Abstract
A large body of research has investigated the factors which underlie willingness to communicate (WTC). However, scant scholarly attention has been paid to WTC vis-à-vis learner talk, i.e., how intentions to talk translates into talk. Drawing on Dörnyei’s retrodictive qualitative modelling template, this research comprises a qualitative multiple-case study of three South Korean students who were learning English in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context. Specifically, the study examined what factors facilitated or hindered their WTC-talk realisation. Methodological triangulation was achieved by means of classroom observations, audio-stimulated recall interviews and semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed five individual factors and four contextual factors which formed various interactional patterns and interdependently influenced the three students’ WTC-talk realisation. Such interactional patterns showcase how individual and contextual factors interact and contribute to WTC and individual differences in communication frequency in the EAP classroom. The study provides novel empirical evidence for the influence of the Korean Confucian-based culture of learning and communication on students’ L2 practice. Informed by the complex dynamic systems theory, the study concludes with pedagogical implications that aim to inspire EAP practitioners to cultivate WTC-friendly classes that optimise the realisation of learner talk.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr. Aileen Irvine, the anonymous reviewers and the editor Prof. Xuesong Gao for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this paper. All remaining inadequacies are the author’s responsibility. The author also thank the three students and the class teacher for their participation.
References
Bernales, Carolina. 2016. Towards a comprehensive concept of Willingness to Communicate: Learners’ predicted and self-reported participation in the foreign language classroom. System 56. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.11.002.Search in Google Scholar
Borg, Simon. 2006. Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Cameron, Lynne & Diane Larsen‐Freeman. 2007. Complex systems and applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 17(2). 226–240. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2007.00148.x.Search in Google Scholar
Cao, Yiqian & Jenefer Philp. 2006. Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behaviour in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System 34(4). 480–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.05.002.Search in Google Scholar
Cao, Yiqian. 2011. Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System 39(4). 468–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.10.016.Search in Google Scholar
Chichon, Jagon. 2019. Factors influencing overseas learners’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC) on a pre-sessional programme at a UK university. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 39. 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.04.002.Search in Google Scholar
Crozet, Chantal & Anthony J. Liddicoat. 1999. The challenge of intercultural language teaching: Engaging with culture in the classroom. In Joseph Lo Bianco, Anthony J. Liddicoat & Chantal Crozet (eds.), Striving for the third place: Intercultural competence through language education, 113–125. Melbourne: Language Australia.Search in Google Scholar
de Bot, Kee, Wander Lowie & Marjolijn H. Verspoor. 2007. A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 10(1). 7–21. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728906002732.Search in Google Scholar
de Bot, Kee & Diane Larsen-Freeman. 2011. Researching second language development from a dynamic systems theory perspective. In Marjolijn H. Verspoor, Kee de Bot & Wander Lowie (eds.), A dynamic approach to second language development. Methods and techniques, 5–23. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/lllt.29.01debSearch in Google Scholar
DeKeyser, Robert. 2007. Skill acquisition theory. In Jessica Williams & Bill VanPatten (eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction, 97–113. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Search in Google Scholar
Dewaele, Jean-Marc & Livia Dewaele. 2018. Learner-internal and learner-external predictors of willingness to communicate in the FL classroom. Journal of the European Second Language Association 2(1). 24–37. https://doi.org/10.22599/jesla.37.Search in Google Scholar
Dewaele, Jean-Marc & Liana M. Pavelescu. 2019. The relationship between incommensurable emotions and willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language: a multiple case study. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 15(1). 66–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1675667.Search in Google Scholar
Ducker, Nathan. 2021. Protecting and enhancing willingness to communicate with idiodynamic peer-peer strategy sharing. System 103(4). 102634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102634.Search in Google Scholar
Ducker, Nathan. 2022. Bridging the gap between willingness to communicate and learner talk. Modern Language Journal 106(1). 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12764.Search in Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Zoltán. 2005. The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah: Routledge.10.1075/aila.19.05dorSearch in Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Zoltán. 2014. Researching complex dynamic systems: ‘Retrodictive qualitative modelling’ in the language classroom. Language Teaching 47(1). 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444811000516.Search in Google Scholar
Edwards, Peter A. 2006. Willingness to Communicate among Korean learners of English. Nottingham: University of Nottingham dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Freiermuth, Mark R. & Michiyo F. Ito. 2020. Seeking the source: the effect of personality and previous experiences on university students’ L2 willingness to communicate. Learning and Motivation 71. 101640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101640.Search in Google Scholar
Gass, Susan M. & Alison Mackey. 2000. Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Search in Google Scholar
Hilpert, Jonathan C. & Gwen C. Marchand. 2018. Complex systems research in educational psychology: Aligning theory and method. Educational Psychologist 53. 185–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1469411.Search in Google Scholar
Hiver, Phil. 2015. Attractor states. In Zoltán Dörnyei, Peter D. MacIntyre & Alastair Henry (eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning, 20–28. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783092574-005Search in Google Scholar
Hiver, Phil & Ali H. Al-Hoorie. 2016. A dynamic ensemble for second language research: Putting complexity theory into practice. The Modern Language Journal 100. 741–756. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12347.Search in Google Scholar
Hiver, Phil, Ali H. Al-Hoorie & Diane Larsen-Freeman. 2021. Toward a transdisciplinary integration of research purposes and methods for Complex Dynamic Systems Theory: Beyond the quantitative–qualitative divide. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 60(1). 7–22. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0022.Search in Google Scholar
Hiver, Phil, Ali H. Al-Hoorie & Reid Evans. 2022. Complex dynamic systems theory in language learning: a scoping review of 25 years of research. Studies of Second Language Acquisition 44(4). 913–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0272263121000553.Search in Google Scholar
Holsti, Ole R. 1969. Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publications.Search in Google Scholar
Kang, Su-Ja. 2005. Dynamic emergence of situational Willingness to Communicate in a second language. System 33(2). 277–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.10.004.Search in Google Scholar
King, Jim. 2013. Silence in the second language classrooms of Japanese Universities. Applied Linguistics 34(3). 325–343. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams043.Search in Google Scholar
Labov, William. 1972. Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Search in Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, Diane & Lynne Cameron. 2008. Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lee, Ju-Seong & Jun Chen Hsieh. 2018. University students’ perceptions of English as an International Language (EIL) in Taiwan and South Korea. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 39(5). 1–14.10.1080/01434632.2018.1438448Search in Google Scholar
Lee, Ju-Seong & Qin Xie. 2022. Profiling the affective characteristics of EFL learners’ digital informal learning: A person-centered approach. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2022.2085713.Search in Google Scholar
Léger, Diane de Saint & Neomy Storch. 2009. Learners’ perceptions and attitudes: Implications for Willingness to Communicate in an L2 classroom. System 37(2). 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.01.001.Search in Google Scholar
Lincoln, Yvonna S. & Egon G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8Search in Google Scholar
Liu, Jun. 2001. Asian students’ classroom communication patterns in U.S. universities: An emic perspective. Westport, CT: Ablex.10.5040/9798400615283Search in Google Scholar
Liu, Jun. 2002. Negotiating silence in American classrooms: Three Chinese cases. Language and Intercultural Communication 2(1). 37–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708470208668074.Search in Google Scholar
Long, Michael H. 1996. The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In William C. Ritchie & Tej K. Bhatia (eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition, 413–468. New York: Academic Press.10.1016/B978-012589042-7/50015-3Search in Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter D. & Catherine Charos. 1996. Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 15(1). 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927x960151001.Search in Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter D., Richard Clément, Zoltán Dörnyei & Kimberly A. Noels. 1998. Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal 82(4). 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x.Search in Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter D. & James J. Legatto. 2011. A dynamic system approach to Willingness to Communicate: Developing an idiodynamic method to capture rapidly changing affect. Applied Linguistics 32(2). 149–171. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq037.Search in Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter D. & Lanxi Wang. 2021. Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC. Language Teaching Research 25(6). 878–898. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211004645.Search in Google Scholar
McCroskey, James C. & Elaine J. Baer. 1985. Willingness to Communicate: The construct and its Measurement. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver, CO.Search in Google Scholar
Nakane, Ikuko. 2006. Silence and politeness in intercultural communication in university seminars. Journal of Pragmatics 38(11). 1811–1835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2006.01.005.Search in Google Scholar
Nakane, Ikuko. 2007. Silence in intercultural communication: Perceptions and performance. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/pbns.166Search in Google Scholar
On, Lee Wing. 1996. The cultural context for Chinese learners: Conceptions of learning in the Confucian tradition. In David A. Watkins & John B. Biggs (eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual Influences, 25–41. Camberwell, Melbourne: ACER.Search in Google Scholar
Peng, Jian-E. 2007. Willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFL classroom: A cultural perspective. In Jun Liu (ed.), English language teaching in China: New approaches, perspectives and standards, 250–269. New York: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar
Peng, Jian-E. 2014. Willingness to Communicate in the Chinese EFL university classroom an ecological perspective. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783091560Search in Google Scholar
Peng, Jian-E. 2020. Willing silence and silent willingness to communicate (WTC) in the Chinese EFL classroom: A dynamic systems perspective. In Jim King & Seiko Harumi (eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education, 143–165. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788926775-013Search in Google Scholar
Peng, Jian-E & Lindy Woodrow. 2010. Willingness to Communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning 60(4). 834–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00576.x.Search in Google Scholar
Quinto, Edward Jay Mansarate, Bernardino C. Ofalia, JinHo Bae & Lean Syhing Salonga. 2019. (Un)Willingness to Communicate in English among Korean Study Abroad Students in the Philippines. Journal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication 35(4). 17–31. https://doi.org/10.17576/jkmjc-2019-3504-02.Search in Google Scholar
Saldaña, John. 2016 [2013]. The coding manual for qualitative researchers, 3rd edn. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Skehan, Peter. 1989. Individual differences in second-language learning. London: Edward Arnold.Search in Google Scholar
Swain, Merrill. 2000. The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue. In James P. Lantolf (ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning, 97–114. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Ting, Yen Ren. 1987. Foreign language teaching in China: Problems and perspectives. Canadian and International Education 16(1). 48–61.10.1111/j.1540-4781.1987.tb01058.xSearch in Google Scholar
Wen, Wei P. & Richard Clément. 2003. A Chinese conceptualisation of Willingness to Communicate in ESL. Language, Culture and Curriculum 16(1). 18–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908310308666654.Search in Google Scholar
Wright, Arthur F. 1960. The Confucian persuasion. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Yashima, Tomoko. 2002. Willingness to Communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL Context. Modern Language Journal 86(1). 54–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00136.Search in Google Scholar
Zhong, Qunyan. 2013. Understanding Chinese learners’ willingness to communicate in a New Zealand ESL classroom: A multiple case study drawing on the theory of planned behaviour. System 41(3). 740–751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.08.001.Search in Google Scholar
Zhou, Nan. 2013. Communication research in the EFL context: Challenges and directions. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 4(1). 11–19.Search in Google Scholar
Zhou, Qianqian. 2023. Translating Willingness to Communicate into Learner Talk in a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) Classroom. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231176035.Search in Google Scholar
Supplementary Material
This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0219).
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “Am I really abroad?” The informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation students in the UK
- Comprehension of English articles by Korean learners of L2 English and L3 Spanish
- Motivation and growth in kanji proficiency: a longitudinal study using latent growth curve modeling
- The impact of textual enhancement on the acquisition of third person possessive pronouns by child EFL learners
- Domain-general grit and domain-specific grit: conceptual structures, measurement, and associations with the achievement of German as a foreign language
- The different effects of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation on reading performance via engagement among young Chinese second-language learners
- Image-schema-based-instruction enhanced L2 construction learning with the optimal balance between attention to form and meaning
- Investigating willingness to communicate in synchronous group discussion tasks: one step closer towards authentic communication
- Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context
- Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese
- The impact of abdominal enhancement techniques on L1 Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin speakers’ English pronunciation
- Discourse competence across band scores: an analysis of speaking performance in the General English Proficiency Test
- Videoed storytelling in primary education EFL: exploring trainees’ digital shift
- Competing factors in SLA: how the CASP model of SLA explains the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by native speakers of Arabic and Korean
- Factors behind L2 English learners’ performance of oppositional speech acts: a look at pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) during thinking aloud
- Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
- Exploring aural vocabulary knowledge for TOEIC as a language exit requirement in higher education in Taiwan
- Grammatical gender assignment in L3 versus L4 Swedish: a pseudo-longitudinal study
- Strategic reading comprehension in L2 and L3: assuming relative interdependence within Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis
- Incidental collocational learning from reading-while-listening and the impact of synchronized textual enhancement
- Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English
- The use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) by L2 learners: the impact of age, gender, language learning experience, and L2 proficiency levels
- “They forget and forget all the time.” The complexity of teaching adult deaf emergent readers print literacy
- Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective
- Investigating the effects of varying Accelerative Integrated Method instruction on spoken recall accuracy: a case study with junior primary learners of French
- Testing a model of EFL teachers’ work engagement: the roles of teachers’ professional identity, L2 grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment
- The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization
- Insights from an empirical study on communicative functions and L1 use during conceptual mediation in L2 peer interaction
- On the acquisition of tense and agreement in L2 English by adult speakers of L1 Chinese
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “Am I really abroad?” The informal language contact and social networks of Chinese foundation students in the UK
- Comprehension of English articles by Korean learners of L2 English and L3 Spanish
- Motivation and growth in kanji proficiency: a longitudinal study using latent growth curve modeling
- The impact of textual enhancement on the acquisition of third person possessive pronouns by child EFL learners
- Domain-general grit and domain-specific grit: conceptual structures, measurement, and associations with the achievement of German as a foreign language
- The different effects of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation on reading performance via engagement among young Chinese second-language learners
- Image-schema-based-instruction enhanced L2 construction learning with the optimal balance between attention to form and meaning
- Investigating willingness to communicate in synchronous group discussion tasks: one step closer towards authentic communication
- Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context
- Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese
- The impact of abdominal enhancement techniques on L1 Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin speakers’ English pronunciation
- Discourse competence across band scores: an analysis of speaking performance in the General English Proficiency Test
- Videoed storytelling in primary education EFL: exploring trainees’ digital shift
- Competing factors in SLA: how the CASP model of SLA explains the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by native speakers of Arabic and Korean
- Factors behind L2 English learners’ performance of oppositional speech acts: a look at pragmatic-related episodes (PREs) during thinking aloud
- Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
- Exploring aural vocabulary knowledge for TOEIC as a language exit requirement in higher education in Taiwan
- Grammatical gender assignment in L3 versus L4 Swedish: a pseudo-longitudinal study
- Strategic reading comprehension in L2 and L3: assuming relative interdependence within Cummins’ linguistic interdependence hypothesis
- Incidental collocational learning from reading-while-listening and the impact of synchronized textual enhancement
- Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English
- The use of interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) by L2 learners: the impact of age, gender, language learning experience, and L2 proficiency levels
- “They forget and forget all the time.” The complexity of teaching adult deaf emergent readers print literacy
- Exploring the learning benefits of collaborative writing in L2 Chinese: a product-oriented perspective
- Investigating the effects of varying Accelerative Integrated Method instruction on spoken recall accuracy: a case study with junior primary learners of French
- Testing a model of EFL teachers’ work engagement: the roles of teachers’ professional identity, L2 grit, and foreign language teaching enjoyment
- The combined effects of a higher-level verb distribution and verb semantics on second language learners’ restriction of L2 construction generalization
- Insights from an empirical study on communicative functions and L1 use during conceptual mediation in L2 peer interaction
- On the acquisition of tense and agreement in L2 English by adult speakers of L1 Chinese