Investigating the nature of classroom willingness to communicate (WTC): A micro-perspective

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a shift in empirical investigations of language learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) from quantitative studies examining the ways in which WTC antecedents co-act and contribute to communication, treating the concept as a stable characteristic, to a mixed-methods approach that allows the examination of stable behavioral tendencies and dynamic changes brought about by contextual variables. The rationale behind this study comes from the assumption that more profound understanding of motives underlying learners' readiness or reluctance to speak may help create classroom conditions that facilitate communication, thus contributing to linguistic attainment. More specifically, the study represents an attempt to tap factors that shape advanced learners' WTC during conversation classes in four different groups of students. Each time, the data were collected by means of self-ratings (i.e. indications of the level of WTC on a scale from −10 to +10) and immediate reports (i.e. questionnaires including closed and open-ended items). A combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed that the extent to which WTC fluctuated was impacted by a range of contextual and individual factors. It was enhanced in particular when students were given the opportunity to communicate with familiar receivers in small groups or pairs on topics related to personal experiences.

Indonesian EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in the Instructional Context

“…This finding revealed that the topic of discussion affected the learners' engagement in communication. This also aligns with some previous studies finding out that the familiarity and knowledge about the topic under discussion affect learners' WTC (Cao & Philp, 2006;Cao, 2011;Peng, 2014;Wiertelak, 2015;Pawlak et al, 2016). It indicates that the more familiar the learners to the topic, the more ideas they can share.…”

“…It is in light of that L2 learning in the aspect of willingness to communicate (WTC) is situated learning. Furthermore, it is believed that WTC results from the joint effect of both individual psychological conditions and situational variables (Kang, 2005;Pawlak, Wiertelak & Bielak, 2016). Teachers in this case take charge of facilitating the situational contextual factors such as creating group-work activities by considering the group sizes, interlocutors, topics, and cultural backgrounds as to promote students' WTC (Cao & Philp, 2006;Kang, 2005).…”

Dynamics of classroom WTC: Results of a semester study

“…As can be seen in the analysis of the self-ratings marked on the WTC grids, the students' readiness to speak during all the 7 classes reported here exhibited a considerable degree of fluctuation. WTC ups and downs were reported not only in the course of single lessons but also during specific tasks and activities, as was also established in the course of previous studies into classroom WTC (e.g., Cao & Philips, 2006;Cao, 2011Cao, , 2013Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Pawlak, 2014;Pawlak & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2015;Pawlak, Mystkowska-Wiertelak, & Bielak, 2016). The magnitude of these fluctuations differed between single lessons but also between individual students, and even if these differences were not conspicuous, as evident in the low values of standard deviation, the impact of individual characteristics cannot be excluded; however, it needs to be noted here that discussing WTC fluctuations of individual students was not the focus of the present study.…”

“…Disturbing as the sound must have undoubtedly been, the technique allowed the researchers to depart from a laboratory-style investigation and collect data in the real classroom, which, as was hoped, would render a wealth of information on the intricate interplay of factors and processes underpinning the development of communicative competence in a language class. The same data-gathering tool was again employed by Pawlak, Mystkowska-Wiertelak, and Bielak (2016) and Mystkowska-Wiertelak and Pawlak (2017), who investigated WTC ebbs and flows during whole classes devoted to the development of the speaking skill. The study reported here, which is a partial replication of the studies mentioned above, extends the scope of enquiry to WTC fluctuations reported during classes spanning a whole semester of a speaking course for advanced students majoring in English, with the present author being their regular teacher.…”

To talk or not to talk: A review of situational antecedents of willingness to communicate in the second language classroom

“…At the trait level, a general communicative tendency is assumed that is rooted in an individual's personality, whilst at the state level, an individual's communicative behaviors fluctuate across time and situations. To better understand WTC at its state level, more recent studies have explored whether, how, and why learners show more WTC in some situations than in others (e.g., Cao, 2014;Kang, 2005;MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011;Pawlak, Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Bielak, 2016;Peng, 2014).…”