Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110046
Author(s):  
Peter D. MacIntyre ◽  
Lanxi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Pyramid Model ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Considerable Complexity

Willingness to communicate (WTC) reflects an intersection between instructed second language acquisition and learner psychology. WTC results from the coordinated interaction among complex processes that prepare second language (L2) learners to choose to use their L2 for authentic communication. Prior research has revealed considerable complexity in the influences on dynamic changes in WTC from moment-to-moment. The heuristic ‘pyramid model’ of WTC (MacIntyre et al., 1998) proposes interactions among approximately 30 different variables that may influence WTC. The present study uses the pyramid model to interpret data from three focal participants, all English as a second language (ESL) learners and international students in Canada, with varying degrees of experience in an English-speaking context. Using the idiodynamic method, all participants were recorded while describing a self-selected, personally meaningful photo. Second, participants rated their WTC in English using software that played a recording of their speech and collected continuous WTC ratings. Finally, participants were interviewed about their WTC ratings. Triangulating the data revealed how processes on multiple timescales interact during L2 communication about the photos. WTC changes as speakers’ motivations and emotions are influenced by the deep, personal relevance of the topics under discussion. Pedagogical implications for the results of this study and the use of the idiodynamic method in L2 classrooms are discussed.

The language use, attitudes, and motivation of Chinese students prior to a semester-long sojourn in an English-speaking environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
International Exchange ◽  
Exchange Program ◽  
English Speaking

Second language acquisition scholars have long recognized that language attitudes and motivation can play a critical role in second language (L2) learning, leading to variations in willingness to communicate (WTC) and initiate interactions in that language. This paper reports on the pre-sojourn phase of a mixed-method study that investigated the language and intercultural learning of 149 Chinese students from a Hong Kong university who participated in a semester-long exchange program in an English-speaking country. By way of a questionnaire survey, document analysis (e.g., study plans), and in-depth interviews, the first phase examined their pre-sojourn language use, attitudes, and motivation, as well as their aims, expectations, and concerns about their impending study and residence in the host environment. Studies of this nature are essential to provide direction for pre-sojourn orientations and other interventions that can support and optimize the language enhancement and intercultural engagement of outgoing L2 international exchange students.

Syntax, Semantics, and SLA

1993 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Duff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
First Language Transfer ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics ◽  
Esl Instruction ◽  
Esl Learners

This paper examines the intersection of syntax and semantics in second language acquisition (SLA), a perspective on language learning that has received relatively little attention in the past, in ordertoanswer the following question: Why do English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners tend to use the same morpheme (e.g., HAVE) for Possessives (P) and Existentials (E), when English has separate forms (HAVE, THERE BE) for these two functions? Working within a functionalist framework, data are analyzed from the longitudinal case study of a Cambodian adult who, despite formal ESL instruction and residence in an English-speaking community, persistently uses the form has for both P and E. Although first language transfer can be invoked as a partial explanation forthis, it alone cannot account for the systematic conflation of P and E in interlanguage. Rather, it is argued that the shared semanticproperties of P/E, together with syntactic, pragmatic, and perceptual characteristics of native language, interlanguage, and second language constructions, make this overlap imminently transferable, especially in untutored or low-level instructed SLA.

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

Phonetic feature size in second language acquisition: Examining VOT in voiceless and voiced stops

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110089
Author(s):  
Daniel J Olson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Acoustic Similarity ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Voiceless Stop ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Featural approaches to second language phonetic acquisition posit that the development of new phonetic norms relies on sub-phonemic features, expressed through a constellation of articulatory gestures and their corresponding acoustic cues, which may be shared across multiple phonemes. Within featural approaches, largely supported by research in speech perception, debate remains as to the fundamental scope or ‘size’ of featural units. The current study examines potential featural relationships between voiceless and voiced stop consonants, as expressed through the voice onset time cue. Native English-speaking learners of Spanish received targeted training on Spanish voiceless stop consonant production through a visual feedback paradigm. Analysis focused on the change in voice onset time, for both voiceless (i.e. trained) and voiced (i.e. non-trained) phonemes, across the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The results demonstrated a significant improvement (i.e. reduction) in voice onset time for voiceless stops, which were subject to the training paradigm. In contrast, there was no significant change in the non-trained voiced stop consonants. These results suggest a limited featural relationship, with independent voice onset time (VOT) cues for voiceless and voices phonemes. Possible underlying mechanisms that limit feature generalization in second language (L2) phonetic production, including gestural considerations and acoustic similarity, are discussed.

The intersectionality of teacher immediacy, emotioncy and willingness to communicate in higher education context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asieh Amini ◽  
Hiwa Weisi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Teacher Immediacy ◽  
Content Type

PurposeGiven the significance of willingness to communicate and its integral role in the field of foreign/second language acquisition (F/SLA), this quantitative study intends to examine the relationship between sensory emotioncy types and teacher immediacy with second language learners' willingness to communicate (WTC).Design/methodology/approachA total number of 280 students majoring in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and English Language and Literature completed three scales of Sensory Emotioncy Type (SET), Willingness to Communicate and Teacher Immediacy (TI). For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed.FindingsThe results of SEM showed that learners' WTC was significantly predicted by emotioncy and teacher immediacy. Further, reports from correlational and regression analyses revealed a significantly positive correlation, first, between teacher immediacy and learners' WTC, secondly, between emotioncy and learners' WTC.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study was that the participants were selected from one context with relatively a small sample which might restrict the generalization. Nonetheless, the present study findings might extend ancillary horizons and provided worthwhile insights into the perception of teacher immediacy and emotioncy on students' willingness to communicate.Practical implicationsThe significance of the current study lies in its theoretical contribution to the notion of WTC and its pedagogical implications and suggestions to the benefits of rejuvenating second language teaching and learning. Findings of this study help pre-service and in-service teachers in providing them more robust picture of learners' individual differences; and hence exert the most appropriate tasks which learners have the most degree of familiarity and better to say, emotioncy.Originality/valueIn the current study notable results were obtained which would be efficacious to the present literature on the EFL teacher immediacy, emotioncy and willingness to communicate. First and foremost, the findings added to a growing body of literature on emotioncy as a relatively novel concept in academic settings and teacher immediacy , and willingness to communicate which have gained scant attention in the field.

scholarly journals Review of Early instructed second language acquisition: Pathways to competence; Editors: Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow, Melanie Ellis; Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 2019; ISBN: 9781788922494; Pages: 257

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-744
Author(s):  
Paweł Scheffler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
Teaching Grammar

In a large scale survey of teachers’ perceptions of the challenges they face in teaching English to young primary school learners (Copland, Garton, & Burns, 2014), some of the key issues that are identified are as follows: teaching speaking, using only English in the classroom, enhancing motivation, maintaining discipline, catering for different individual needs (including special educational needs), dealing with parents, and teaching grammar as well as reading and writing. The relevance of Early Instructed Second Language Acquisition, edited by Rokita-Jaśkow and Ellis, is clearly shown by the fact that it addresses most of these central issues.

Acquiring Pronouns in a Second Language: Evidence for Hypothesis Testing

1984 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanette K. Gundel ◽  
Nancy Stenson ◽  
Elaine Tarone
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Direct Transfer ◽  
Language Pattern ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
L1 And L2

Gundel and Tarone (1981) studied the acquisition of pronouns by Chinese and Spanish speaking adults learning English. On the basis of this study it was proposed that when L1 and L2 differ in the relative order of object pronoun and verb, the acquisition of direct object pronouns proceeds in three stages: (1) direct transfer of the native language pattern; (2) zero anaphora, i.e. no overt form at all, in direct object position; (3) the correct L2 pattern. The present paper presents further evidence for this proposal, and hence for a hypothesis-testing view of second language acquisition, on the basis of longitudinal data from English speaking children learning French in the Toronto French Immersion Program.

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