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This study explores changes in willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) inside multilingual classrooms among short-term exchange students. Data were collected from eight Chinese exchange students studying in three universities in Canada and two instructors teaching in one of these universities through in-depth interviews. Qualitative content analysis was conducted and three patterns of WTC changes were found: positive, negative, and no apparent changes. Three main factors underlying these changes were identified, which include students' perceptions of values in speaking up, sense of fitting in, and classroom environment. The two instructors from the host university provided positive comments and supportive suggestions regarding international students' L2 WTC and oral participation in multilingual classrooms. This study highlights the importance of sustaining short-term exchange students' L2 WTC through concerted efforts from students and teachers for maximizing the effectiveness of study abroad programs.

The important role of willingness to communicate (WTC) in facilitating second language (L2) learning and use has been widely endorsed. However, few studies have examined how teacher support in an L2 class may predict students' L2 WTC. Such a relationship may also be mediated by learners' L2 anxiety, a typical predictor of L2 WTC, and moderated by learners' beliefs about the malleability of their language learning ability, a construct known as growth language mindset. Framed from the Control-Value Theory (Pekrun, in Educ Psychol Rev 18(4):315-341, 2006) and the Language-Mindset Meaning System (Lou and Noels, in: Lamb, Csizér, Henry, Ryan (eds) The Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019a, System 86:102126, 2019b), this study aimed to investigate the relationships between teacher support, L2 anxiety, growth language mindset, and L2 WTC. The data were collected from 551 English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners in Iran and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that teacher support was directly and positively associated with L2 WTC, and this relationship was significantly mediated by L2 anxiety. The relationship between teacher support and L2 WTC, however, was only significant among learners with medium and high levels of growth language mindset. In addition, growth language mindset also moderated the negative relationship between L2 anxiety and L2 WTC, with this relationship being weaker among learners with higher levels of growth language mindset. Finally, theoretical and pedagogical implications and directions for future research are presented.

Voice is considered essential in academic writing, and metadiscourse is an important device contributing to voice. This study explores the use of metadiscourse and voice construction in Bachelor of Arts (BA) theses written at the onset and final stages by university undergraduates majoring in English in China. A corpus consisting of the discussion sections in the first and final versions of 35 BA theses was built, annotated, and analyzed. Two academics from this university were then invited to evaluate 10 pairs of the texts and specify textual elements that conveyed voice and to provide further comments in a follow-up interview. Results showed that the students used significantly more evidentials, hedges, and boosters in the final versions. The reviewers perceived minor growth in voice strength from the sample texts, and they commented that both content-related features and metadiscourse contributed to voice. This study highlights the importance of cultivating undergraduates' awareness of voice construction and the use of metadiscourse in academic writing.

Motivation to learn languages other than English (LOTEs) has been underrepresented in second language (L2) motivation research. This study investigated and compared the motivational profiles of first-year and second-year students majoring in Spanish, grounded on the proposition of bifurcating ideal and ought selves into Own and Other standpoints, and the importance of learning experience. The data were first collected using Q methodology from 27 freshmen and 20 sophomores at a university in China, followed by interviews with 10 students. The findings showed three motivational profiles in the first-year group (self-imposed with instrumental goals, self-motivated with intrinsic interests, other-informed and malleable to context) and two in the second-year group (self-motivated with embryonic ideal self-images, ought-self oriented with unsatisfactory classroom experience). These different motivational profiles were found to be associated with two main factors: classroom experience and exposure to Spanish use in digital contexts. The current findings underscored the importance of role modelling and positive classroom learning experience for beginning learners in LOTE degree programmes, and the promising potential of exposing learners to LOTE use in digital contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores variation in willingness to communicate (WTC) in English between whole-class interaction and dyadic and group interaction, and teacher interaction strategies identified to sustain students' WTC in whole-class interaction that primarily followed the initiation-response-feedback (IRF) pattern. Data were collected from a regular English class at a university in China through audio-recording of a lesson, classroom observation, self-rating of WTC by 23 students, and stimulated recall interviews with four focal students. The results indicate that WTC in whole-class interaction did not significantly differ from WTC in dyadic and group interaction. Teacher interaction strategies, including the use of open or referential questions in the I-move and F-move, manipulation of wait time following prompts, and monitoring private speech and contextual or multimodal clues of students' WTC, functioned to sustain classroom WTC. Implications for adopting teacher interaction strategies in line with lesson plans within the framework of IRF pedagogic discourse are discussed.

Women academics reportedly exhibit lower research productivity than males. This study first quantitatively explored gender differences in research output based on a survey among 309 Chinese academics teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). Qualitative data obtained through interviews with seven female respondents were analyzed from an ecological perspective. Results showed significant gender differences in domestic publication but no such differences in international publication. Women academics' pursuit of research was influenced by many factors from and beyond the microsystems of workplace and family, and their coping strategies included soliciting help from seasoned colleagues, attending academic conferences, and joining online communities. The findings highlight the institutional supportive practices and familial environment that are equally important in promoting women academics' professional development.

Motivation is considered an important impetus driving and sustaining individuals' efforts to fulfill their goals. Against the backdrop that university academics worldwide are increasingly expected to produce research output in prestigious journals for both individual and institutional development, it is necessary to understand academics' research motivation and its relations with research productivity in international and local journals. This study, being descriptive and explanatory in nature, surveyed 309 academics who taught English as a foreign language (TEFL) in China. Results showed that the participants exhibited stronger extrinsic motivation, in the form of external and identified regulations, than intrinsic motivation. However, these two subtypes of extrinsic motivation were significantly negatively associated with academic publishing, whereas intrinsic motivation was the significant positive factor associated with the participants' publication in international journals. These findings remind both academics and educational managers of the importance of enhancing intrinsic motivation and refining contextual support in improving academics' research productivity.

Despite the extensive research on willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC), foreign language anxiety (FLA), and foreign language enjoyment (FLE), few studies have tested the roles of these variables in predicting L2 learning outcomes. This line of inquiry is imperative, especially because the importance of L2 WTC primarily lies in its presumable role in enhancing L2 learning. This study examines how FLA, FLE, and L2 WTC predict English public speaking performance. Data were collected by administering a questionnaire that contained closed-ended and open-ended items to 132 Chinese university students who took an English public speaking course. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that FLE was the single significant predictor of L2 WTC and public speaking performance. Participants' responses revealed a range of major categories underlying classroom episodes when they felt most enjoyable, most anxious, and most willing to communicate. Implications for future research and pedagogical practice are finally addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language class has been shown to be transient and situation-dependent. Previous studies mostly elicited data from learners' self-reports through interviews or diaries, and the data analyses were largely confined to the medium of language, marginalizing other semiotic resources such as gesture or movement. The nature of human communication, however, is multimodal, which entails the processing of different semiotic resources. Drawing on a systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis approach, this study investigates the dynamics of WTC in the English as a foreign language classroom in China. The researchers collected data through videotaping English lessons, stimulated recall interviews, and learning journals. Their analyses involved two teaching scenarios videotaped in one class period, which were rated respectively with high WTC and low WTC by four participating students in stimulated recall interviews. These scenarios were transcribed and annotated using Multimodal Analysis Video software to identify the use of semiotic resources, including language, gesture, and gaze. The discourse semantic features of the two scenarios were analyzed and compared, and subtle differences were presented and discussed. This study's findings highlight the need for language teachers to recognize and orchestrate multimodal semiotic resources to enhance students' WTC and classroom participation.

This study explores changes in willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) inside multilingual classrooms among short-term exchange students. Data were collected from eight Chinese exchange students studying in three universities in Canada and two instructors teaching in one of these universities through in-depth interviews. Qualitative content analysis was conducted and three patterns of WTC changes were found: positive, negative, and no apparent changes. Three main factors underlying these changes were identified, which include students' perceptions of values in speaking up, sense of fitting in, and classroom environment. The two instructors from the host university provided positive comments and supportive suggestions regarding international students' L2 WTC and oral participation in multilingual classrooms. This study highlights the importance of sustaining short-term exchange students' L2 WTC through concerted efforts from students and teachers for maximizing the effectiveness of study abroad programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the interrelationships between the three components of second language (L2) motivational self system (i.e., ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience), international posture, L2 anxiety, and willingness to communicate (WTC) using structural equation modeling. Questionnaire data were collected from 1,013 university students in China. The results showed that ideal L2 self was predicted by learning experience, ought-to L2 self, and international posture. Ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self exerted, respectively, a negative and positive effect on L2 anxiety. L2 WTC was found to encompass two distinct factors: WTC inside and outside the classroom. The former was predicted by L2 anxiety, learning experience, and international posture, whereas the latter had international posture as its only direct predictor. This model marks the first step toward drawing on L2 motivational self system to account for foreign language learners' communication intention from the perspective of an imagined global community.

This article reports on a multiple-case study designed to investigate factors influencing willingness to communicate (WTC) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in China. Four university students participated in this study; data were collected through semi-structured interviews, learning journals recorded by the students, and classroom observations over seven months. The data were qualitatively content analyzed. Utilizing [1] and [2] nested ecosystems model as an analytical framework, this study identified six factors underlying classroom WTC in the microsystem: learner beliefs, motivation, cognitive factors, linguistic factors, affective factors, and classroom environment. The existence of the meso-, exo-, and macrosystem, and their effect on classroom WTC, were also suggested in the data. The findings contributed empirical evidence to an ecological understanding of Chinese EFL students' WTC in their language classrooms, which is socioculturally constructed as a function of the interaction of individual and environmental factors. (Contains 4 tables.)

Drawing on an ecological perspective, this paper reports on an investigation into the changes in one first-year college student's beliefs about English teaching and learning since his enrollment. These changes in beliefs are part of the empirical findings of a multiple-case study conducted in the Chinese EFL context. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and learning journals were used to collect data over a period of seven months. Qualitative content analysis with the assistance of the NVivo software was applied to data analysis. The findings revealed substantive changes in this participant's belief systems, mediated by classroom affordances across different situations. This inquiry emphasizes that learners' transition from high school to tertiary study is a critical period, during which their beliefs about second language learning are subject to contextual mediation. The in-depth findings of this inquiry indicate the potential for adopting an ecological theoretical framework to explore the emergent, dynamic, and context-responsive nature of learner beliefs. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

This study involves a large-scale investigation of willingness to communicate (WTC) in Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. A hypothesized model integrating WTC in English, communication confidence, motivation, learner beliefs, and classroom environment was tested using structural equation modeling. Validation of the measurements involved exploratory factor analyses on the dataset collected in a pilot study and confirmatory factor analyses in the main study. The results show that classroom environment predicts WTC, communication confidence, learner beliefs, and motivation. Motivation influences WTC indirectly through confidence. The direct effect of learner beliefs on motivation and confidence is identified. The model provides an adequate fit to the data, indicating the potential to draw on individual and contextual variables to account for classroom communication.

Abstract This article first discusses some key features and analytic aspects of conversation analysis (CA). Then the employment of CA of an authentic conversation text recorded and transcribed by the [...]