Learning a second/foreign language (L2) is a long process and L2 learners certainly will encounter setbacks and discouragements during this process. However, their reactions to these failures might be different based on their perceptions of L2 learning ability and their subsequent effort put into L2 learning. Based on this, the present study aimed…

The realisation of the linguistic rights of Deaf individuals is, to a considerable extent, dependent upon whether there are majority language speakers who acquire a sign language as an L2 and use their L2 skills. Still, the motivation of hearing persons in learning sign languages as L2s is a largely unmapped area. This study seeks to capture the…

In bilingual settings, the communication between majority and minority language speakers usually takes place in the majority language. This paper examines whether majority language speakers, who receive positive feedback from minority language speakers when accommodating to them, use the minority language more frequently for authentic purposes. We…

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…

How does a person decide whether she or he is willing to communicate? Dual-process theories have been influential in the literature on the psychology of making judgments and decisions. Dual-process theories make a distinction between cognitive processes that are fast, automatic, and unconscious (also called 'experiential' thinking) and those that…

Recently, situated willingness to communicate (WTC) has received increasing research attention in addition to traditional quantitative studies of trait-like WTC. This article is an addition to the former but unique in two ways. First, it investigates both trait and state WTC in a classroom context and explores ways to combine the two to reach a…

The defining feature of immersion language learning is the omnipresent pressure to communicate in the second language (L2), even as incipient skills are being acquired. This study uses the focused essay technique to investigate ambivalence about communicating among adolescent French immersion students (12-14 years of age). Students described…

The present study examines the relative ability of variables from three motivational frameworks to predict four non-linguistic outcomes of language learning. The study examines Action Control Theory with its measures of (1) hesitation, (2) volatility and (3) rumination. The study also examined Pintrich's expectancy-value model that uses measures…

Being willing to communicate is part of becoming fluent in a second language, which often is the ultimate goal of L2 learners. Julius Kuhl's theory of action control is introduced as an expansion of the conceptual framework for the study of Willingness to Communicate. Kuhl proposed three key concepts, preoccupation, volatility, and hesitation,…

Examines the nonlinguistic outcomes of an immersion versus a nonimmersion program in Cape Breton. Dependent variables included attitudes toward learning French, orientations for learning, willingness to communicate, communication anxiety, perceived communicative competence, and self-reported frequency of communication in both English a a first…

Factor analysis of 23 scales assessing language and other forms of anxiety identified three separate factors of social evaluation, state, and language anxiety and found some correlations between scores based on those factors and measures of memory and vocabulary production in both native and second language. (46 references) (Author/CB)

This cross-sectional investigation focused on second language (L2) communication among students in a junior high French late immersion program. Effects of language, sex, and grade on willingness to communicate, anxiety, and perceived communication competence, on frequency of communication in French, and on attitudes and motivation variables were…