Attitudes, affect and ideal L2 self as predictors of willingness to communicate

The purpose of this study is to examine the structural relationships among variables that affect Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and frequency of communication in the L2 in Japanese university EFL classrooms: anxiety, motivation, integrativeness, international posture, ought-to L2 self, ideal L2 self (idealized L2 speaking self), L2 linguistic self-confidence, and valuing of global English. This purpose includes investigating Dörnyei’s (2005) hypothesis that the interplay of linguistic self-confidence and the ideal L2 self positively influence L2 WTC. A sample of 373 Japanese university students participated in the study. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning of the semester and a hypothesized structural equation model based on the WTC model (MacIntyre 1994), the socioeducational model (Gardner 1985), and the concept of the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei 2005), was tested. The structural relationships yielded new perspectives on learners’ WTC, particularly the finding that the ideal L2 self was a significant predictor of L2 WTC. Pedagogical implications of the research findings are discussed.