Willingness to communicate in english as a second language as a stable trait or context-influenced variable
Case studies of Iranian Migrants to New Zealand
Denise Cameron | Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Whether Willingness to Communicate (WTC) is a permanent trait or is modified by situational context has previously been investigated in various studies (e.g. Cao & Philp, 2006; Kang, 2005; MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011). However, most research into WTC has been quantitative or conducted in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or Study Abroad situation in countries such as Canada, Japan, Korea and China. This article reports on the qualitative component of an exploratory mixed methods study in a New Zealand (NZ) university with participants who are permanent migrants from Iran. These students completed a questionnaire and participated in further in-depth semi-structured interviews. The article provides an overview of previous research into WTC and motivation in Iran and NZ as the context for these three case studies. In this study, six factors, both trait and situational, were identified as having an effect on these students’ WTC in both countries: self-perceived competence; personality; anxiety; motivation and the importance of English; and the learning context. Finally, this article discusses the contribution of this study to the WTC field of research, identifying the implications of these results for teachers of English in the ESL (English as a Second Language or migrant) context and possible avenues for future research.
(2012) A critical look at the status of FLT in the Iranian context: Challenges and opportunities. Iranian EFL Journal, 8(1), 176–184.
Allwright, D., & Bailey, K. M.
(1996) Focus on the language classroom. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Baker, S., & MacIntyre, P.
(2000) The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language learning. Language Learning, 50(2), 311–341.
Cao, Y.
(2009) Understanding the notion of interdependence, and the dynamics of willingness to communicate. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Auckland University, Auckland, New Zealand.
Cao, Y.
(2011) Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39(4), 468–479.
Cao, Y., & Philp, J.
(2006) Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behaviour in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System, 341, 480–493.
Dörnyei, Z.
(2001) Teaching and researching motivation Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Dörnyei, Z.
(2005) The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dörnyei, Z.
(2007) Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford, England: OUP.
Ghassemi, E., & Shahsavari, N.
(2011) “What is not working?”. A study of students’ perceptions of problems and concerns over English language learning at Islamic Azad University, Hajiabad Branch. Iranian EFL Journal, 7(2), 41–52.
Ghorbani, M. R.
(2007) ESL textbook evaluation and graphic representation. Retrieved November 29, 2010 from [URL]
Horwitz, E.
(2010) Foreign and second language anxiety. Language Teaching, 43(2), 154–167.
Kang, S.-J.
(2005) Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language. System, 331, 277–292.
Kim, S. J.
(2004) Exploring willingness to communicate (WTC) in English among Korean EFL (English as a foreign language) students in Korea: WTC as a predictor of success in second language acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
Kuhl, J.
(1994) A theory of action and state orientations. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Volition and personality (pp. 9–46). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
MacIntyre, P. D.
(2007) Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 564–576.
MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K.
(1998) Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545–562.
(2010) Willingness to communicate and action control, System, 381, 161–171.
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.
Maleki, A., & Zangani, E.
(2007) A survey on the relationship between English Language proficiency and the academic achievement of Iranian EFL students. Asian EFL Journal, 91, 86–96.
Matsuoka, R.
(2005) Willingness to communicate among Japanese college students. Proceedings of the 10th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 151–159.
Moiinzavari, M.
(2008) Motivational orientation in English language learning: A study of Iranian undergraduate students. Global practices of language teaching. In A. Shafaei & M. Nejati, (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Online Language Conference (IOLC 2008) (pp. 126–135). Boca Raton, FA: Universal Publishers.
Ortega, L.
(2009) Understanding second language acquisition. London, England: Hodder Education.
Papi, M.
(2010) The L2 motivational self system, L2 anxiety, and motivated behavior: A structural equation modeling approach. System, 381, 467–479.
Papi, M., & Abdollahzadeh, E.
(2012) Teacher motivational practice, student motivation, and possible L2 selves: An examination in the Iranian EFL context. Language Learning, 62(2), 571–594.
Peng, J.
(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, 21, 33–59.
Razmjoo, S. A.
(2007) High schools’ or private institutes’ textbooks? Which fulfill communicative language teaching principles in the Iranian context?Asian EFL Journal, 9(4), 126–140.
Riasati, M. J.
(2012) EFL learners’ perceptions of factors influencing willingness to speak English in language classrooms: A qualitative study. World Applied Sciences Journal, 17(10), 1287–1297.
Taguchi, T., Magid, M., & Papi, M.
(2009) The L2 motivational self system among Japanese, Chinese and Iranian learners of English: A comparative study. In Z. Dörnyei, & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 Self (pp. 66–97). Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters, Bristol.
Vaezi, S.
(2007, November) Communicative language teaching: In the Middle East? Paper presented at the LED conference, Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Vaezi, S., & Sadeghilar, N.
(2009, October) Willingness to communicate. Paper presented at the TELLSI 7 Conference, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
Vaezi, Z.
(2008) Language learning motivation among Iranian undergraduate students. World Applied Science Journal, 51, 54–61.
Wen, W., & Clément, R.
(2003) A Chinese conceptualisation of willingness to communicate in ESL. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 16(1), 18–38.
Yashima, T.
(2002) Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54–67.
Yashima, T., & Zenuk-Nishide, L.
(2008) The impact of learning contexts on proficiency, attitudes, and L2 communication: Creating an imagined international community. System, 36(4), 566–585.
2016. The concordance between EFL learners' stress coping strategies, willingness to communicate, and metacognitive self-regulation. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology 5:4
Bensalem, Elias, Amy S. Thompson & Fahad Alenazi
2023. The role of grit and enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate in Saudi Arabia and Morocco: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development► pp. 1 ff.
Bukhari, Syeda Farzana & Xiaoguang Cheng
2017. To do or not to do: willingness to communicate in the ESL context. English Today 33:1 ► pp. 36 ff.
Cameron, Denise
2021. Case Studies of Iranian Migrants’ WTC Within an Ecosystems Framework: The Influence of Past and Present Language Learning Experiences. In New Perspectives on Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 25 ff.
2018. Revisiting willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language: the Serbian perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 39:10 ► pp. 912 ff.
Wilson, Victoria E., Robyne Le Brocque, John Drayton & Sara Hammer
2024. Understanding and responsiveness in the trauma-informed adult ESL classroom. The Australian Educational Researcher
Youngwoo Kim & 강진
2014. A study of Korean primary school students’ use of English and thier willingness to communicate in English. English Language Teaching 26:3 ► pp. 89 ff.
Zhang, Jiayi, Nadin Beckmann & Jens F. Beckmann
2018. To talk or not to talk: A review of situational antecedents of willingness to communicate in the second language classroom. System 72 ► pp. 226 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.