Home An idiodynamic study of the interconnectedness between cognitive and affective components underlying L2 willingness to communicate
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

An idiodynamic study of the interconnectedness between cognitive and affective components underlying L2 willingness to communicate

  • Yupei Wang ORCID logo and Quan Xu ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: February 15, 2024
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 63 Issue 3

Abstract

Employing the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) as a theoretical framework, this study explores the interconnectedness of cognitive and affective components within the Willingness to Communicate (WTC) among eight undergraduate students in a university classroom in China. The eight students were divided into four pairs, engaging in a communication task in English, followed by self-ratings of WTC using software and stimulated recall interviews. Interconnectedness was examined on a per-second basis. Analysis of these interconnected interactions revealed five patterns across three states of WTC. Among the rising, stable, and declining states of WTC, cognitive issues (e.g., discrepancy in viewpoints, vocabulary retrieval, self-monitoring) dynamically interacted with affective instances (e.g., anger, excitement, and emotional dependence on the partner), influencing the pattern of interconnectedness. The findings suggest that interconnectedness in WTC exhibits reciprocal interaction and nonlinearity. Speculation within these intricate cognitive-affective interactions suggests that affective components may have a greater influence on determining the level of L2 WTC. These insights highlight the dynamic interplay between WTC components and the system as a whole, revealing their uneven influence on the WTC system.

Keywords: willingness to communicate (WTC); complex dynamic systems theory (CDST); idiodynamic method; interconnectedness; nonlinearity
Corresponding author: Quan Xu, School of Foreign Languages, Central China Normal University, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 430000, China, E-mail:

Funding source: National Social Science Fund of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 18BYY097

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the students involved throughout this research process. We also thank the reviewers of this paper for their useful comments and suggestions.

  1. Research ethics: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  2. Author contributions: Yupei Wang and Quan Xu played pivotal roles in conceptualizing the research idea that underpins this study. Yupei Wang undertook the collection, transcription, coding, and interpretation of the data. Concurrently, Quan Xu provided a meticulous review and double-coding of the data, in addition to offering critical supervision of the findings. Through collaborative dialog, both authors significantly contributed to the refinement and synthesis of the results as presented in the final manuscript. The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: The study was financially supported by National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, grant number 18BYY097.

  5. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

Appendices
Figure A.1: Example of second-by-second willingness-to-communicate ratings and transcription. Note: Column A: timestamp; Columns B and C: participants’ self-ratings of situated WTC; Column D: the pseudonym of the speaker who takes the floor; Column E: the transcription of the speaker’s utterance during the task; Column F and G: participant’s comments on their WTC changes.
Figure A.1:

Example of second-by-second willingness-to-communicate ratings and transcription. Note: Column A: timestamp; Columns B and C: participants’ self-ratings of situated WTC; Column D: the pseudonym of the speaker who takes the floor; Column E: the transcription of the speaker’s utterance during the task; Column F and G: participant’s comments on their WTC changes.

Figure A.2: Example of the coding procedure.
Figure A.2:

Example of the coding procedure.

References

Cao, Yiqian. 2011. Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System 39(4). 468–479.10.1016/j.system.2011.10.016Search in Google Scholar

Cao, Yiqian & Jenefer Philp. 2006. Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System 34(4). 480–493.10.1016/j.system.2006.05.002Search in Google Scholar

Ducker, Nathan. 2021. Protecting and enhancing willingness to communicate with idiodynamic peer-peer strategy sharing. System 103. 102634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102634.Search in Google Scholar

Eddy-U, Mary. 2015. Motivation for participation or non-participation in group tasks: A dynamic systems model of task-situated willingness to communicate. System 50. 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.03.005.Search in Google Scholar

Ellis, Dorothy & Barry J. Zimmerman. 2001. Enhancing self-monitoring during self-regulated learning of speech. In Hope J. Hartman (ed.), Metacognition in learning and instruction: Theory, research and practice, 205–228. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.10.1007/978-94-017-2243-8_10Search in Google Scholar

Fredrickson, Barbara L. 2013. Positive emotions broaden and build. In Berkowitz Leonard (ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 47, 1–53. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier/Academic Press.10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00001-2Search in Google Scholar

Hiver, Phil & Ali H. Al-Hoorie. 2020. Research methods for complexity theory in applied linguistics. Bristol, UK: Blue Ridge Summit, Pa, USA: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788925754Search in Google Scholar

Holland, John Henry. 2014. Signals and boundaries building blocks for complex adaptive systems. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.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

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 2015. Ten ‘lessons’ from complex dynamic systems theory: What is on offer. In Zoltán Dörnyei, Peter D. Macintyre & Alastair Henry (eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning, 11–19. Bristol, Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.10.2307/jj.26931945.6Search in Google Scholar

Larsen-Freeman, Diane & Lynne Cameron. 2008. Research methodology on language development from a complex systems perspective. The Modern Language Journal 92(2). 200–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00714.x.Search in Google Scholar

Lee, Ju Seong & Jun Chen Hsieh. 2019. Affective variables and willingness to communicate of EFL learners in in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts. System 82. 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.03.002.Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D. 2012. The idiodynamic method: A closer look at the dynamics of communication traits. Communication Research Reports 29(4). 361–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2012.723274.Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D. & Serroul Alicia. 2015. Motivation on a per-second timescale: Examining approach-avoidance motivation during L2 task performance. In Zoltán Dörnyei, Peter D. MacIntyre & Alastair Henry (eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning, 109–138. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781783092574-013Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D. & Samantha Ayers-Glassey. 2020. Measuring willingness to communicate. In Paula Marie Winke & Tineke Brunfaut (eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and language testing, 187–198. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781351034784-21Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D. & Tammy Gregersen. 2022. The idiodynamic method: Willingness to communicate and anxiety processes interacting in real-time. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 60(1). 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0024.Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D. & James Jason 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

Macintyre, Peter D., Richard Clément, Zoltán Dörnyei & Kimberly A. Noels. 1998. Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in an L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal 82(4). 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x.Search in Google Scholar

Mellanby, Alex R., John B. Rees & John H. Tripp. 2000. Peer-led and adult-led school health education: A critical review of available comparative research. Health Education Research 15(5). 533–545. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/15.5.533.Search in Google Scholar

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Anna & Mirosław Pawlak. 2014. Fluctuations in learners’ willingness to communicate during communicative task performance: Conditions and tendencies. Research in Language 12(3). 245–260. https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2014-0019.Search in Google Scholar

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Anna. 2016. Dynamics of classroom WTC: Results of a semester study. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 6(4). 651–676. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2016.6.4.5.Search in Google Scholar

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Anna. 2018. Fluctuations in willingness to communicate during a semester: A case study. The Language Learning Journal 49(1). 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1469660.Search in Google Scholar

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Anna. 2021. Fluctuations in willingness to communicate during a semester: A case study. The Language Learning Journal 49(1). 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1469660.Search in Google Scholar

Nematizadeh, Shahin. 2021. Willingness to communicate and second language speech fluency: An idiodynamic investigation of attractor states. Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning 3(1). 26–49. https://doi.org/10.52598/jpll/3/1/2.Search in Google Scholar

Nematizadeh, Shahin. 2022. A per-second investigation of the interconnectedness between linguistic and cognitive factors underlying L2 willingness to communicate. Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning 4(2). 1–14. https://doi.org/10.52598/jpll/4/2/8.Search in Google Scholar

Nematizadeh, Shahin & David Wood. 2019. Willingness to communicate and second language speech fluency: An investigation of affective and cognitive dynamics. Canadian Modern Language Review 75(3). 197–215. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2017-0146.Search in Google Scholar

Nematizadeh, Shahin & David Wood. 2021. Second language willingness to communicate as a complex dynamic system. In Nourollah Zarrinabadi & Mirosław Pawlak (eds.), New perspectives on willingness to communicate in a second language, 7–23. Cham: Springer International Publishing.10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_2Search in Google Scholar

Oveis, Christopher, Adam B. Cohen, June Gruber, Michelle N. Shiota, Jonathan Haidt & Dacher Keltner. 2009. Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia is associated with tonic positive emotionality. Emotion 9(2). 265–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015383.Search in Google Scholar

Pavelescu, Liana Maria. 2019. Motivation and emotion in The EFL learning experience of Romanian adolescent students: Two contrasting cases. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 9(1). 55–82. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2019.9.1.4.Search in Google Scholar

Pawlak, Mirosław & Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak. 2015. Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System 50. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.02.001.Search in Google Scholar

Pawlak, Mirosław, Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Jakub Bielak. 2016. Investigating the nature of classroom willingness to communicate (WTC): A micro-perspective. Language Teaching Research 20(5). 654–671. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168815609615.Search in Google Scholar

Peng, Jian-E. 2007. Willingness to communicate in an L2 and integrative motivation among college students in an intensive English language program in China. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL 2(1). 33–59.Search in Google Scholar

Peng, Jian-E. 2012. Towards an ecological understanding of willingness to communicate in EFL classrooms in China. System 40(2). 203–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2012.02.002.Search 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. Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters.10.2307/jj.22730507.15Search in Google Scholar

Pishghadam, Reza. 2009. A quantitative analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and foreign language learning. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 6(1). 31–41.Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Zhenhui. 2002. Chinese students’ perceptions of communicative and non-communicative activities in EFL classroom. System 30(1). 85–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0346-251x(01)00050-1.Search in Google Scholar

Segalowitz, Norman. 2010. The cognitive bases of second language fluency. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203851357Search in Google Scholar

Syed, Hassan & Irena Kuzborska. 2020. Dynamics of factors underlying willingness to communicate in a second language. The Language Learning Journal 48(4). 481–500. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1435709.Search in Google Scholar

Wadlinger, Heather A. & Derek M. Isaacowitz. 2006. Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli. Motivation and Emotion 30(1). 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9021-1.Search in Google Scholar

Wang, Lisha. 2010. An investigation of the current state of college teachers’ teaching quality and teacher development. Aian EFL Journal 12(1). 261–284.Search in Google Scholar

Wen, Wei-Ping & 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

Wood, David. 2016. Willingness to communicate and second language speech fluency: An idiodynamic investigation. System 60. 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.05.003.Search in Google Scholar

Xu, Jinfen & Yumei Fan. 2017. The evolution of the college English curriculum in China (1985–2015): Changes, trends and conflicts. Language Policy 16. 267–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-016-9407-1.Search in Google Scholar

Yan, Chunmei & Chuanjun He. 2015. To be or not to be? The “publish or perish” syndrome for English teacher educators in China. Frontiers of Education in China 10. 526–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03397087.Search in Google Scholar

Zheng, Yurong. 2022. A review of burnout in college English teachers in China. Frontiers in Psychology 13. 288–330. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.884304.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2023-08-27
Accepted: 2024-01-11
Published Online: 2024-02-15
Published in Print: 2025-09-25

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Young L2 learners in diverse instructional contexts
  4. Research Articles
  5. Impact of post-task explicit instruction on the interaction among child EFL learners in online task-based reading lessons
  6. Can we train young EFL learners to ‘notice the gap’? Exploring the relationship between metalinguistic awareness, grammar learning and the use of metalinguistic explanations in a dictogloss task
  7. Exploring self-regulated learning behaviours of young second language learners during group work
  8. Developmental trajectories of discourse features by age and learning environment
  9. Implementing an oral task in an EFL classroom with low proficient learners: a micro-evaluation
  10. Exploring teacher-student interaction in task and non-task sequences
  11. Children learning Mongolian as an additional language through the implementation of a task-based approach
  12. “Black children are gifted at learning languages – that’s why I could do TBLT”: inclusive Blackness as a pathway for TBLT innovation
  13. Regular Articles
  14. Defining competencies for training non-native Korean speaking teachers: a Q methodology approach
  15. A cross-modal analysis of lexical sophistication: EFL and ESL learners in written and spoken production
  16. Using sentence processing speed and automaticity to predict L2 performance in the productive and receptive tasks
  17. Distance-invoked difficulty as a trigger for errors in Chinese and Japanese EFL learners’ English writings
  18. Exploring Chinese university English writing teachers’ emotions in providing feedback on student writing
  19. General auditory processing, Mandarin L1 prosodic and phonological awareness, and English L2 word learning
  20. Why is L2 pragmatics still a neglected area in EFL teaching? Uncovered stories from Vietnamese EFL teachers
  21. Validation of metacognitive knowledge in vocabulary learning and its predictive effects on incidental vocabulary learning from reading
  22. Anxiety and enjoyment in oral presentations: a mixed-method study into Chinese EFL learners’ oral presentation performance
  23. The influence of language contact and ethnic identification on Chinese as a second language learners’ oral proficiency
  24. An idiodynamic study of the interconnectedness between cognitive and affective components underlying L2 willingness to communicate
  25. “I usually just rely on my intuition and go from there.” pedagogical rules and metalinguistic awareness of pre-service EFL teachers
  26. Development and validation of Questionnaire for Self-regulated Learning Writing Strategies (QSRLWS) for EFL learners
  27. Language transfer in tense acquisition: new evidence from English learning Chinese adolescents
  28. A systematic review of English-as-a-foreign-language vocabulary learning activities for primary school students
  29. Using automated indices of cohesion to explore the growth of cohesive features in L2 writing
  30. The impact of text-audio synchronized enhancement on collocation learning from reading-while-listening: an extended replication of Jung and Lee (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0207
Keywords for this article
willingness to communicate (WTC); complex dynamic systems theory (CDST); idiodynamic method; interconnectedness; nonlinearity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Young L2 learners in diverse instructional contexts
  4. Research Articles
  5. Impact of post-task explicit instruction on the interaction among child EFL learners in online task-based reading lessons
  6. Can we train young EFL learners to ‘notice the gap’? Exploring the relationship between metalinguistic awareness, grammar learning and the use of metalinguistic explanations in a dictogloss task
  7. Exploring self-regulated learning behaviours of young second language learners during group work
  8. Developmental trajectories of discourse features by age and learning environment
  9. Implementing an oral task in an EFL classroom with low proficient learners: a micro-evaluation
  10. Exploring teacher-student interaction in task and non-task sequences
  11. Children learning Mongolian as an additional language through the implementation of a task-based approach
  12. “Black children are gifted at learning languages – that’s why I could do TBLT”: inclusive Blackness as a pathway for TBLT innovation
  13. Regular Articles
  14. Defining competencies for training non-native Korean speaking teachers: a Q methodology approach
  15. A cross-modal analysis of lexical sophistication: EFL and ESL learners in written and spoken production
  16. Using sentence processing speed and automaticity to predict L2 performance in the productive and receptive tasks
  17. Distance-invoked difficulty as a trigger for errors in Chinese and Japanese EFL learners’ English writings
  18. Exploring Chinese university English writing teachers’ emotions in providing feedback on student writing
  19. General auditory processing, Mandarin L1 prosodic and phonological awareness, and English L2 word learning
  20. Why is L2 pragmatics still a neglected area in EFL teaching? Uncovered stories from Vietnamese EFL teachers
  21. Validation of metacognitive knowledge in vocabulary learning and its predictive effects on incidental vocabulary learning from reading
  22. Anxiety and enjoyment in oral presentations: a mixed-method study into Chinese EFL learners’ oral presentation performance
  23. The influence of language contact and ethnic identification on Chinese as a second language learners’ oral proficiency
  24. An idiodynamic study of the interconnectedness between cognitive and affective components underlying L2 willingness to communicate
  25. “I usually just rely on my intuition and go from there.” pedagogical rules and metalinguistic awareness of pre-service EFL teachers
  26. Development and validation of Questionnaire for Self-regulated Learning Writing Strategies (QSRLWS) for EFL learners
  27. Language transfer in tense acquisition: new evidence from English learning Chinese adolescents
  28. A systematic review of English-as-a-foreign-language vocabulary learning activities for primary school students
  29. Using automated indices of cohesion to explore the growth of cohesive features in L2 writing
  30. The impact of text-audio synchronized enhancement on collocation learning from reading-while-listening: an extended replication of Jung and Lee (2023)
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 20.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/iral-2023-0207/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button