A Dynamic System Approach to Willingness to Communicate: Developing an Idiodynamic Method to Capture Rapidly Changing Affect
TL;DR: In this article, an idiodynamic methodology for studying rapid changes in willingness to communicate (WTC) is presented, which consists of recording responses from six young adult, female speakers to second language communication tasks, their self-ratings of changes in WTC during those tasks, and reporting of their experience and attributions for fluctuations in WTC.
Abstract: Willingness to communicate (WTC) can be conceptualized as changing from moment to moment, as opportunities for second-language communication arise. In this study we present an idiodynamic methodology for studying rapid changes in WTC. The methodology consists of recording responses from six young adult, female speakers to second-language communication tasks, their self-ratings of changes in WTC during those tasks, and reporting of their experience and attributions for fluctuations in WTC. The role of stable personal characteristics of the speakers is taken into account, as are observations made by an observer during the respondents’ speech. Conceptualizing WTC as a dynamic system allows for an examination of the variation in WTC over time. The results show both consistency and variation in WTC even among a relatively homogeneous sample of speakers. Searching memory for vocabulary was identified as a key process affecting WTC, though it is argued that other factors (including language anxiety) are also operating to affect WTC. After concluding that WTC can be seen as a dynamic system, limitations of the methodology and future research directions are discussed.
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TL;DR: This article investigated Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) in the classroom and found that levels of FLE were significantly higher than those of FLCA.
Abstract: The present study investigates Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) in the classroom. Participants were 1746 current FL learners from around the world. We used a measure of FLE, based on Likert scale ratings of 21 items (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and a measure of FLCA based on 8 items extracted from the FLCAS (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Statistical analyses revealed that levels of FLE were significantly higher than those of FLCA. FLE and FLCA were linked to a number of independent variables: participants’ perception of their relative level of proficiency within the FL classroom, number of languages known, education level, number of FLs under study, age group and general level of the FL (ranging from lower-intermediate to advanced). Female participants reported both more FLE and more FLCA. Cultural background of participants also had a significant effect on their scores. Participants’ views on episodes of enjoyment in the FL class revealed the importance of teachers’ professional and emotional skills and of a supportive peer group. Many participants mentioned the moment at which they realised that their long effort in mastering an aspect of the FL paid off.
645 citations
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19 Dec 2013TL;DR: The results show that visionary teaching, visionary learning is more important than ever in the development of language teacher motivation.
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Background knowledge 3. Generating and enhancing vision in language learners 4. Revitalising language teacher motivation 5. Conclusion: visionary teaching, visionary learning.
215 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an individual-level study triangulates physiological, idiodynamic, interview, and self-report survey data of three high and three low anxiety language learners to examine their language anxiety, its triggers, and the interpretations of rapidly changing affective reactions over a short period of time.
Abstract: Language learning is an emotionally and psychologically dynamic process that is influenced by a myriad of ever-changing variables and emotional “vibes” that produce moment-by-moment fluctuations in learners' adaptation. This individual-level study triangulates physiological, idiodynamic, interview, and self-report survey data of three high and three low anxiety language learners to examine their language anxiety, its triggers, and the interpretations of rapidly changing affective reactions over a short period of time. Participants were videorecorded giving a presentation, while wearing heart monitors, in their Spanish as a Foreign Language class. Using the idiodynamic method, participants self-rated their moment-by-moment anxiety 42 times over three and a half minutes and later explained their reactions in an interview. The strong relationship observed among the various converging data sources demonstrates the strength of considering language learners on an individual level using triangulated quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study generated pedagogical implications for dealing with both positive and negative emotions, facilitating the reinterpretation of physiological cues, planning “escape routes” that allow participants to remain active in communication exchanges, and invoking the positive power of preparation, planning, and rehearsal.
208 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the rapidly changing relationship between enjoyment and anxiety in second language communication, on a moment-to-moment timescale, and found that the relationship between anxiety and enjoyment is highly dynamic, resulting in varying patterns of correlation ranging from negative to positive.
Abstract: Emotions are a fleeting experience, sometimes lasting only moments before dissipating. Prior research in SLA has either ignored emotions, underestimated their relevance, or has studied them as a relatively stable individual difference variable. In contrast, the present study takes an idiodynamic approach to examine the rapidly changing relationship between enjoyment and anxiety in second language communication, on a moment-to-moment timescale. University students who speak French as a second language were recruited to complete oral tasks in their second language. Participants then rated their per-second fluctuations in each emotion while watching a video recording of their tasks. Immediately after this, they were interviewed about their attributions for fluctuations in their ratings. We found that the relationship between enjoyment and anxiety is highly dynamic, resulting in varying patterns of correlation ranging from negative to positive. Triangulation of ratings of anxiety and enjoyment with interview data produces a richer understanding of the role of emotions in second language communication.
185 citations
Cites methods from "A Dynamic System Approach to Willin..."
...In the first published study that used the method, MacIntyre and Legatto (2011) measured willingness to communicate and found that it proceeds in a dynamic way, with within-participant ratings fluctuating from high to low several times over the course of a communication event....
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TL;DR: The authors micro-map the motivational dynamics of 4 language learners during their language lessons over a period of two weeks, using a novel instrument-the Motometer-combined with classroom observations and a questionnaire on motivation and attitude.
Abstract: Motivation as a variable in L2 development is no longer seen as the stable individual difference factor it was once believed to be: Influenced by process-oriented models and principles, and especially by the growing understanding of how complex dynamic systems work, researchers have been focusing increasingly on the dynamic and changeable nature of the motivation process. In this study we micro-map the motivational dynamics of 4 language learners during their language lessons over a period of 2 weeks, using a novel instrument-the Motometer-combined with classroom observations and a questionnaire on motivation and attitude. The article answers three current questions concerning L2 motivation: (a) Can we demonstrate variability in students' L2 motivation in class; (b) Is there a detectable stable level of students' in-class motivation; and (c), If both of these are demonstrated, can they be accounted for by the classroom context? The results affirm that student motivation can be successfully explored using a dynamic systems framework. Our findings demonstrate how motivation changes over time on an individual level, while also being characterised by predictable and stable phases, and how it is inseparable from the learner's individual learning context. The data also show that motivation can be meaningfully studied at different interacting time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
184 citations
Cites background from "A Dynamic System Approach to Willin..."
...To cite a final study that examined temporal variation and stability, this time in L2 learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC), MacIntyre and Legatto (2011) found not only variability in learners’ willingness to speak, but also a stable level, or attractor state, when the surrounding systems…...
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...(MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011, p. 169) Regarding the third of the three main features of a dynamic system—the importance of context in motivation research—advances have gone hand in hand with the more general social turn (Block, 2003) in SLA research that has characterised the past fifteen years (for…...
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References
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01 Jan 1975
3,641 citations
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...3 Extraversion (Eysenck and Eysenck 1975)....
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2,825 citations
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"A Dynamic System Approach to Willin..." refers background in this paper
...Perhaps that is why none of the participants raised an objection to the question–answer sequence of the tasks (see Sinclair and Coulthard 1975)....
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Book•
01 Jan 1975
2,002 citations