Learner-internal and learner-external predictors of Willingness to Communicate in the FL Classroom

By Jean–Marc Dewaele, Livia Dewaele. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 2018

202 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Willingness to Communicate (WTC), defined as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2” (MacIntyre, Dornyei, Clement & Noels, 1998, p. 547), is influenced by a complex interplay of interacting learner-internal variables (including sociobiographical, emotional and macro intergroup variables) and learner-external variables (i.e. teacher-centred) in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The present study attempts to identify the strongest predictors of WTC from 189 British pupils in two high-achieving London secondary schools studying mostly French, German and Spanish as FLs. Correlation analyses followed by multiple regression analyses showed that the strongest predictors of WTC were FL classroom anxiety, frequent FL use by the teacher, a positive attitude towards the FL (a neglected macro intergroup dimension in recent research), followed by high levels of social FL Enjoyment and age. The pedagogical implication is that FL teachers can boost learners’ WTC by creating a positive emotional classroom climate where pupils can overcome their anxiety. Moreover, by generating a genuine interest in the FL and using the FL a lot, teachers can increase their pupils’ levels of WTC.

Subfields: Language and Linguistics, Literature and Literary Theory

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/944fcfcd41533e7b06f58bd12396893c207915b9

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Citations in the corpus

Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC (2021, background): “Within the confines of the typical classroom, a series of studies (Cao, 2011; Cao & Philip, 2006; Dewaele & Dewaele, 2018; Peng, 2012, 2019; Peng & Woodrow, 2010) suggests that the interplay among aspects of the learner, teacher, classroom instruction (including topics and tasks, interactional…”
Informal digital learning of English and L2 willingness to communicate: roles of emotions, gender, and educational stage (2021, background): “…the publication and dissemination of MacIntyre et al. ’ s (1998) research on willingness to communicate in L2 (L2 WTC), extensive research has been conducted in both English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts on this topic (e.g. Dewaele and Dewaele 2018).”
The role of grit and classroom enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate (2020, unknown): “…use of L2, communication mode (e.g. face-to-face vs. online), and international experience (Cao and Philp 2006; Clément, Baker, and MacIntyre 2003; Dewaele and Dewaele 2018; Kang 2014; Kruk 2019; Lee 2018, 2019; MacIntyre et al. 2001; Matsubara 2007; Peng 2019; Peng and Woodrow 2010; Satar…”
The relationship between incommensurable emotions and willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language: a multiple case study (2019, background): “The study also confirms the view that WTC emerges dynamically in a conversation situation (Cao, 2011; Dewaele & Dewaele, 2018, 2019; Joe et al., 2017; Khajavy, et al., 2017; MacIntyre et al., 1998, MacIntyre & Doucette, 2010).”
The Effect of Classroom Emotions, Attitudes Toward English, and Teacher Behavior on Willingness to Communicate Among English Foreign Language Learners (2019, background): “The only study where attitudes were measured toward FLs that did not include English (Dewaele & Dewaele, 2018) did show that these attitudes predicted students’ WTC.”