L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) and international posture in the Polish educational context
PDF

Keywords

communication
speaking
international posture
willingness to communicate
motivation

How to Cite

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Pietrzykowska, A. (2011). L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) and international posture in the Polish educational context. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2011.1.1.7

Number of views: 1140


Number of downloads: 670

Abstract

Speaking, the language skill whose mastering appears to be the ultimate aim of every attempt at learning a foreign language, constitutes a formidable challenge. Apart from involving the online interaction of complex processes of conceptualization, formulation, articulation and monitoring (Levelt, 1989), it appears prone to numerous psychological and social influences that, being difficult to control, may consistently hinder development. One of such factors, closely related to the concept of anxiety, is L2 willingness to communicate (WTC), called “the most immediate determinant of L2 use” (Clement, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003, p. 191). Perceived as either a personality trait or/and a context-related feature, WTC seems capable of accounting for a person’s first and second language communication. Interestingly it can be related to the learner’s disposition towards the target language culture, general interest in international affairs, willingness to travel and sustain contacts with speakers of other languages, which, defined as international posture (Yashima, 2002), serves as a strong predictor of success in language learning. The present paper reports the results of a survey conducted among 111 students of English, in the majority prospect teachers of English. The aim was to establish the degree of correlation between their international posture and WTC. The results do not corroborate the outcomes of other studies performed in the field (cf. Yashima, 2002, 2009), which might point to the unique characteristics of the Polish educational context.
https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2011.1.1.7
PDF

References

Baker. S.C., & Maclntyre, P.D. (2000). The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language orientations. Language Learning, 50(2), 311-341.

Burgoon, J. K. (1976). The unwillingness-to-communicate scale: Development and validation. Communication Monographs, 43, 60-69.

Chan, B., &. McCroskey, J.C. (1987). The WTC scale as a predictor of classroom participation. Communication Research Reports, 4, 47-50.

Csizér, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). Language learners’ motivational profiles and their motivated learning behaviour. Language Learning, 55(4), 613-659.

Clément, R., Baker, S. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2003). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The effects of context, norms, and vitality. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 22(2), 190-209.

Dörnyei, Z., & Clément, R. (2001). Motivational characteristics of learning different target languages: Results of a nationwide survey. In Z. Dörnyei, & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition, 399-432. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.

Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (2002). Some dynamics of language attitudes and motivation: Results of a longitudinal nationwide survey. Applied Linguistics, 23, 421-462.

Dörnyei, Z., Csizér, K., & Németh, N. (2006). Motivation, language attitudes and globalization: A Hungarian perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.

Gardner, R. C. (2001). Language learning motivation: The student, the teacher, and the researcher. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 6, 1-18.

Kang, S. (2005). Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language, System 33, 277-292.

Levelt, W. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. MIT Press, Cambridge

MacIntyre, P. D. (1994). Variables underlying Willingness to Communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11, 135-142.

Macintyre, P. (2003). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Proximal and distal influences. Paper presented at the 33rd annual conference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, June 2003, Halifax. Nova Scotia.

MacIntyre, P. D. (2007). Willingness to Communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. Modern Language Journal, 91, 564-576.

MacIntyre, P.D., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitude, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15, 3-18.

Macintyre, P. D., & Legatto, J. J. (2011). A dynamic system approach to willingness to communicate: Developing an idiodynamic method to capture rapidly changing affect. Applied Linguistics, 32(2), 149-171.

MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S.C., Clement, R., & Donovan, L.A. (2002). Sex and age effects on willingness to communicate, anxiety, perceived competence and L2 motivation among junior high school French immersion students. Language Learning, 52(3), 537-564.

MacIntyre, P. D., Cleement, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-62.

MacIntyre, P. D., Burns, C., & Jessome, A. (2011). Ambivalence about communicating in a second language: A qualitative study of French immersion students’ willingness to communicate. The Modern Language Journal, 95, 81-96.

McCroskey, J. C. (1982). Oral communication apprehension: A reconceptualization. Communication Yearbook 6, 136-170.

McCroskey, J. C. (1992). Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly, 40, 16-25.

McCroskey, J. C., & Baer, J. E. (1985). Willingness to communicate: The construct and its measurement. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Denver, CO.

McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1982). Communication apprehension and shyness: Conceptual and operational distinctions. Central States Speech Journal, 33, 45-68.

McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1987). Willingness to communicate. In J. C. McCroskey, & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Personality and interpersonal communication (pp. 129-156). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1990). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In M. Booth-Butterfield (Ed.), Communication, cognition, and anxiety, [Special Issue]. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 5, 19-37.

McCroskey, J. C, J.Fayer, & Richmond, V. P. (1985). Don’t speak to me in English: Communication apprehension in Puerto Rico. Communication Quarterly, 33, 185-192.

Mortensen, C. D., P. H. Arntson, & M. Lustig. (1977). The measurement of verbal predispositions: Scale development and application. Human Communication Research, 3, 146-158.

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Pietrzykowska, A. in press. The ideal L2 self and international posture in the Polish educational context. In J. Arabski, & A. Wojtaszek (Eds.), Aspects of culture.

Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (1989). Willingness to communicate an dysfunctional communication processes. In C. V. Roberts, & K. W. Watson (Eds.), Intrapersonal communication processes: Original essays (pp. 292-318). Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch Scarisbrick Publishers.

Ryan, S. (2009). Self and identity in L2 motivation in Japan: The ideal L2 self and Japanese learners of English. In Z. Dörnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 Self (pp.120-143). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Sallinen-Kuparinen, A., McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1991). Willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, introversion, and self-reported communication competence: Finnish and American comparisons. Paper presented at the World Communication Association convention, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Savignon, S. J. (2005). Communicative language teaching: Strategies and goals. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 635-651). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass, & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235-256). New York: Newbury House.

Yashima, T. (2000). Orientations and motivation in foreign language learning: A study of Japanese college students. JACET Bulletin, 31, 121-133.

Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.

Yashima, T. (2009). International posture and the ideal L2 self in the Japanese EFL context. In Z. Dörnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 Self (pp. 144-163). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54, 119-152.

Zakahi, W. R., & McCroskey, J.C. (1989). Willingness to communicate: A potential confounding variable in communication research. Communication Reports, 2, 96-104.