Expanding the theoretical base for the dynamics of willingness to communicate

• Published in: Studies in second language learning and teaching Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 111 - 131
• Main Author: MacIntyre, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kalisz Wojskowe Biuro Historyczne im. gen. broni Kazimierza Sosnkowskiego 01.03.2020; Military Historical Bureau of Lieutenant-General Kazimierz Sosnkowski; Adam Mickiewicz University; Adam Mickiewicz University Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts; Adam Mickiewicz University Department of English Studies; Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
• Subjects: Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); communication traits; Communicative Competence (Languages); communicative events; Correlation; Cultural identity; dynamic turn; Foreign languages learning; Identity; idiodynamic method; Individual Differences; Interpersonal Communication; Language; Language Proficiency; Language Skills; Learning Experience; Learning Motivation; Learning Strategies; Linguistic competence; Measures (Individuals); Motivation; Pedagogy; Psychological Patterns; Psychological research; Psychology; Questions and answers; Research Methodology; Research methods; Resistance (Psychology); Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Self Concept; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Time; Willingness to communicate; France; Canada; United Kingdom; communication traits; willingness to communicate; communicative events; idiodynamic method; dynamic turn
• DOI: 10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.6
• ISSN: 2083-5205

The dynamics underlying willingness to communicate in a second or third language (L2 for short), operating in real time, are affected by a number of intra- and inter-personal processes. L2 communication is a remarkably fluid process, especially considering the wide range of skill levels observed among L2 learners and speakers. Learners often find themselves in a position that requires the use of uncertain L2 skills, be it inside or outside the classroom context. Beyond issues of competencies, which are themselves complex, using an L2 also evokes cultural, political, social, identity, motivational, emotional, pedagogical, and other issues that learners must navigate on-the-fly. The focus of this article will be on the remarkably rapid integration of factors, such as the ones just named whenever a language learner chooses to be a language speaker, that is, when the moment for authentic communication arrives. Communicative events are especially important in understanding the psychology of the L2 learner. Our research group has developed the idiodynamic method to allow examination of an individual’s experience of events on a timescale of a few minutes. Results are describing complex interactions and rapid changes in the psychological conditions that accompany both approaching and avoiding L2 communication. The research takes a new approach to familiar concepts such as motivation, language competence, learning strategies, and so on. By examining willingness to communicate as a dynamic process, new types of research questions and answers are emerging, generating new theory, research methods, and pedagogical approaches applicable both within language classrooms and beyond.