Investigating the Complex Dynamic Emergence of Willingness to Communicate (WTC): A Multiple Study on Six Students Studying Chinese in a Scottish University

• In Event: Advancing Educational Equity: Serving Second-Language Learners

Abstract

This research is a one-year qualitative multiple-case study comprised of six students learning Chinese in a Scottish University. It sets out to investigate Willingness to communicate (WTC), its mediating factors and the interrelationships embedded in the person and the classroom context. Methodological triangulation is achieved by classroom observations, learner self-assessment forms, video-stimulated recall interviews and semi-structured interviews. The project aims to present personalised and contextualised accounts of factors that trigger or withhold, boost or reduce individual’s WTC in a classroom setting. The project also shows how such factors contribute to the momentary fluctuation of WTC that leads to individual differences in communication frequency. Lastly, the project provides pedagogical implications that could hopefully facilitate practitioners to cultivate WTC-friendly classrooms.

Author

• Qianqian Zhou, University of Edinburgh