Understanding EFL learners' willingness to communicate dynamics during a group communicative task: An idiodynamic perspective

Abstract

A sizeable amount of research has explored the dynamicity of second language (L2) willingness to communicate (WTC) within specific durations, but little scholarly attention has been paid to investigating L2 WTC in a single communicative task performed in a natural classroom setting with a per-second measuring scheme, the idiodynamic video-playback software. To this end, an idiodynamic method was applied in this study to understand classroom WTC inspired by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) on a micro-timescale. The present research investigated how four Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) exhibited WTC dynamics during a group communicative task in a natural classroom environment and what factors were attributed to impacting their WTC dynamics during the task. The findings revealed the dynamic features of Chinese EFL learners' WTC, covering non-linear dynamics, sensitivity to initial state, interconnectedness, self-organization, and dependence on context. Thematic analysis identified a range of individual and contextual factors influencing WTC, encompassing linguistic-cognitive, motivational, and affective influences, as well as those related to teacher, interlocutor, topic, and group atmosphere. These factors interacted in complex ways, either enhancing or reducing the learners' WTC. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications were raised.

Keywords

• Willingness to communicate
• Idiodynamic method
• Complex dynamic systems theory
• Group communicative task