Effect of communication variables, affective variables, and teacher immediacy on willingness to communicate of foreign language learners

Abstract

The current study examined the willingness to communicate (WTC) of language learners who were studying English as a foreign language in a Chinese college setting. Some 234 college students participated in the study. The objective of the current study was to test the proposed relationships among communication apprehension (CA), self-perceived communication competence (SPCC), integrativeness, attitudes toward the learning situation, motivation, instrumental orientation, teacher immediacy, and second language (L2) WTC. A quantitative research method using questionnaires was employed. A path model was proposed and tested to examine the relationships among variables. The results of the study supported MacIntyre et al.'s (1998) WTC model. Four proposed relationships in the original path model were not obtained. Another four new relationships between variables were supported by the data. The significance of the current study lies in its theoretical contribution to the WTC construct and its pedagogical implication in second language teaching and learning.

Keywords:

• willingness to communicate
• English learner
• self-perceived communication competence
• communication apprehension
• motivation