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Investigating willingness to communicate vis-à-vis learner talk in a low-proficiency EAP classroom in the UK study-abroad context

  • Qianqian Zhou ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 1, 2023

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.


Corresponding author: Qianqian Zhou, Department of Applied Linguistics, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China, E-mail:

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.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0219).


Received: 2022-11-17
Accepted: 2023-03-24
Published Online: 2023-05-01
Published in Print: 2024-11-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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