The roles of language mindsets and willingness to communicate in receptive pragmatic competence among Chinese EFL learners

Abstract

ABSTRACT Language mindsets and L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC) are closely related and have contributed greatly to learners’ L2 learning achievements under the SLA paradigm. However, relatively less attention has been given to the influence of language mindsets and L2 WTC on L2 pragmatic acquisition. This paper aims to examine the potential influence of language mindsets and L2 WTC on receptive pragmatic competence, which further includes pragmatic comprehension, awareness, and perception. A total of 208 Chinese university students of English were administered a biographic survey, a receptive pragmatic task, along with language mindsets and L2 WTC questionnaires. The results showed that growth language mindsets predicted pragmatic awareness and that L2 WTC predicted sociopragmatic inappropriateness perception. Language mindsets and L2 WTC did not play a predictive role in pragmatic comprehension. Gender served as the exclusive and significant moderator in the interaction between pragmatic comprehension and L2 WTC. Pedagogical implications for pragmatic instructors and practitioners and suggestions for future research are also provided.