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Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2) is crucial to the development of communicative speaking skills. This study is a cross-sectional investigation of the role in models of second language (L2) willingness to communicate of three personality variables hitherto underresearched in the L2 field: extroversion, ego permeability (one's capacity to tolerate ambiguity), and perceived distance from one's core persona. A sample of 252 Japanese university students responded to a set of instruments used to measure individual difference variables and personality variables; the instruments were drawn from the fields of L2 acquisition and psychology as well as a 5-item instrument designed to measure perceived distance in a series of participatory L2 speaking activities. Confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch analysis, and structural equation modeling were utilized to validate the respective instruments. The International Posture instrument was best represented by a two-factor configuration consisting of Intergroup Approach-Avoidance Tendency and Intercultural Friendship Orientation, while the L2 Communicative Confidence was altered to consist of three factors (L2 Anxiety, Perceived L2 Communicative Competence, and Extroversion). The hypothesized additions of Ego Permeability and Perceived Distance failed to improve the measurement models, and the original Ego Permeability variable functioned poorly in this context. The MacIntyre and Charos (1996) model had marginal fit to the data even after undergoing considerable respecification. The models of Yashima (2002) and Yashima, Zenuk-Nishide, and Shimizu (2004) were found to have good fit as originally conceptualized, but the addition of Extroversion and paths from International Posture and L2 Communicative Anxiety improved the fit of both models. Collectively, the results indicate that extroversion plays an important role in models of L2 WTC and that the basic models of Yashima and colleagues are robust. These findings provide crucial insights into the process of L2 WTC, an important factor in the students' acquisition of communicative competence. / CITE/Language Arts

The purposes of this study were to validate the writing section of the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires used in this study and the second purpose was to determine the effects of ten affective orientations (i.e., Desire to Write English, Attitude Toward Learning to Write English, Motivational Intensity, Instrumental Orientation for Writing in English, L2 Writing Anxiety, L2 Writing Self-Confidence, Willingness to Communicate in L2 Writing, Self-Esteem, Cognitive Competence, and General Self-Worth), on the participants’ responses to the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires. This purpose is valuable because little is known about the relationship between Can-Do Questionnaire and affective variables investigated in this study. The final purpose of this study was to develop Can-Do Questionnaires as an internal measure for a university writing class. The participants of this study were 204 university students studying in two private universities in Tokyo, Japan. The first instrument was the writing section of the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaire; this questionnaire served as the outside measure in this study. The second, six out of nine essays written by the students were assessed as a measure of their writing ability in English. The Affective Orientation Questionnaire was administered to measure ten Affective Orientations. The questionnaire and essay data were analyzed using the Rasch rating scale. All of the participants completed the Background Questionnaire and Affective Orientation Questionnaire in April 2010 and 2011 and completed the writing section of the Eiken Can-do Questionnaire in April, July, and December 2010 and 2011. six writing assignments were produced by 179 out of the 204 participants wrote during the 2010 and 2011 academic year, and the relationships among the variables were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicated that the use of the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires as the proficiency level measure was appropriate for this group of university students. The Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires were predictors of Motivation and L2 Self-Confidence. Motivation was a predictor of WTC in L2 Writing. Therefore, it should be noted that the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires had an indirect effect with WTC in L2 Writing. The result implies that through having Eiken Can-Do questionnaires and Classroom Can-do Questionnaires to achieve their future goals, their English classes and their future learning objectives were connected.　 It is necessary to provide students with adequate practice and guidance in using the Eiken Can-Do Questionnaires in order to promote a deeper understanding of their purposes and uses. / Teaching & Learning

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Social determinants of health are associated with a variety of negative health outcomes, including COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. However, most research evaluating this relationship have been case studies, retrospective cohort studies, and case series studies and/or have used use analytic techniques, such as linear regression, that can struggle to adequately model the social determinants' complex nature. This study used United States county-level social determinants of health data and March 2020-December 2020 COVID-19 morbidity and mortality data. Structural equation modeling was used to develop a latent measurement model for the social determinants of health. Substantial cross-loadings among the social determinants of health precluded the estimation of the originally proposed measurement model. However, a more parsimonious model was estimated, with adequate factor loadings and model fit statistics. A multi-level, two-part structural equation model further validated the relationship between social determinants of health and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. The model's predictive performance was moderate to strong, which validates and extends previous research using structural equation modeling to evaluate the relationship between social determinants of health and COVID-19 morbidity. The study adds to the theoretical and empirical foundation supporting the use of structural equation modeling to study the social determinants of health.