L2 Communication Research Articles

Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A Situational Model of L2 Confidence and Affiliation

Why do some students seek, while others avoid, second language (L2) communication? Many language teachers have encountered students high in linguistic competence who are unwilling to use their L2 for communication whereas other students, with only minimal linguistic knowledge, seem to communicate in the L2 whenever possible. Despite excellent communicative competence, spontaneous and sustained use of the L2 is not ensured. A colleague, who teaches a L2 and whose L2 competence is excellent, is well known to avoid “like the plague” L2 communication in social settings. A related observation is that many learners have noticed that their willingness to communicate (WTC) varies considerably over time and across situations. Our aim in this article is twofold. First we wish to provide an account of the linguistic, communicative, and social psychological variables that might affect one's “willingness to communicate.” As demonstrated in the text below, and examination of WTC offers the opportunity to integrate psychological, linguistic, and communicative approaches to L2 research that typically have been independent of each other. We view the WTC model as having the potential to provide a useful interface between these disparate lines of inquiry. Our second goal is to suggest potential relations among these variables by outlining a comprehensive conceptual model that may be useful in describing, explaining, and predicting L2 communication. In an effort to move beyond linguistic or communicative competence as the primary goal of language instruction, this article represents an overt attempt to combine these disparate approaches in a common theme, that is, proposing WTC as the primary goal of language instruction.

PROBLEM-SOLVING MECHANISMS IN L2 COMMUNICATION

This paper investigates the various ways speakers manage problems and overcome difficulties in L2 communication. Following Dörnyei and Scott (1997), we distinguish four main sources of L2 communication problems: (a) resource deficits, (b) processing time pressure, (c) perceived deficiencies in one's own language output, and (d) perceived deficiencies in the interlocutor's performance. In order to provide a systematic description of the wide range of coping mechanisms associated with these problem areas (e.g., communication strategies, meaning negotiation mechanisms, hesitation devices, repair mechanisms), we adopt a psycholinguistic approach based on Levelt's (1989, 1993, 1995) model of speech production. Problem-solving devices, then, are analyzed and classified according to how they are related to the different pre- and post-articulatory phases of speech processing, and we illustrate the various mechanisms by examples and retrospective comments taken from L2 learners' data.

On the Teachability of Communication Strategies

Because a significant proportion of real-life L2 communication is problematic, L2 learners might benefit from instruction on how to cope with performance problems. Such instruction could include the specific teaching of' communication strategies, which involve various verbal and nonverbal means of dealing with difficulties and breakdowns that occur in everyday communication. Opinions on the teachability of such strategies, however, vary widely, and several researchers have questioned the validity of strategy training. This article first describes what communication strategies are and provides an overview of the teachability issue, discussing the arguments for and against strategy instruction, and suggests three possible reasons for the existing controversy. After this the results of a study aimed at obtaining empirical data on the educational potential of strategy training are presented. The findings point to the possibility of developing the quality and quantity of learners' use of at least some communication strategies through focused instruction.

Error Elimination and Error Fossilisation

This paper reports a longitudinal study of an advanced learner over a six months' stay in England under conditions of initial exposure to the L2 community. Fifteen interviews of an unstructured nature were conducted over the period, and these serve as a data base. Performance was analysed in five areas where the subject made frequent error in order to assess to what extent errors were eliminated and to what extent there might be evidence for the onset of fossilisation.