Advances in technology over the last few decades have led to significant changes in the way we communicate. Technological innovation has been one of the reasons for the development of computer-mediated communication (CMC), which has had far-reaching implications in the private and professional lives of many people. Instant messaging (IM), which is one form of computer-mediated communication, has significantly gained popularity over the years and many scholars have examined its influence in areas including business and academics. Initially developed to enhance communication between users who understood the same language, some IM clients including Wechat (www.wechat.com), QQ International (www.imqq.com), and Skype Translator (www.skype.com) have integrated a built-in translation application that facilitates communication among users that speak different languages. The current research project explores the relationship between machine translation, IM, and foreign language (FL) learning. In particular, it investigates whether machine-translated IM could improve the willingness to communicate (WTC) of beginner FL learners and whether the IM translation tool offers learners opportunities to communicate (OTC) in the FL. To answer these questions, China-based beginner FL learners were recruited and paired with native and near-native English speakers based in Canada. China-based participants completed two questionnaires and also exchanged (machine-translated) IM on selected topics with Canada-based participants for a period of ten weeks. Some China-based participants communicated with the help of the IM translation tool, while the others communicated without the tool. After analyzing the data gathered during the study, we found that WTC increased more for participants with the IM translation tool than for participants without the IM translation tool. Our analysis also indicated that the IM translation tool offered participants OTC in English. This was illustrated in various conversation aspects including number of words and turns exchanged, synchronous exchanges, ownership, conversation enhancement, topics discussed, tasks undertaken, and requests for paraphrase, repetition and explanation. In the discussion of the implications of our findings, we outline how the research project reinforced our understanding of the concept of WTC in a technology driven FL learning environment. We also discuss the implications of our findings for machine translation (MT), FL, and translation studies. Our discussion focuses on the debate on the tools to use and content to teach in the translator and FL training environments as well as various concepts in translation studies including MT quality, writing for MT, fit-for-purpose MT, collaboration and MT post-editing. This project enables us to test the applicability of MT in a different context using a novel group of users. The project therefore contributes to ongoing research on the relationship between CMC (specifically IM), MT, and FL learning, as well as to our knowledge of applications and perceptions of MT.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate pupils’ attitudes towards spoken English and towards speaking in front of their friends, and how these attitudes appear to be related to their oral communication and communicative behaviour in the classroom. The material was collected by video taping two classes, a questionnaire in these two classes and by interviewing their teacher. The results show that motivation and anxiety are psychological factors that play a significant role in the learning process. Attitudes, both towards the target language and towards their own production affect pupils’ willingness to communicate, and consequently their oral production in different tasks. The larger the group is, the more anxious they become. In order to motivate pupils, a variety of exercises is needed, where the topic is of great importance to awaken their interest for communication. The teacher also needs to circulate in the classroom to avoid a situation where pupils switch to their first language. Otherwise, pupils appear to code-switch as soon as an opportunity presents itself, which was observed in the analyses of recorded lessons.

The purpose of this study was to deepen the knowledge about factors that influence students’ willingness and ability to oral interaction in a target language, in this case French. It also aimed to achieve a clearer picture of the tasks the students work with and would like to work with in classroom situations. The study was based on two theoretical frameworks, Willingness to Communicate, which looks into the social and affective factors enhancing the will to communicate, and Task Based Language Teaching investigating how tasks can be designed to promote oral interaction between students in a classroom or in a digital environment. Based on the purpose of the study three research questions were formulated. The first question was about the importance of cognitive factors to promote oral interaction. The second focused on the role Willingness to Communicate and other affective factors play to make students willing to communicate in the target language. The third question aimed at investigating to what extent task-based language teaching occurs in teaching to create opportunities for students to interact in the target language. The design of the study was made up of qualitative personal interviews with students from upper secondary schools in the Stockholm area. In total seven students were interviewed, six of them studying French 4, one of them French 3.  All students highlighted cognitive and linguistic factors as being the most important to interact orally, foremost vocabulary and pronunciation and also the ability to express themselves orally. The students did not consider grammar as an important factor to their willingness and ability to communicate in French. Self-confidence, self-efficacy and the teacher’s attitude are the most important social and affective factors influencing the willingness to communicate. The ones that were considered the least important were anxiety, knowing your speaking partner and the topic of the conversation. The students’ opinion of the least important factors differed from research and empirical studies, which rate these factors higher. The students reported that the teaching did not include Task Based Language Teaching as defined in the theory and that limited use of computer mediated communication was used in the classroom. All students express a desire to communicate and interact with each other more than they do at present as well as to work with tasks and tools both face-to-face and digital enabling this to happen.

This study sought eight grade students’ experiences of verbal production in the English classroom. From the perspectives of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and willingness to communicate (WTC), what are the students' experiences of verbal production, in what situations are students willing to communicate and in what situations are they not? A quantitative study was conducted using a self-report paper questionnaire, consisting of Nilsson’s (2019) modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) in conjunction with open-ended questions. The result indicates that verbal production causes a high level of foreign language anxiety, and that the students' willingness to communicate increases and decreases depending on stable and situational variables that influence a student's willingness to use their L2. The findings of this study are beneficial to English teachers by raising awareness of FLA and WTC and their presence in our classrooms. The greatest beneficiary of this study is L2 language teachers, who will be inspired to create a classroom environment where the students seek opportunities to engage in verbal production.

This study examined the possible causes of language anxiety among three upper secondary school students Sweden. In addition, the study explored the strategies used by said students’ English teachers to decrease language anxiety in their students. The data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content analysis. The analysis showed that the main causes of language anxiety were four significant factors: communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and classroom environment. In particular, the study showed that all the students felt more anxious when they were uncomfortable with their surroundings and when they felt under pressure to perform. Negative evaluation from other students affected their confidence level, which was another crucial cause of anxiety. All the students expressed that the teacher's approach had a significant effect on their anxiety level, and all the teachers claimed to adapt their English-speaking activities to each student’s needs. A general conclusion is that the students’ anxiety varies depending on the English-speaking activity and their teacher’s approach, which was acknowledged by the teacher.

This study aims at exploring (1) the circumstances under which some Swedish learners of English are likely to participate in conversations in the target language, and (2) how teachers in upper secondary school might increase these students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in English during lessons. Five students retaking the mandatory first course of English in Swedish upper secondary school volunteered for the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results of the study showed that learners perceive the learning environment to be a ma jor factor affecting their WTC. Moreover, it was concluded that being able to convey a message is important for the students, and that uncertainty about whether or not they will be able to do so strongly affects their WTC. The results also showed that their WTC is strongly connected to their listening comprehension. In light of the reported beliefs and perceptions of the learners, it is suggested that students can be trained for strategies to use when they encounter problems in vocabulary retrieval as well as listening comprehension. Repeating exercises to make the learners feel safe has also been a suggestion.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore what underlying factors play into students´ motivation towards participating in verbal communication in the classroom. The first aim is to find out what the students themselves express and believe motivates them to learn spoken English, and the second aim is to find out what the students feel hinders them from engaging in verbal communication in the classroom. This qualitative study is based on questionnaires followed by group interviews with students who were selected as a result of the survey. The study was carried out at an upper secondary school in southern Sweden in the courses English A and B. The results show that the students are motivated both by the relevance of English for their future studies and professions as well as the will to identify with English speaking cultures, thus showing a combination of instrumental and integrative motivation. The students also express elements such as speaking anxiety and group size to be a hindrance in their language learning. In addition, several points were made regarding how the teacher might help the students participate more in oral communication through for example arranging smaller groups, only allowing English and having more speaking exercises in class.

Att som elev delta muntligt i engelskundervisningen kan vara spännande för många elever men för en del elever uppstår talängslan. Talängslan innebär att man vid specifika situationer upplever ångest för att tala. Den här studien har genomförts utifrån intresset att undersöka huruvida lärare ser några negativa följder för elevers kommunikativa förmåga i engelska till följd av talängslan. Vidare har även läraresstöttning och motivation för att elever ska våga tala engelska i klassrummet undersökts. Studien är genomförd utifrån ett lärarperspektiv genom metodtriangulering där webbenkäter och semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts. All insamlad empiri har koncentrerats, kategoriserats och tolkats utifrån en induktiv ansats samt teorin WTC och det sociokulturella perspektivet. Informanterna i denna studie var 25 lärare med behörighet att undervisa engelska i årskurs 1–3 samt fyra undervisande lärare i engelska, utan behörighet. Resultatet visar att talängslan riskerar att påverka elevers kommunikativa förmåga i engelskundervisningen, bland annat genom att elever som saknar en god relation till sin lärare saknar grundtryggheten för att våga tala engelska i klassrummet och väljer att förbli tyst. Resultatet visar att lärarna i studien stöttar och motiverar sina elever genom att elevernas intressen tas tillvara, genom bland annat spel och lekar samt positiv förstärkning. / Learning to speak English can be exciting for many pupils, but it can cause language anxiety for others. Language anxiety refers to the fear of speaking in certain situations. This study was conducted to determine whether teachers see any negative consequences for their pupils’ communicative ability in English because of language anxiety. The study also investigated how the teachers motivate and support their pupils to speak English in the classroom. This study is based on a teacher’s perspective with method triangulation where web surveys and semi-structured interviews were used. All collected data was compiled, classified, and interpreted based on an inductive approach, as well as the WTC theory and the socio-cultural perspective. The informants in this study were 25 teachers with authorization to teach English in grades 1–3 and four teachers without authoraization. Language anxiety is at risk of affecting pupils’ communicative ability in English, according to the findings, because those pupils who do not have a good relationship with their teacher lack the basic confidence speak English in the classroom and therefor choose to remain silent. The teachers in this study believe they have the right tools to push and motivate their pupils. This study discovered that teachers who use pupils’ interests, positive and reasonably high expectations, positive reinforcement, and a playful approach to teaching can help pupils with language anxiety.

The primary purpose of study is to identify predictors of willingness to communicate (WTC) and of actual frequency of English communication at work inside and outside the foreign language classroom among 439 university students (male = 226, female = 213) learning English in Japan. Based on Wen and Clément’s (2003) theory of L2 WTC, I replicated Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) structural path model using the variables of state L2 communicative confidence, L2 learning motivation, positive classroom climate, L2 WTC, with the newly added variable of actual speaking frequency. A hypothesized structural model was examined in two contexts, WTC inside the classroom and WTC outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, communicative confidence was the predictor of L2 WTC. L2 WTC and L2 learning motivation were predictors of actual frequency of L2 communication. Positive classroom climate was a mediating variable that indirectly predicted L2 WTC through state L2 communicative confidence and task motivation. In contrast, outside the classroom, state L2 communicative confidence, L2 learning motivation, and positive classroom climate were the predictors of L2 WTC. State L2 communicative confidence, task motivation, and positive classroom climate were the predictors of actual frequency of L2 communication. The results supported Wen and Clément’s (2003) model and Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) study. Second, Dӧrnyei and Kormos’ (2000) study was replicated to investigate a significant difference for the four types of the students’ speaking behavior between pretest and posttest. A repeated-measures ANOVA was performed for English turns, Japanese turns, English words, and interjections with 13 students (male = 8 and female = 5) aged 18-19. The 13 participants were part of those who completed the first questionnaire. There were no significant differences for the four dependent variables. Finally, a qualitative content analysis was performed using transcribed interview data with nine university students (6 male and 3 female students), who completed the first questionnaire. Ten variables emerged from the interviews. Four variables—teacher support, group cohesiveness, L2 learning motivation, and perceived communicative competence—supported both quantitative (Peng & Woodrow, 2010) and qualitative studies (Cao, 2011; Peng, 2007, 2012). Four additional variables—security of speaking, interlocutors, small group, and topic familiarity—supported qualitative studies by Cao (2011) and Kang (2005). The other two variables—point system and tests—were new variables identified in this study. Positive classroom climate and task motivation (Dӧrnyei & Kormos, 2000) were key variables influencing state L2 communicative confidence, L2 WTC, and L2 Use. As a result, I propose that task motivation and positive classroom climate should be added into MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) L2 WTC model. / Teaching & Learning

In this study I investigated foreign language learners' Willingness to Communicate, frequency of L2 communication, and eight individual difference variables hypothesized to influence them: L2 learning anxiety, L2 learning motivation, integrativeness, international posture, ought-to L2 self, ideal L2 self, L2 linguistic self-confidence, and valuing of global English. Based on the concept of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986), Dörnyei (2005) proposed the concept of the ideal L2 self: an idealized self-image involving future linguistic proficiency and professional success through mastery of an L2. In this study, Dörnyei's (2005) hypothesis that Willingness to Communicate is primarily determined by linguistic self-confidence and the ideal L2 self is tested using a structural equation model. A second purpose of this study, tested by comparing alternative structural equation models, was to confirm whether students' self-reported Willingness to Communicate best predicts foreign language use in the classroom. In addition, gender differences in L2 WTC and the ideal L2 self, and the effects of visualization and goal-setting activities on the enhancement of Willingness to Communicate were investigated using multivariate statistical techniques. A total of 662 Japanese university students participated in the study, 373 as core participants and 289 for cross validation. A model was hypothesized based on the WTC model (MacIntyre, 1994), the socioeducational model (Gardner, 1985), and the concept of the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005), and tested using questionnaire data collected at the beginning of the university semester. The hypothesized model showed marginal fit to the data (CFI = .902, RMSEA = .081). The path from ideal L2 self to L2 WTC, tested for the first time in this study, was the most substantial predictor of L2 WTC in the model with a path weight of .51. It was also confirmed that self-reported estimates of WTC directly predicted observed L2 use in the classroom, while Motivation and Ideal L2 Self did not. A model specifying a direct path from WTC to L2 Use and indirect paths via WTC for Motivation and Ideal L2 Self showed good fit to the data (CFI = .962; RMSEA = .083). Regarding gender differences, female participants scored higher than males in both L2 WTC and Ideal L2 Self. Concerning whether L2 WTC can be enhanced by classroom tasks such as visualization and goal-setting, the results suggested that the visualization treatment alone was not effective in enhancing learners' L2 WTC over the non-treatment group. The increase in learners' L2 WTC was significantly greater for the When visualization and goal-setting group compared with the visualization group and the non-treatment group. The first implication of this study is that considering the strong impact of ideal L2 self on L2 WTC, there is significant potential for enhancing L2 WTC by applying motivational strategies that enhance or develop second language learners' ideal L2 self. Second, considering the importance of L2 output for developing communicative proficiency, the finding that self-reported L2 WTC predicted actual L2 use in the classroom lends additional credence to such motivational approaches. That finding also supports the validity of other studies that have relied on self-report for measures of L2 WTC. A third implication is that because females generally exhibited higher measures for L2 WTC and Ideal L2 Self, gender diversity is preferable to promote active classroom communication. Finally, for researchers and practitioners interested in designing activities to enhance learners' L2 WTC, connecting the proximal goals in the class to future distal goals (Miller & Brickman, 2004) could be an important aspect for the success of the activities). / Teaching & Learning