High Willingness To Communicate Research Articles

Gender influences on learners’ willingness to communicate in English using computer mediated communication tool

Many Malaysian students struggle with English communication after 11 years of learning from primary school to secondary school. Despite extensive research, there is a gap in gender-based studies on learner's willingness to communicate (WTC) in Malaysian settings. Prior findings also reveal that early teens are getting actively engaged in digital communication in the current cyber age and those indications have derived the present study to investigate on the influence of gender and the effectiveness of CMC tool in fostering WTC in English. 224 secondary school students' WTC was measured using a survey to ascertain the influence of gender, and the effectiveness of the CMC tool in raising students' WTC in English was examined using a non-equivalent quasi-experimental study. The survey's Mann Whitney U-test results show male and female learners' WTC significantly differ from one another (U = 5171.5, p = 0.03). Analysis of mean rank reveals that female has higher WTC than male. While using the CMC tool, learners' WTC significantly differs from those who learn in a regular classroom setting (U = 605, p = 0.01), based on findings of a non-equivalent quasi experimental study. The analysis revealed that both genders were more likely to communicate in English and were more involved in their learning, partly due to their ability to express opinions verbally and through text, emoji, and other forms of communication. The study also showed that a person's WTC is influenced by their personality, and gender did influence willingness to communicate in English in the Malaysian context.

Impact of English Instruction Amount on Omani Students' Willingness to Communicate in English

This study examined the role of English instruction on students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in Oman's English foreign language (EFL) context. WTC in a second language (L2) is a multi-faceted construct that integrates psychological, linguistic, and communicative variables to describe, explain, and predict students' communicative behaviour in an L2. This quantitative study employed a survey to assess L2 WTC key variables of informants from Year 1 (116) and Year 4 (88) English major students in higher education. A t-test analysis revealed that Year 4 students had higher WTC in English than Year 1 students, and they also had less communication anxiety than Year 1 students. Conversely, Year 1 students had higher self-perceived communication competence and tended to communicate more frequently than Year 4 students. They also tended to be more motivated than Year 4 students and had higher positive attitudes toward their learning situation, English- speaking community, and interest in foreign language learning. Surprisingly, the data revealed no significant differences in all those variables between Year 1 and Year 4 students.

Interpersonal projection as EFL teachers' discourse strategy to enhance students' willingness to communicate: A systemic-functional perspective

Previous studies have revealed situational variables affecting the moment-by-moment state of students' willingness to communicate (WTC), but few have addressed teachers' strategies enhancing students' WTC, which are highly required in contexts of EFL teaching where low WTC has been noted. This study explores the extent to which interpersonal projection (IP)—a meaning-making resource used to invite the addressee to express a personal viewpoint—can be used by EFL teachers as a discourse strategy to enhance students' WTC. An experiment was conducted in which students at two different levels of English proficiency answered teacher questions in two forms, one with IP added and the other without. A follow-up semi-structured interview with EFL teachers elicited their perceptions on IP's role in teacher-student communication. Results indicated that the questions added with IP were significantly associated with higher WTC as manifested in lengthier and more complex student answers, despite differences in students' levels of English proficiency or the types of questions asked; and that the teachers perceived IP as helpful in reducing teacher-student distance and promoting student thinking and speech production. The findings are discussed in relation to both pedagogical practices and WTC research.

WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE AND ITS INFLUENCING FACTORS AMONG INDONESIAN PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Willingness to communicate (WTC) can be defined as the readiness of a language learner to enter communication situation. This study aims to identify factors affecting pre-service teachers’ WTC and to explore their perspective on the importance of WTC in relation to the study program. The study implemented both quantitative and qualitative method in order to gain deeper understanding from questionnaires and interview data. Questionnaires were used to explain interrelated relationship between variables affecting WTC among pre-service teachers. Interview data were used to report their perspective on the significance of WTC in relation to their study program. The result inferred that pre-service teachers have relatively high WTC. Motivation variable scale indicated direct positive relation to pre-service teachers’ WTC while anxiety showed a negative relationship. Language learning beliefs items were reported to be moderately agreed upon among pre-service teachers influencing their WTC. Interview result inferred that pre-service teachers mostly agreed upon the significance of enhancing WTC among learners. Implications for learning as a result from this study suggested that teachers and curriculum makers to improve teaching techniques and approaches in order to enhance learners’ WTC.

Teachers’ Beliefs and Practice of Interaction Strategies on Students’ Willingness to Communicate

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has become an important concept in second language (L2) classroom context. WTC is proven as a predictor of classroom participation since students who tend to have high WTC participated more in classroom interaction and they are likely to be ready to get involved in any interactions using their L2 both inside and outside classroom. Given the central role teachers play in pedagogy, who shape the curriculum within the context and content, and shape the decisions of teaching methods and strategy play dynamic role in maintaining students’ willingness to communicate. This study aims: (1) to portray teachers’ beliefs about their role and practice of interaction strategies in maintaining students’ WTC; (2) to find out interaction strategies employed by the teacher in maintaining students’ WTC. Employing narrative inquiry, the two experience English teacher was gathered by means of personal narrative and interview. The findings revealed that teacher plays a very crucial role in students’ WTC. This study also highlight that the use of three interaction strategies such as teacher-front, facilitator-oriented, and learner-oriented strategy can contribute in maintaining students’ WTC, by applying appropriate techniques. This study suggest that teacher should perform various roles to become an ideal guide in shaping students’ WTC. The use of various effective strategies with involving familiar term of topic, and the use of encouragement can be applied in encouraging English interaction. This present study is expected to create awareness on the significance of EFL teachers to share their interaction skills and vary effective interaction strategies improve the quality of English teaching and learning.

Contributing factors on students’ willingness to communicate (WTC)

One of the non-linguistics factors which is sometimes out of the teacher’s awareness during the teaching of speaking is how ready or how willing the language learners are to engage in the provided activities in which this psychological condition is then termed as Willingness to Communicate (WTC). To prepare the language learners in order to be more ready or willing is essential to take into account since a fact shows that the high WTC will increase the language learners’ frequency of using the language learned (English) in a communication. This is a descriptive qualitative research which investigated about the students’ WTC in a speaking class consisting of 29 students English Department in STKIP Muhammadiyah Kotabumi. Apart from this, this study also probed what variables influencing their WTC. An observation was done in order to collect the research data and make a conclusion. Due to the collecting data, it was found that students’ WTC is high. Further, some variables such as classroom variables (task type, topic, and interlocutor), individual variables (introversion, self-esteem, and anxiety), and communicative competence are found to contribute on students’ WTC during the speaking activity. Among others, the topic given is as the most influential variable affects students’ WTC. Whereas, it is found that interlocutor variable due to their gender and age does not affect students’ WTC. Hence, English teachers are suggested to give more attention at some variables affecting students’ WTC in order to help the students increase their WTC which leads to their speaking improvement.

Seeking the source: The effect of personality and previous experiences on university students’ L2 willingness to communicate

Eight female Japanese university students were interviewed using a semi-structured interview framework to determine the effect their personalities and past experiences have on their L2 willingness to communicate (WTC)—a psychological construct deeply connected to self-determination motivation. The eight participants were selected from a group of 69 students based upon both their English proficiency test scores (high and low scorers) and their WTC (high and low WTC) scores. After summarizing each learner’s profile, a comparison of students with low and high L2 WTC revealed that participants with high L2 WTC: (1) can visualize a future where their English abilities are essential, (2) are stimulated through integrative motivation with fellow students as well as teachers and 3) have positive personality features that can easily accommodate WTC. Furthermore, it was found that positive past experiences with language teachers and foreign peers contribute in significant ways towards understanding second language learners’ WTC. This knowledge should encourage language teachers at all levels to incorporate activities that create a positive atmosphere that facilitates WTC.

On the Role of Willingness to Communicate and Critical Thinking in Receptive/Productive Lexical Knowledge of Gifted and Non-Gifted EFL Learners

This study investigated the receptive and productive vocabulary command of learners based on their willingness to communicate (WTC) and critical thinking skill. The study also aimed to compare gifted and non-gifted learners in terms of the above-mentioned variables. To this end, 112 gifted and non-gifted Iranian EFL learners were picked out and given four instruments (WTC questionnaire, critical thinking skill test, receptive, and productive vocabulary tests). Having analyzed data through two-way ANOVA and independent samples t-tests, the study revealed that, first, no significant difference was found between high and low WTC learners and also high and low critical thinkers in their receptive lexical command; and second, high and low WTC learners, high and low critical thinkers, and also gifted and non-gifted learners showed significant differences in their productive lexical command. Thus, while for receptive vocabulary knowledge, giftedness is a more influential factor than WTC and critical thinking, for productive vocabulary knowledge, WTC, critical thinking, and giftedness are all influential. The pertinent theoretical and practical implications of the study will also be explicated.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS AND WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE

The relationship between personality traits and willingness to communicate (WTC) in English language teaching (ELT) was investigated in this study. The examinees included 303 university students at Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad. Data were gathered using the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP; Goldberg, 2001) and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) Scale (McCroskey, 1992). When talking to strangers 33.7% of the examinees obtained low scores on WTC, 49.5% had medium levels of WTC and 16.8% had high WTC. When talking to acquaintances 36.3% of the examinees reported low levels of WTC, 46.9% reported moderate levels and 16.8% reported high levels of WTC. Similar results were reported when talking to friends. In addition, coefficients revealed significant positive correlations between WTC in EFL and all Big Five dimensions. Interpretation of the coefficients suggest that there was a small correlation between WTC in EFL and Conscientiousness, Emotional stability and Agreeableness. Moderate to high correlations were between WTC in EFL and Extraversion and Intellect. It was concluded that the interaction of the Big Five Personality Traits may significantly contribute to the promotion and production of WTC in learning English as a second language.

Understanding willingness to communicate as embedded in classroom multimodal affordances: Evidence from interdisciplinary perspectives

This study draws on linguistic and applied linguistic approaches to analyze how second language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) is responsive to classroom multimodal affordances. The data reported in this paper includes three rounds of semi-structured interviews, each conducted after a classroom observation, with eight students from two intact English classes in a university in China, and Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT) slides supplied by their teachers. The findings showed that WTC was subject to the joint influence of individuals’ linguistic and affective factors and classroom contextual factors. Nuanced associations of WTC and kinesthetic, auditory, and visual modalities were also identified. The interactive meanings construed in two visual images in PPT slides reported to stimulate high WTC were analyzed using visual grammar, which yielded complementary insights. This study accentuates the need to understand WTC as embedded in classroom multimodal affordances so as to reveal the totality of students’ meaning making of classroom interaction.

Performance on a Triangulated Reading Test Battery: A Study of Language Learners’ Individual Differences and Retrospective Perceptions

Individual differences, as a source of test bias, intertwine with systematic variance in test scores. In this study, we explored second language (L2) learners’ performance on a triangulated test battery (with varied subtests and item types) in relation to a number of individual differences. Later through a retrospective task, we obtained learners’ attitudes and preferences toward the most appropriate test method. The study followed a 4 (psycholinguistic mechanisms as predictors) × 3 (test methods as criterion variable 1) × 2 (item types as criterion variable 2) factorial design. The data were collected from a cohort of college-level students using the group embedded figures test, willingness to communicate (WTC) scale, Michigan proficiency test, and a reading comprehension test battery. We found that (a) field independency and a high WTC significantly determine performance on multiple-choice and short-answer tests, (b) proficiency and word size are significant predictors of essay-type test performance, (c) WTC and field independency are significant predictors of inferential knowledge, and (d) success in display items was not significantly correlated with any of the given variables. The retrospective task revealed that a meaningfully higher percentage of the participants favor multiple-choice questions over essay-type and short-answer tests. A plausible conclusion was offered by arguing that while success in controlled and receptive tests is more associated with such personality attributes as self-confidence, analytic style, risk taking, learning styles, and motivation, productive and open-ended tasks primarily call for linguistic skills and a good command of L2 proficiency.

Motivation, ideal self and willingness to communicate as the predictors of observed L2 use in the classroom

Willingness to Communicate (WTC), the most immediate antecedent of actual communication behavior in an L2, is widely believed to facilitate the acquisition of the target language. Higher WTC is generally associated with higher L2 use (MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei & Noels 1998), though it has not been empirically tested. This article reports on an attempt to fill this gap by investigating to what degree learners’ self-reported L2 WTC predicts actual L2 use in the classroom. A group of 372 Japanese university EFL learners majoring in science and human arts subjects participated in the study. Students’ oral performance data were collected three times during the group discussions in one academic semester. The number of words each student produced during each discussion was counted. The results of structural equation modelling analyses suggested that self-reported L2 WTC predicted actual L2 use in the classroom. Second, gender differences in L2 use in the language classroom has not been empirically explored in the quantitative studies, therefore, whether L2 WTC would predict observed L2 use equally among males and females, and whether males and females produce equal amount of L2 in the classroom will be explored. Implications of the research findings will be discussed.

The Mediation of Multimodal Affordances on Willingness to Communicate in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language class has been shown to be transient and situation-dependent. Previous studies mostly elicited data from learners' self-reports through interviews or diaries, and the data analyses were largely confined to the medium of language, marginalizing other semiotic resources such as gesture or movement. The nature of human communication, however, is multimodal, which entails the processing of different semiotic resources. Drawing on a systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis approach, this study investigates the dynamics of WTC in the English as a foreign language classroom in China. The researchers collected data through videotaping English lessons, stimulated recall interviews, and learning journals. Their analyses involved two teaching scenarios videotaped in one class period, which were rated respectively with high WTC and low WTC by four participating students in stimulated recall interviews. These scenarios were transcribed and annotated using Multimodal Analysis Video software to identify the use of semiotic resources, including language, gesture, and gaze. The discourse semantic features of the two scenarios were analyzed and compared, and subtle differences were presented and discussed. This study's findings highlight the need for language teachers to recognize and orchestrate multimodal semiotic resources to enhance students' WTC and classroom participation.

Interrelationship between action control variables and L2 learners’ dynamic changes of WTC

This study aimed to examine whether action control system, defined in terms of stable individual differences, predicts key reactions to the dynamic and situated nature of willingness to communicate (WTC) in both whole-class and group work. By adopting methods of classroom observation and questionnaires, we measured the consistency between self-report and actual WTC among 30 EFL participants. Whereas trait-like WTC—as measured by a self-report questionnaire - could predict a tendency to communicate, classroom observation of situational WTC showed the evidence to be contrary. Preoccupation, as one component of action control system, influenced the decision to engage in interaction with both the teacher and fellow students. Looking at the issue from a very personal perspective, we propose that although high trait-like WTC predicts a tendency to communicate, preoccupation of action control system causes a lack of actual WTC inside the classroom with the context as a key element in determining this WTC. Implications for trait and dynamic conceptions of WTC are discussed.

Willingness to communicate of EFL learners in Turkish context

This study reports on findings of an investigation into English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' (N=134) perceptions of willingness to communicate (WTC) in Turkish context. The participants completed questionnaires on WTC, communication and affective factors. The findings revealed that 21.6% of the participants had high WTC, 13.4% had high communicative competence and 18.7% had high scores in communication apprehension. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) also indicated that communication competence and communication apprehension were the strong predictors of WTC while motivational factors indirectly influenced WTC. The proposed model for WTC accounted for 63% of the variance in WTC. The findings of this study will be beneficial for curriculum development, teacher education, teaching and learning foreign languages, and also for English teachers to unfold the factors affecting WTC, more specifically in teacher training programs where the first seeds of change and willingness to communicate must be sown.

Big Five Personality Traits and Willingness to Communicate Among Foreign Language Learners in Turkey

In this study I investigated the relationship between personality traits and willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2 WTC). Participants were 168 university students majoring in English as a foreign language at a major state university in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected using the International Personality Item Pool and the Willingness to Communicate Scale. I found that 20% of participants had high L2 WTC, 66% moderate L2 WTC, and 14% low L2 WTC. The Big Five factors of extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience were significant in predicting and setting the psychological context for WTC in English. There was also a positive correlation between participants' academic achievement and L2 WTC. I concluded that the interaction of the Big Five personality traits may greatly contribute to the production and promotion of WTC in learning a second or foreign language.

Self-Esteem, Willingness to Communicate, and Oral Production: The Case Study of Iranian Intermediate EFL Students

Oral production in general and lecturing in particular plays a significant part in any academic field, especially in TEFL. This study aimed to illuminate and investigate the two psychological and crucial factors influencing the oral production: Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and Self-Esteem. An attempt was made to assess the relationship among WTC, Self-Esteem, and Oral production. In so doing, after homogenizing the students as Intermediate ones via a placement test, two questionnaires of WTC (McCroskey, 1987, 1992) and Self-esteem ( Sorensen, 2006) were administered to 34 intermediate students. Having administered the questionnaires, the researcher asked the subjects to deliver a lecture on general and controversial topics. Based on the questionnaires, the subjects were divided into four groups: 1) High WTC, High self-esteem, 2) High WTC, Low self-esteem, 3) Low WTC, High self-esteem, and 4) Low WTC, Low self-esteem. The data collected from the questionnaires as well as the scores given to their oral productions were analyzed through SPSS (16.00). Results indicated statistically significant differences between the two groups of High WTC, High Self-esteem and Low WTC, Low Self-esteem. The former group outperformed the latter one. The outcomes of this study could have benefits for both foreign language teachers and learners. They both can attain better results by focusing more on these two psychological factors in their roles. The findings of the present study demonstrated that more concentration ought to be placed on these two psychological factors in order to enhance students’ oral performances.

Willingness to communicate in the language of the other: Jewish and Arab students in Israel

One hundred and forty-three Jewish and Arab 6th grade children in Israel participated in this study, which explored several attitude dimensions and willingness to communicate (WTC) in the language of the other. Analysis of variance indicated differences between groups, with Arab children having in general more positive attitudes and higher WTC in Hebrew, compared with Jewish children in regard to Arabic, as well as impact of school context. The results showed strong association between WTC, various attitude dimensions and familial and peer influence, and are discussed in terms of the position of the target languages in the Israeli socio-political context.