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Demystifying the role of L2 speaking embarrassment and anxiety in the interaction of bilingual learners’ self-efficacy and willingness to communicate (WTC): A multinational serial mediation study

  • Robert Kirkpatrick ORCID logo , Ali Derakhshan ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Yongliang Wang ORCID logo , Mohammad Sadegh Taghizadeh ORCID logo and Maryam A. Almuhanna ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: December 29, 2025
Applied Linguistics Review
From the journal Applied Linguistics Review

Abstract

This multinational study sought to uncover the complex relationships among bilingual learners’ self-efficacy, speaking embarrassment, speaking anxiety, and willingness to communicate (WTC) in second and foreign language (L2) classrooms. Using maximum variation sampling, data were collected from 736 bilingual learners across China, Iran, and Kuwait, ensuring a diverse representation of cultural and linguistic contexts. A serial mediation model was used to examine whether speaking embarrassment and speaking anxiety mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and WTC. The results showed that learners’ self-efficacy was strongly associated with their WTC. More importantly, speaking embarrassment and anxiety significantly mediated this relationship – both independently and sequentially – with higher self-efficacy reducing speaking embarrassment, which in turn lowered speaking anxiety, ultimately leading to greater WTC. Notably, the observed patterns were consistent across the three bilingual contexts, highlighting the cross-cultural robustness of these findings. Theoretically, the study extends the pyramid model of WTC by demonstrating how enduring personal traits like self-efficacy interact with transient affective states, such as embarrassment and anxiety, to shape bilingual L2 learners’ communicative behavior. Practically, the results point to the need for pedagogical interventions that simultaneously strengthen L2 learners’ self-efficacy and alleviate their negative emotional experiences, ultimately enhancing their tendency to speak in the target language.

Keywords: bilingual L2 learners; self-efficacy; speaking anxiety; speaking embarrassment; willingness to communicate; serial mediation modeling
Corresponding author: Ali Derakhshan, Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Golestan University, hahid Beheshti Campus, Shahid Beheshti St, Gorgan, Gorgan, Iran, E-mail:

Funding source: Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait

Award Identifier / Grant number: 157

  1. Research ethics: All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

  2. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all the participants in this study.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have materially participated in research and article preparation. Additionally, all authors have approved the final article.

  4. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

  5. Research funding: The study was funded by the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait under grant number 157.

  6. Data availability: The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.

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Received: 2025-11-03
Accepted: 2025-12-09
Published Online: 2025-12-29

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2025-0313
Keywords for this article
bilingual L2 learners; self-efficacy; speaking anxiety; speaking embarrassment; willingness to communicate; serial mediation modeling
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