The Roles of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and WTC (Willingness to Communicate) in Communication Across Different Learning Modes

• In Event: Learning Strategies for Online Environments

Abstract

The study takes a situational perspective to explore the differential impact of satisfying basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), in conjunction with Willingness to Communicate (WTC), on the quantity and quality of communication in both asynchronous and synchronous learning modes. Competence and relatedness need satisfaction consistently predicted WTC in both modes, while autonomy need satisfaction only had a significant influence in asynchronous learning. The relationship between relatedness need satisfaction and WTC was relatively higher in synchronous learning. Furthermore, the relationship between WTC and performance varied between asynchronous and synchronous learning environments. While WTC positively predicted communication quantity and fluency in both modes, its impact on complexity and accuracy was only observed in synchronous learning.

Authors

• Zilu Jiang, Johns Hopkins University

• Kui Xie, University of Missouri