This study was an investigation of the relationships among willingness to communicate, two motivational variables (intrinsic goal orientation and self-efficacy), three self-regulated learning strategies (metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies, effort regulation strategies and peer learning strategies), and measures of English speaking and listening proficiency. The study primarily drew on the concept of self-regulation derived from educational psychology. A sample of 279 English majors studying at a private university in eastern Japan participated in this study. Data from a Japanese version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and scores of an in-house proficiency test designed to measure speaking and listening skills were collected. Factor analysis and Rasch analysis were conducted to develop a reliable shortened Japanese version of the MSLQ. Multiple one-way ANOVAs indicated that students with higher speaking and listening abilities as measured by an in-house proficiency test, tended to use more metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies and effort regulation strategies compared with those with intermediate and lower speaking and listening proficiency. There were no statistically significant differences in peer learning strategies for speaking and peer learning strategies for listening. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized speaking and listening models of the relationships among willingness to communicate, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy, metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies, effort regulation strategies, peer learning strategies, and English speaking and listening proficiency. Modified models indicated that intrinsic goal orientation and self-efficacy influenced effort regulation strategies, which in turn predicted peer Learning strategies and metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies. It was also found that peer learning strategies influenced metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies. Finally, metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies as well as willingness to communicate predicted speaking skills, but listening skills were only predicted by metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies. Thus, the results illuminated the complex interrelationships among willingness to communicate, self-efficacy, intrinsic goal orientation, effort regulation strategies, and metacognitive during-task self-regulation strategies in predicting speaking and listening skills. Follow-up interviews with a focus group of students revealed that classroom teaching was mainly focused on speaking tasks that required proactive learning behaviors and effort and that listening tasks occupied only part of the class and that usually comprehension of main points served their purposes. The information helps explain why the speaking model had stronger interrelationships among willingness to communicate, motivational variables, self-regulation strategies, and the proficiency variable. / Educational Psychology

Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka vilka faktorer som orsakar talängslan i engelska enligt sex mellanstadielärare från tre olika kommuner, samt vilka strategier de använder för att stödja elever som inte vågar att uttrycka sig på engelska vid kommunikativa tillfällen i klassen.  I intervjuer med de deltagande lärarna visade det sig att de är medvetna om olika faktorer som bidrar till talängslan i engelskämnet, såsom klassrumsklimatet, gruppdynamiken, elevernas personligheter och relationen lärare-elev. De deltagande lärarna använder sinsemellan likartade strategier för att stödja eleverna, som att skapa ett tryggt klassrumsklimat, ge eleverna chans att förbereda sig innan presentationer, inkludera olika roliga lekar och talaktiviteter, ge gradvis träning i små grupper med fokus på tryggt kamratskap i början, samt att vara en stödjande och uppmuntrande lärare.

Depuis l’avènement de l’approche communicative, puis actionnelle, en enseignement des langues secondes (L2), des chercheurs comme Ellis (2003) ont relevé les différences individuelles entre apprenants, notamment concernant le désir de communiquer (DDC), défini comme « une disposition à entrer dans un discours à un moment spécifique avec une ou des personnes spécifiques, en utilisant la L2 » (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p. 547). Il a ainsi été suggéré de faire du développement du DDC de plus en plus une priorité en enseignement des L2. À cet égard, la recherche indique que la communication assistée par ordinateur peut permettre d’augmenter le DDC (Rankin et al., 2006; Gonzalez-Lloret, 2017), en influençant l’anxiété langagière et le sentiment de compétence communicative perçu (SCCP), qui sont les deux antécédents directs du DDC. L’émergence récente de la réalité virtuelle 360 (RV360), qui peut être définie comme un environnement immersif s’appuyant sur des photos ou vidéos reproduisant le monde réel et fournissant à l’utilisateur un fort sentiment de présence, ouvre un nouveau champ d’expérimentation en DdL. Nous proposons que la RV360 permettrait aux apprenants de L2 de prendre part à des simulations quasi authentiques diminuant leur anxiété et augmentant leur SCCP, améliorant ainsi leur DDC à l’extérieur de la salle de classe. Pour répondre à notre questionnement, nous avons créé puis mis en place trois courtes tâches de simulation RV360 présentant des situations communicatives similaires à celles de la vie quotidienne des apprenants, comme payer son épicerie en français. Ces tâches sont ancrées dans la réalité sociolinguistique de l’environnement d’apprentissage : dans cette étude, Montréal, une métropole bilingue français-anglais ayant une variété régionale de français distincte. Les 19 participants à cette recherche exploratoire sont des étudiants universitaires internationaux de FLS au niveau débutant. Une méthodologie mixte (prétest et posttest quantitatifs, journaux de bord et entrevues de groupe semi-dirigées) a été adoptée pour suivre l’évolution de leur SCCP, anxiété langagière et DDC, ainsi que pour cerner leurs défis quant à la pratique du français à Montréal et leur perception des tâches RV360 en tant qu’outil d’apprentissage préparant à la communication authentique en L2. L’analyse des données indique que les défis à la communication en FLS dans le monde réel proviennent principalement d’une perception négative de son vocabulaire et de sa prononciation, combinée à l’anxiété liée à l’anticipation de ruptures de communication avec des locuteurs francophones. Face à cet écueil, les participants estiment globalement que les tâches RV360 sont un bon outil pour créer un pont entre la salle de classe et le monde réel et ainsi préparer aux interactions en L2 dans le monde réel, même si leur faible degré de difficulté et leur manque de flexibilité nuisent à leur authenticité. Les tâches RV360 ont ainsi contribué positivement (mais à degré variable selon les apprenants) à l’amélioration du DDC, principalement via le renforcement du SCCP. La discussion des résultats fournit un nouvel éclairage sur les bonnes pratiques d’enseignement et sur l’élaboration de séquences didactiques intégrant la RV360 pour favoriser le DDC au niveau débutant. Ces séquences devraient en priorité intégrer l’enseignement stratégique et mettre l’accent sur la complexification progressive des tâches et la rétroaction, tout en doublant la réalisation des tâches RV360 d’une interaction humain-humain. / Since communicative approach and task-based language teaching have placed communication at the centre of second language (L2), researchers such as Ellis (2003) have underlined the importance of individual differences between L2 learners, regarding their willingness to communicate (WTC), which is defined as "readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person using the L2" (MacIntyre et al., 1998, p. 547). These researchers have suggested that the development of L2 WTC be made a priority of L2 teaching. In this respect, the literature shows that computer-mediated communication has a positive effect on increasing L2 learners' WTC (Rankin et al., 2006; Gonzalez-Lloret, 2017), by lowering language anxiety and increasing self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC), which are the two main antecedents of L2 WTC. One avenue for research that has not received much attention is the pedagogical use of 360 virtual reality (VR360), a promising medium for teachers hoping to increase their L2 students' WTC. VR360 can be defined as an immersive digital environment relying on 360 photos/videos from the real world and providing the user with a strong feeling of presence in “real life” situations. We propose that VR360 has the potential to provide learners with semi authentic simulations designed to lower their anxiety and increase their SPCC, leading to increased WTC. To assess this potential, we designed and implemented three short communicative VR360 tasks presenting learners with communicative situations similar to the ones they could encounter in their daily life, such as paying for groceries using L2 French. The tasks are anchored in the reality of the learning environment: in this case, Montreal, a French-English bilingual metropolis with a distinct regional variety of French. The 19 participants to this exploratory study are international university students learning L2 French at a beginner level. Mixed methodology (quantitative pre/post tests, reflective journals and semi-structured focus groups) was used to measure and probe their level of SPCC, anxiety and WTC, and to shed light on the challenges they face while trying to interact in French in Montreal and their perception of the RV360 tasks as a learning tool preparing for real-life L2 use. The data analysis indicates that the challenges to communication in L2 French in the real world mainly come from a negative perception of one’s vocabulary and pronunciation, combined with anxiety due to the anticipation of breakdowns in communication with native French speakers. Faced with this pitfall, participants generally argued that RV360 tasks are a good learning tool to bridge the classroom and the real world and thus prepare them for L2 interaction in the real world, even if the low level of difficulty and the lack of flexibility limit task authenticity. The RV360 tasks thus contributed positively (albeit to varying degrees among learners) to the improvement of their WTC, mainly via the strengthening of their SCCP. The discussion provides new insights into good teaching practices and the development of learning scenarios incorporating the RV360 to promote WTC at a beginner level. These scenarios should focus on strategic instruction, task complexity and feedback, while relying on a human-human interaction in addition to the completion of the RV360 tasks.

This study aims to expand on the existing knowledge of Swedish upper-secondary students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English and provide insight into how motivational strategies are used in some Swedish English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classrooms by the teachers. To gather data, four teachers were interviewed, and three of them observed in class, and 67 students answered a questionnaire. The majority of the teachers perceived their students’ WTC in the English classroom as low, and the students reported their WTC as low but also expressed some desire to improve it. In the classroom, the observed teachers showed nothing of what they claimed in the interviews to be doing to motivate their students to speak English in the classroom. The participating students suggested more speaking activities and opportunities to improve their WTC, as well as the teacher putting more pressure on them to speak English in the classroom.

Previous studies that have utilized the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) have performed their studies with the assumption that Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety is negatively correlated with oral skills, i.e. as anxiety increases, speaking skills decrease. In order to confirm this assumption, this study included a survey, the purpose of which is to measure three factors, in order to verify the possibility of other factors playing possibly bigger roles, among upper secondary school students in Sweden: the frequency of language use, their anxiety levels, and foreign language speaking skills. In order to be able to discuss the data thoroughly, this study includes theories regarding motivation, Self-Determination Theory, and Willingness to Communicate (WTC). The data showed that as the anxiety of the students increased, their language speaking skills decreased, i.e. a negative correlation was discovered. However, their frequency of foreign language use remained virtually the same, regardless of their anxiety levels, i.e. no strong correlation was discovered here. Lastly, the language skills of the students showed a weak positive correlation with their language use, i.e. the more they spoke, the higher their oral skills were. Therefore, the results of this study confirm previous studies claiming that foreign language speaking competence has a strong negative correlation with foreign language speaking anxiety.

El propósito de este trabajo ha sido investigar cómo se correlaciona el deseo de comunicarse con tres factores afectivos: la motivación, la ansiedad lingüística y la actitud hacia la lengua meta. Para indagar lo mencionado, en el objetivo se ha tomado como punto de partida las siguientes preguntas: ¿cómo se correlaciona la motivación con el deseo de comunicarse en español como lengua extranjera?, ¿de qué manera se correlaciona la ansiedad lingüística con el deseo de comunicarse en español como lengua extranjera? y finalmente, ¿cómo se correlaciona la actitud hacia el español con el deseo de comunicarse en español como lengua extranjera? Nuestra hipótesis a la primera pregunta es que creemos que una alta motivación se correlaciona positivamente con un alto deseo de comunicarse. Un bajo deseo de comunicarse estará correlacionado, a su vez, con una baja motivación. La segunda hipótesis es que creemos que una alta ansiedad lingüística se correlaciona con un bajo deseo de comunicarse. Una baja ansiedad lingüística se correlaciona, a su vez, con un alto deseo de comunicarse. La tercera y última hipótesis plantea que creemos que una actitud positiva hacia el español (un valor alto) se correlacionará con un alto deseo de comunicarse. Una actitud negativa se correlacionará, a su vez, con un bajo deseo de comunicarse.  Hemos optado por utilizar un método cuantitativo a través de una encuesta que evalúa las percepciones de 65 alumnos que estudian español como lengua extranjera en los pasos 3, 4 y 5, lo que corresponde con las etapas A2 y B1 de acuerdo con el MCER. El cuestionario contiene, en total, 22 afirmaciones sobre las actitudes hacia el español, la motivación, el deseo de comunicarse y la ansiedad lingüística. Mediante las respuestas a las afirmaciones en la encuesta hicimos pruebas estadísticas de acuerdo con el Chi-Square para determinar posibles correlaciones. Nuestros resultados mostraron que hay una positiva y fuerte correlación entre la motivación y el deseo de comunicarse, que no hay ninguna correlación notable entre la ansiedad lingüística y el deseo de comunicarse y finalmente que hay una correlación fuerte/media entre la actitud hacia la lengua y el deseo de comunicarse. / The purpose of this work has been to investigate how the willingness to communicate correlates with three affective factors: motivation, linguistic anxiety, and the attitude towards the target language. To investigate what was mentioned in the purpose, the following questions have been posed: How is motivation correlated with the willingness to communicate in Spanish as a foreign language? In what way is linguistic anxiety correlated with the willingness to communicate in Spanish as a foreign language? And finally, how is the attitude towards Spanish correlated with the willingness to communicate in it as a foreign language?  Our hypothesis to the first question was: we believe that high motivation is positively correlated with a high willingness to communicate. A low willingness to communicate will be correlated with low motivation. The second hypothesis was: we believe that a high linguistic anxiety correlates with a low willingness to communicate. A low linguistic anxiety correlates with a high willingness to communicate. The third and last hypothesis was: we believe that a positive attitude towards Spanish correlates with a high willingness to communicate. A negative attitude will correlate with a low willingness to communicate. We have chosen to use a quantitative method through a survey that evaluates the perceptions of 65 students studying Spanish as a foreign language in the steps 3, 4 and 5 that correspond to the stages A2 and B1 according to the CEFR. The questionnaire contains, in total, 22 statements about attitudes towards Spanish, motivation, desire to communicate and language anxiety. Using the responses to the statements in the survey, we performed statistical tests according to the Chi-Square to determine possible correlations. Our results showed that there is a positive and strong correlation between motivation and the willingness to communicate, that there is no notable correlation between language anxiety and the willingness to communicate, and finally that there is a positive strong/medium correlation between attitude towards the language and the willingness to communicate.