A Study On Chinese English Leanrers’Willingness To Communicate In L1and L2

With more and more emphasis given to the role of interaction in the languagelearning/teaching process, the notion of willingness to communicate (WTC) hasbecome a crucial factor in L1/L2learning and communication. Relevant studies athome and abroad mainly cover two aspects: theoretical studies and empirical studies.The former focuses on the definitions, related models and measuring instruments ofWTC, while the latter touches upon such topics as potential factors affecting both L1WTC and L2WTC. Although there is a growing number of WTC studies nowadays,most of them focus on L1and L2WTC respectively, and few try to explore the twotogether.This study attempts to carry out a study about Chinese English learners’L1and L2WTC, with special attention to the correlation of personality traits and their L1WTC/L2WTC. In addition, the relationship between their L2language proficiency and L2WTC is also investigated. The study attempts to touch upon the following topics byemploying quantitative and qualitative methods:(1) The characteristics of ChineseEnglish learners’ L1WTC;(2) The characteristics of Chinese English learners’ L2WTC;(3) The similarities/differences of Chinese English learners’ L1and L2WTC, and therelationship between the two.Participants in the current study are284non-English major freshmen in auniversity in Jiangsu Province. Their willingness to communicate was measured by aquestionnaire adapted from the scale worked out by MacIntyre, Baker, Clement andConrod (2001). A revised personality scale based on the theory of Costa and McCrae’sFive Factor Model (1992) was used to test their personality traits. Their CET-4scoreswere referred to identify their current English proficiency (L2proficiency). Fourparticipants took the in-depth interview.Findings of this study are:(1) Chinese English learners’ L1WTC in input is higherthan that in output. As the most evident personality trait in Chinese English learners,agreeableness has the strongest correlation with their L1WTC, while neuroticism has the weakest correlation with their L1WTC.(2) Chinese English learners’ L2WTC ininput is higher than that in output. Among the five personality traits, openness toexperience has the strongest correlation with their L2WTC, while neuroticism has theweakest correlation with their L2WTC. The relationship between learners’ L2proficiency and their L2WTC is significantly positive but rather weak.(3) Thesimilarities between L1and L2WTC: Chinese English learners’ WTC in input is higherthan that in output; their WTC in speaking is higher than that in writing; the correlationbetween four personality traits (except neuroticism) and Chinese English learners’L1/L2WTC is significantly positive, while neuroticism has insignificant correlationwith their L1/L2WTC; apart from agreeableness in L1and openness to experience inL2, the correlation between extroversion and their L1/L2WTC is relatively higher thanthat between the other three traits and their L1/L2WTC. As for the differences betweenthe two, Chinese English learners’ L1WTC in reading is a bit higher than that inlistening whereas their L2WTC in listening is a bit higher than that in reading;agreeableness has the strongest correlation with their L1WTC, while openness toexperience has the strongest correlation with their L2WTC. As for the relationshipbetween the two, significant and positive correlation exists between Chinese Englishlearners’L1and L2WTC, and their L1WTC is significantly higher than their L2WTC.