MacIntyre et al.'s situational model of willingness to communicate in L2¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 mixed) · 3 studies (2 associational, 1 design), q2 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article describes WTC in a second language via the model of MacIntyre et al. (1998), which integrated social-psychological, linguistic, educational and communicative dimensions to predict, describe and explain learners' WTC. WTC is defined as "the probability of engaging in communication when free to do so," a state of readiness to initiate communication at a particular time and in specific situations. The pyramid or heuristic model illustrates twelve variables influencing WTC, including both enduring and temporary effects. The article's class-size findings are framed against this model.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Learners must be free to choose whether to initiate communication for the probability framing to apply

Constraints¶

• The article notes future work should probe which affective variables should be added to or excluded from the model

Target Learners¶

• second and foreign language learners

Target Learning Objectives¶

• willingness to initiate L2 communication
• L2 interaction and language production

Claims¶

• Class Size Significant Wtc Difference Iranian Efl [+M]
• Motivation correlates positively and significantly with L2 willingness to communicate among Turkish EFL preparatory students [+W]
• Participation in interpersonal audio discussions produced no statistically significant changes in overall willingness to communicate, though most students reported unchanged or increased WTC [~W]
• Only the smallest class differs significantly from the other two; classes of 10 and 15 do not differ significantly [+W]
• WTC decreases as class size increases on both talk-time and turns of talk [+W]

Related Theories¶

• MacIntyre et al.'s (1998) heuristic pyramid model of willingness to communicate in L2
• MacIntyre et al.'s willingness-to-communicate (WTC) model as a framework linking pronunciation and affective variables
• Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language — the canonical page for this theory

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Zeinab Moradi Khazaei, Ahmad Moin Zadeh & Saeed Ketabi. (2012). Willingness to Communicate in Iranian EFL Learners: The Effect of Class Size. English Language Teaching, 5(11). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n11p181