MacIntyre, P. D. 2000. The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language orientations. Language Learning, 50(2): 311- 341. DOI: 10.1111/0023-8333.00119
Google Scholar

Burgoon, J. K. 1976. The unwillingness-to-communicate: Development and validation. Communication Monographs 43, 60-69. DOI: 10.1080/03637757609375916
Google Scholar

Cao, Y. and Philp, J. 2006. Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System, 34(4): 480-493. DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2006.05.002
Google Scholar

Chan, B. M. and McCroskey, J. C. 1987. The WTC scale as a predictor of classroom participation. Communication Research Reports 4: 47-50.
Google Scholar

Clément, R. and Gardner, R. C. 2001. Second language mastery. In H. Giles and W. P. Robinson (eds) Handbook of language and social psychology. London, UK: Wiley: 489-504.
Google Scholar

Clément, R., Baker, S. C., and MacIntyre, P. D. 2003. Willingness to communicate in a second language: The effects of context, norms, and vitality. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 22(2): 190-209. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X03022002003
Google Scholar

Clément, R. and Kruidenier, B. G. 1985. Aptitude, attitude and motivation in second language proficiency: A test of Clément's model. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 4(1): 21-37. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X8500400102
Google Scholar

Dörnyei, Z. 2005. The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Google Scholar

Dörnyei, Z. 2009. The L2 Motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds) Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters: 9–42.
Google Scholar

Gardner, R. C. 1985. Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
Google Scholar

Gregersen, T. and P.D. MacIntyre 2013. Capitalizing on language learners’ individuality. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Google Scholar

Hashimoto, Y. 2002. Motivation and willingness to communicate as predictors of reported L2 use. Second Language Studies 20(2): 29–70.
Google Scholar

Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., and Cope, J. 1986. Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2): 125–132. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540- 4781.1986.tb05256.x
Google Scholar

Kang, S. 2005. Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language, System 33: 277–292. DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2004.10.004
Google Scholar

Kuhl, J. 1994a. A theory of action and state orientations. In J. Kuhl and J. Beckmann (eds),Volition and personality. Gottingen: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers: 9–46
Google Scholar

Kuhl, J. 1994b. Action vs. state orientation: Psychometric properties of the Action Control Scale (ACS-90). In J. Kuhl and J. Beckmann (eds),Volition and personality. Gottingen: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers: 47–59
Google Scholar

Lantolf, J. P. 2006. Sociocultural Theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 28: 67-109. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0272263106060037
Google Scholar

Long, M. H. 1985c. Input and second language acquisition theory. In S.M. Gass and C.G. Madden (eds). Input in second language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House: 377–393.
Google Scholar

Long. M. H. 1996. The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie and T. K. Bhatia (eds). Handbook of research on second language acquisition. New York: Academic Press: 413–468.
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D. 1994. Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports 11: 135–142. DOI: 10.1080/08824099409359951
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D. 2007. Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal 91(4): 564–576. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00623.x
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D., Burns, C., and Jessome, A. 2011. Ambivalence about communicating in a second language: A qualitative study of French immersion students' willingness to communicate. The Modern Language Journal 95(1): 81–96. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540- 4781.2010.01141.x
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D. and Charos, C. 1996. Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 15(1): 3–26. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X960151001
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D. and Clement, R. 1996. A model of willingness to communicate in a second language: The concept, its antecedents and implications. Paper presented at the 11th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. and Doucette, J. 2010. Willingness to communicate and action control. System 38: 161–171. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.12.013
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D. and Legatto, J. J. 2011. A dynamic system approach to willingness to communicate: Developing an idiodynamic method to capture rapidly changing affect. Applied Linguistics 32(2): 149–171. DOI: 10.1093/applin/amq037
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S. C., Clément, R., and Conrod, S. 2001. Willingness to communicate, social support, and language-learning orientations of immersion students. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 23(3): 369–388. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S. C., Clément, R., and Donovan, L. A. 2002. Sex and age effects on willingness to communicate, anxiety, perceived competence, and L2 motivation among junior high school French immersion students. Language Learning 52(3): 537–564. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9922.00194
Google Scholar

MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., and Noels, K. A. 1998. Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal 82: 545–562. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x
Google Scholar

McCroskey, J. C. 1992. Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly 40(1): 16–25. DOI: 10.1080/01463379209369817
Google Scholar

McCroskey, J. C. and Richmond, V. P. 1982. Communication apprehension and shyness: Conceptual and operational distinctions. Central States Speech Journal 33: 458–468. DOI: 10.1080/10510978209388452
Google Scholar

McCroskey, J. C. and Richmond, V. P. 1991. Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In M. Booth-Butterfield (ed), Communication, cognition, and anxiety.Newbury Park, CA: Sage: 19–37.
Google Scholar

Munezane, Y. 2013. Attitudes, affect and ideal L2 self as predictors of willingness to communicate. In R. Leah, A. Ewert, M. Pawlak, and M. Wrembel (eds), EUROSLA Yearbook: Volume 13: 176–198. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/eurosla.13.09mun
Google Scholar

Pawlak, M. and Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (in press). Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate.
Google Scholar

Noels, K. A. 2001. New orientations in language learning motivation: Toward a contextual model of intrinsic, extrinsic, and integrative orientations and motivation. In Z. Dörnyei and R. Schmidt (eds), Motivation and second language acquisition. Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa: 43–68.
Google Scholar

Noels, K.A., Pelltier, L.G., Clément, R. and Vallerand, R.J. 2000. Why are you learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self-determination theory. Language Learning 50: 57–85. DOI: 10.1111/0023-8333.00111
Google Scholar

Peng, J. 2007. Willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFL classroom: A cultural perspective. In J. Liu (ed), English language teaching in China: New approaches, perspectives, and standards. London: Continuum: 250–269.
Google Scholar

Peng, J. E. 2012. Towards an ecological understanding of willingness to communicate in EFL classrooms in China. System 40(2): 203–213. DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2012.02.002
Google Scholar

Peng, J. E. 2014. Willingness to communicate inside the EFL classroom: An ecological perspective. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Google Scholar

Peng, J. E. and Woodrow, L. J. 2010 Willingness to communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning 60: 834–876. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00576.x
Google Scholar

Ryan, S. 2009. Self and identity in L2 motivation in Japan: The ideal L2 self and Japanese learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters: 120–143.
Google Scholar

Swain, M. 1985. Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass, and C. Madden (eds) Input in second language acquisition. New York: Newbury House: 235–256.
Google Scholar

Swain, M. 1998. Focus on form through conscious reflection. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (eds), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 64–81.
Google Scholar

Ushioda, E. 2009. A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters: 215-228).
Google Scholar

Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind in Society Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Google Scholar

Yashima, T. 2002. Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal 86(1): 54–66. DOI: 10.1111/1540- 4781.00136
Google Scholar

Yashima, T. 2009. International posture and the ideal L2 self in the Japanese EFL context. In Z. Dörnyei and E. Ushioda (eds), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters: 144–192.
Google Scholar

Yashima, T. 2012. Willingness to communicate: Momentary volition that results in L2 behaviour. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan and M. Williams (eds), Psychology for language learning: Insights from research, theory and practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: 119–135.
Google Scholar

Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., and Shimizu, K. 2004. The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning 54(1): 119–152. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00250.x
Google Scholar