Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective

Yiqian Cao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

213 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Previous research into willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2 has focused primarily on its trait dispositions that remain stable across contexts and its situated nature is under explored. Framed with an ecological perspective on second language learning, this multiple case study investigated the dynamic and situated nature of WTC in second language classrooms. Based on data collected through classroom observations, stimulated-recall interviews, and reflective journals, it was found that situational WTC in L2 classrooms emerged from the joint effects of individual characteristics including self-confidence, personality, emotion and perceived opportunity to communicate, classroom environmental conditions such as topic, task, interlocutor, teacher and group size, together with linguistic factors. The findings suggest that language teachers should be mindful of the interdependence of all these involved factors that create students' WTC in class.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)468-479
Number of pages12
JournalSystem
Volume39
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2011

Keywords

  • Classroom context
  • Ecological perspective
  • Interdependence
  • Joint effects
  • Situational willingness to communicate

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