Willingness to Communicate: Momentary Volition that Results in L2 Behaviour

Abstract

It is a common perception among language teachers that the acquisition of L2 competency does not necessarily lead to communication in the L2. As MacIntyre (2007) puts it, “even after studying language for many years, some L2 learners do not turn into L2 speakers” (p. 564). Research on willingness to communicate in an L2 (L2 WTC) has attempted to shed some light on this enigma. L2 WTC is particularly significant from a pedagogical perspective because L2 communication is a necessary part of L2 learning. As many researchers agree, L2 competency develops through productive use of the language (e.g., Swain, 1995).KeywordsLanguage LearnCommunicative CompetenceDynamic System ApproachInternational PostureTopic ShiftThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.