Willingness to communicate in digital and non-digital EFL contexts: scale development and psychometric testing

Abstract

This study introduces a new scale of willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) in digital and non-digital EFL contexts. The psychometric testing of the revised L2 WTC (L2 WTC-R) was undertaken with 114 Indonesian EFL students by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results yielded an 11-item scale composed of three factors (L2 WTC inside the classroom, L2 WTC outside the classroom, and L2 WTC in the context of informal digital learning of English [IDLE]), with strong reliability and validity evidences. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was subsequently administered for a new sample (215 Indonesian EFL students), confirming the three-factor model that emerged from EFA. These results not only validate the existing L2 WTC scale but also expand its scale into digital settings, which will enable future research to consider another domain of L2 WTC (the IDLE context). From a real-world perspective, this can serve as a useful instrument for practitioners to gauge and foster L2 WTC levels in digital and non-digital contexts.

Keywords:

• Willingness to communicate
• exploratory factor analysis
• confirmatory factor analysis
• psychometric properties
• informal digital learning of English
• scale development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions to improve this article.

Notes

1 Although these studies may seem to encapsulate a variety of different names, they could fall under the umbrella concept of LCB in terms of their similar vision or overlapping dimensions.

2 Facebook was deemed the most popular social media platform among Indonesian participants who chose to engage in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ju Seong Lee

Ju Seong Lee is an Assistant Professor at Education University of Hong Kong. His research interests include informal digital learning of English, communication behaviors, and affect in second language learning.

Nur Arifah Drajati

Nur Arifah Drajati teaches undergraduate and graduate students in Universitas Sebelas Maret. Her research interests include TPACK, literacy, and informal digital learning.