Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 9 claims (8 for, 1 mixed) · 7 studies (4 associational, 1 review, 1 qualitative, 1 design), q2–q3 · 1 of 7 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description

Willingness to communicate (WTC) began as a construct about first-language communication, and McCroskey and colleagues treated it as a personality trait: a person's intention to start talking when free to do so. The articles disagree about its origin. Altiner (2018) credits McCroskey and Baer (1985), and Khazaei et al. (2012) credit McCroskey and Richmond (1990). MacIntyre and Charos (1996) were the first to study WTC in an L2, adding motivation, personality and context to MacIntyre's (1994) model. In their data, perceived competence and anxiety directly affected WTC.

MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei and Noels (1998) proposed the comprehensive L2 model, which the articles describe as "the first attempt at a comprehensive treatment of WTC in the L2". It treats WTC as situational rather than trait-like: "the probability of engaging in communication when free to do so", a readiness to initiate communication at a particular time with a particular person. A pyramid of twelve variables mixes enduring influences with situational ones. Personality sits at the enduring base, and L2 self-confidence can be either. Self-confidence has two parts, a cognitive evaluation of one's L2 ability and the anxiety felt when using the L2, so more anxiety means less confidence and lower WTC. Enough motivation plus positive self-confidence yields state communicative self-confidence, the momentary sense of being able to communicate that leads to L2 use. The model also holds that "the proper goal of the L2 pedagogy should be to instill WTC in learners" (as paraphrased by Khazaei et al., 2012).

The articles call the model heuristic. They report that different studies find different routes from motivation to WTC. Jung (2011) found a direct path. Several tests of the model, including Yashima (2002) and Kim (2004), found only an indirect one, running through communication confidence (as summarised by Altiner, 2018). Altiner's own correlation suggests motivation matters either way. Khazaei et al. (2012) say future work should decide which affective variables belong in the model. Lepore (2014) extends it to pronunciation, which the original model did not address, by treating willingness to use one's pronunciation as a behaviour that follows from WTC.

Implications

Context

• The model is about situations where the learner is free to choose whether to speak. Class size is one such situational factor: in the fetched evidence, WTC was highest in the smallest of three EFL classes (Khazaei et al., 2012).
• In a foreign-language setting, the classroom may be the only place to use the language, so what happens in class carries most of the weight.

Target Learners

• The fetched evidence comes from Iranian EFL institute learners, Turkish university preparatory students, and US introductory L2 learners. Nothing in it is specific to adults beyond university age.

Target Learning Objectives

• Learners who start L2 communication and use the L2 more often, which the model treats as a goal of instruction in itself.
• Pronunciation use, in Lepore's (2014) extension.

Claims

• Motivation correlates positively and significantly with L2 willingness to communicate among Turkish EFL preparatory students [+M]
• WTC differs significantly across class sizes in Iranian EFL classes, with the smallest class showing the highest WTC [+M]
• WTC decreases as class size increases on both talk-time and turns of talk [+M]
• Participation in interpersonal audio discussions produced no statistically significant changes in overall willingness to communicate, though most students reported unchanged or increased WTC [~M]
• Studies directly measuring WTC consistently report positive effects of AI on EFL learners' WTC across tool types, contexts, and age groups [+W] — attached 2026-10-12 from Zhang S et al. (2026), which proposed "Integrated multi-pathway framework of AI's impacts on EFL learners' WTC, extending MacIntyre et al.'s pyramid model".
• GenAI feedback perceptions, pronunciation self-efficacy, and WTC are all positively intercorrelated, and learners report positive feedback perceptions and moderate self-efficacy and WTC [+M]
• English pronunciation self-efficacy partially mediates the association between GenAI-based pronunciation feedback perceptions and willingness to communicate, with the indirect effect accounting for 69.9% of the total effect [+M]
• Gameplay increased participants' willingness to communicate in English [+W] — attached 2026-10-15 from Hayo Reinders et al. (2015), which proposed "Willingness to communicate (WTC) as a framework for studying affect in digital game-based language learning".

The evidence by question

• Does low-pressure practice with AI tools and other digital media raise learners' willingness to communicate in the L2? Studies directly measuring WTC consistently report positive effects of AI on EFL learners' WTC across tool types, contexts, and age groups [+M]
• Do learners' L2 self-confidence and motivation predict their willingness to communicate, as the model holds? English pronunciation self-efficacy is strongly and positively associated with willingness to communicate in English among Chinese EFL learners [+M]

Related Theories

• MacIntyre et al.'s (1998) heuristic pyramid model of willingness to communicate in L2 — source-framed variant (Altiner, 2018)
• MacIntyre et al.'s situational model of willingness to communicate in L2 — source-framed variant (Khazaei et al., 2012)
• MacIntyre et al.'s willingness-to-communicate (WTC) model as a framework linking pronunciation and affective variables — source-framed variant (Lepore, 2014)
• Foreign Language Anxiety — anxiety is one of the model's components of L2 self-confidence
• L2 Motivational Self System
• Self-determination theory framework of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations for L2 learning

Examples

• Enhance learners' motivation, especially intrinsic motivation, to raise L2 willingness to communicate
• Employ more communicative tasks and strategies in large classes to encourage participation
• VoiceThread interpersonal audio discussion activities for L2 pronunciation practice

Key Sources

• MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82(4), 545–562. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x
• MacIntyre, P. D. (1994). Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11(2), 135–142. doi:10.1080/08824099409359951
• MacIntyre, P. D., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15(1), 3–26. doi:10.1177/0261927X960151001
• MacIntyre, P. D. (2007). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 564–576. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00623.x
• McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1990). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 5(2), 19–37.

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	theory
title	Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language
description	MacIntyre et al.'s (1998) model of L2 willingness to communicate: the situational readiness to speak, shaped by a pyramid of enduring and momentary influences such as confidence, anxiety and motivation.
status	review
canonical	True
generated	by claude/unspecified on 2026-09-30
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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