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Willingness To Communicate: Crossing The Psychological Rubicon From Learning To Communication
Willingness To Communicate: Crossing The Psychological Rubicon From Learning To Communication
March, 2007
Willingness to Communicate:
crossing the psychological
Rubicon from learning to
communication.
Peter D. MacIntyre
Cape Breton University
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Where is Nova Scotia?
Where is Cape Breton University?
Willingness to Communicate
Why do some choose to use L2, others do not?
Two points of departure this morning:
Language anxiety
Language learning motivation
We will extract ‘kernels of wisdom’ along the way
The emerging importance of time in ID models
Pyramid model of WTC
Volition
4 Studies
Future Directions
Language anxiety
“Worry and Emotionality (usually negative)
associated with L2 learning”
Motivation Language
Attitudes toward
Achievement
the learning
situation
Language Aptitude
Intergroup attraction
Intergroup attraction has been captured by
concepts such as:
international posture (Yashima),
xenophilic and sociocultural orientations (Clément,
Dornyei, & Noels, 1994),
acculturation processes (Schumann, 1986),
interest in the target language and people (Ushioda,
2001).
Communication
Layer I L2
Use Behaviour
2
Layer II Behavioural Intention
Willingness to
Communicate
3 4
Layer III Desire to State Situated Antecedents
communicate with Communicative
a specific person Self-Confidence
5 6 7
8 9 10
Layer V Affective-Cognitive Context
Intergroup Social Communicative
Attitudes Situation Competence
25
20 Posttest
15
Score
Introvert
10
Extrovert
State WTC
5
0
Very Similar Somew hat Similar Not at all Similar
Two Focused Essay Studies
Baker & MacIntyre (2000)
200 English speaking students learning French,
regular and immersion programs
Described 2 situations
most willing
least willing
We looked for themes and noticed emotional
expression
Most willing
Immersion students had weaker emotional reactions in
these situations than non-immersion students
“My father has a tailoring and bridal shop… and one day a
French speaking lady came in and my Dad’s wife can
speak French but she was off that day, so I was able to
help her [the lady] out enough so that she would come
back.”
Least Willing
Immersion students expressed stronger emotion
in these situations
In both immersion and non-imm., the type of
event that upset them most was a Francophone
interlocutor switching to English
a dramatic rejection of volitional self-presentation, it
is ignominious
unexpectedly, many reported this was a motivating
experience
Second Focused Essay Study
Again used Most / Least Willing
Over 100 Anglophone and Francophone
students in Ottawa
strongly bilingual institution, bilingual city
Typically, Francophones have higher more
experience speaking English than
Anglophones have speaking French
Most Willing
Anglophones most willing in situations where the only other choice
was silence (25% of situations described)
Interlocutor was expected to speak English if possible
“I’d be most willing if I had friends around me. I always felt comfortable
in a classroom giving a speech. When you are out of the classroom
I feel like people are analyzing me. I don’t mind when a teacher
does it, but not an acquaintance.”
Question:
Do you think this will be effective in your
context?
Willingness to Communicate:
crossing the psychological
Rubicon from learning to
communication.
Peter D. MacIntyre
Cape Breton University
Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada