Examining the Dynamic Relationships Between Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety and Enjoyment Using the Experience Sampling Method

Khajavy, Gholam Hassan; MacIntyre, Peter D.; Taherian, Tahereh; Ross, Jessica

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_9

Gholam Hassan Khajavy⁴,
Peter D. MacIntyre⁵,
Tahereh Taherian⁶ &
…
Jessica Ross⁷

Part of the book series: Second Language Learning and Teaching ((SLLT))

1708 Accesses
15 Citations

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the dynamic relationship between willingness to communicate, foreign language anxiety, and foreign language enjoyment using experience sampling method. To this end, a total number of 38 freshman Iranian university students who were studying Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) as an academic major participated in the study. Results of the study showed significant amount of variability in all three variables over time, both within weekly sessions and from one week to another. Moreover, moving correlations among the three variables showed the correlations between WTC and enjoyment were remarkably consistent, strong, and positive, while moving correlations between WTC and anxiety, and anxiety and enjoyment were inconsistent and majority of them were negative. Finally, research and pedagogical implications were discussed in light of the findings of the study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Chapter: USD 29.95; Price excludes VAT (USA)

eBook: USD 119.00; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Softcover Book: USD 159.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Hardcover Book: USD 159.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

1.
A doubly multivariate ANOVA has more than one dependent variable measured on more than one occasion.
2.
Note that this negative correlation disappears when the moving window is expanded to include 6 data points, and that adding one more row of data changes the correlation from −0.58 to 0.54.

References

Arnold, J., & Brown, H. D. (1999). A map of the terrain. In J. Arnold (Ed.), Affect in language learning (pp. 1–24). Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar
Bernales, C. (2016). Towards a comprehensive concept of willingness to communicate: Learners’ predicted and self-reported participation in the foreign language classroom. System, 56, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.11.002.
Google Scholar
Bolger, N., & Laurenceau, J. (2013). Intensive longitudinal methods: An introduction to diary and experience sampling research. Guilford.
Google Scholar
Burgoon, J. K. (1976). The unwillingness-to-communicate: Development and validation. Communication Monographs, 43, 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637757609375916.
Google Scholar
Cao, Y. (2011). Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39, 468–479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.10.016.
Google Scholar
Cao, Y. (2014). A sociocognitive perspective on second language classroom willingness to communicate. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 789–814. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.155.
Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). In S. Lopez (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of positive psychology (pp. 394–400). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Google Scholar
Czimmermann, E., & Piniel, K. (2016). Advanced language learners’ experiences of flow in the Hungarian EFL classroom. In P. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive Psychology in SLA (pp. 193–214). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783095360-009
D’Amico, M. L. (2012). L2 fluency and willingness to communicate: The impact of short-term study abroad versus at-home study. US-China Foreign Language, 10(10), 1608–1625.
Google Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M., & Dewaele, L. (2017). The dynamic interactions in foreign language classroom anxiety and foreign language enjoyment of pupils aged 12–18. A pseudo-longitudinal investigation. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 1(1), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.22599/jesla.6
Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4, 237–274. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.5.
Google Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2016). The predictive power of multicultural personality traits, learner and teacher variables on foreign anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Paper presented at the International Conference on Language and Social Psychology, Bangkok.
Google Scholar
Dewaele, J.-M., MacIntyre, P. D., Boudreau, C., & Dewaele, L. (2016). Do girls have all the fun? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 2(1), 41–63.
Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). The psychology of the second language learner revisited. Routledge.
Google Scholar
Elahi, S. M., & Taherian, T. (2016). Dynamic emergent patterns of L2 willingness to communicate within the ecology of classroom. Konin Language Studies, 4(4), 415–438.
Google Scholar
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In P. Devine & A. Plant (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 47, pp. 1–54). Academic Press.
Google Scholar
Frenzel, A. C. (2014). Teacher emotions. In L. Linnenbrink & R. Pekrun (Eds.), Handbook of emotions in education (pp. 494–519). Routledge.
Google Scholar
Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar
Ghonsooly, B., Khajavy, G. H., & Asadpour, S. F. (2012). Willingness to communicate in English among Iranian non–English major university students. Journal of Language & Social Psychology, 31(2), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X12438538.
Google Scholar
Gregersen, T., MacIntyre, P. D., & Meza, M. D. (2014). The motion of emotion: Idiodynamic case studies of learners’ foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 574–588. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12084.
Google Scholar
Hodis, G. M., Bardhan, N. R., & Hodis, F. A. (2010). Patterns of change in willingness to communicate in public speaking contexts: A latent growth modeling analysis. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 38(3), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2010.490840.
Google Scholar
Horwitz, E. K. (2017). On the misreading of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) and the need to balance anxiety research and the experiences of anxious language learners. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney, & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 31–47). Multilingual Matters.
Google Scholar
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05256.x.
Google Scholar
Joe, H. K., Hiver, P., & Al-, A. H. (2017). Classroom social climate, self-determined motivation, willingness to communicate, and achievement: A study of structural relationships in instructed second language settings. Learning and Individual Differences, 53, 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.11.005.
Google Scholar
Khajavy, G. H., Ghonsooly, B., Hosseini, A., & Choi, C. W. (2016). Willingness to communicate in English: A microsystem model in the Iranian EFL classroom context. TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 154–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.204.
Google Scholar
Khajavy, G. H., MacIntyre, P. D., & Barabadi, E. (2018). Role of the emotions and classroom environment in willingness to communicate: Applying doubly latent multilevel analysis in second language acquisition research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(3), 605–624. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000304.
Google Scholar
Khodadady, E., & Kahjavy, G. H. (2013). Exploring the role of anxiety and motivation in foreign language achievement: A structural equation modeling approach. Porta Linguarum, 20, 269–286.
Google Scholar
Kleinmann, H. (1977). Avoidance behavior in adult second language acquisition. Language Learning, 27, 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1977.tb00294.x.
Google Scholar
Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). The experience sampling method. In M. Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.) Flow and the foundations of positive psychology: The collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pp. 21–34). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_2.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2016). Classroom-oriented research from a complex systems perspective. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(3), 377–393. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2016.6.3.2.
Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. The Modern Language Journal, 92(4), 644–645.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D. (2012a). Currents and waves: Examining willingness to communicate on multiple timescales. Contact, 38(2), 12–22.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D. (2012b). The idiodynamic method: A closer look at the dynamics of communication traits. Communication Research Reports, 29, 361–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2012.723274.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D. (2017). An overview of language anxiety research and trends in its development. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney, & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 11–30). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783097722-003
MacIntyre, P. D., Babin, P. A., & Clément, R. (1999). Willingness to communicate: Antecedents and consequences. Communication Quarterly, 47, 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379909370135.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Baker, S., Clément, R., & Donovan, L. A. (2003). Talking in order to learn: Willingness to communicate and intensive language programs. Canadian Modern Language Review, 59, 589–607. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.59.4.589.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Burns, C., & Jessome, A. (2011). Ambivalence about communicating in a second language: A qualitative study of French immersion students’ willingness to communicate. Modern Language Journal, 95, 81–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01141.x.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15, 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X960151001.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D. & Clément, R. (1996). A model of willingness to communicate in a second language: The concept, its antecedents and implications. Presented at the World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Jyväskylä, Finland.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82, 545–562. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Language anxiety: Its relation to other anxieties and to processing in native and second languages. Language Learning, 41, 513–534. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1991.tb00691.x.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gregersen, T. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2, 193–213. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2012.2.2.4.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Legatto, J. J. (2011). A dynamic system approach to willingness to communicate: Developing an idiodynamic method to capture rapidly changing affect. Applied Linguistics, 32, 149–171. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq037.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., MacKay, E., Ross, J., Abel, E. (2017). The emerging need for methods appropriate to study dynamic systems. In L. Ortega & Z. Han (Eds.), Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman. John Benjamins.
Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Vincze, L. (2017). Positive and negative emotions underlie motivation for L2 learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7(1), 61–88.
Google Scholar
McCroskey, J. C. (1992). Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly, 40, 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379209369817.
Google Scholar
McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P. (1991). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In M. Booth-Butterfield (Ed.), Communication, cognition, and anxiety (pp. 19–37). Sage.
Google Scholar
Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Pawlak, M. (2014). Fluctuations in learners’ willingness to communicate during communicative task performance: Conditions and tendencies. Research in Language, 12, 245–260. https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2014-0019.
Google Scholar
Pawlak, M., Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., & Bielak, J. (2016). Investigating the nature of classroom willingness to communicate (WTC): A micro-perspective. Language Teaching Research, 20(5), 654–671. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168815609615.
Google Scholar
Peng, J. E. (2014). Willingness to communicate inside the EFL classroom and beyond: An ecological perspective. Multilingual Matters.
Google Scholar
Peng, J. E., & Woodrow, L. (2010). Willingness to communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning, 60(4), 834–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00576.x.
Google Scholar
Peng, J. E., Zhang, L., & Chen, Y. (2017). The mediation of multimodal affordances on willingness to communicate in the English as a foreign language classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 51(2), 302–331. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.298.
Google Scholar
Savignon, S. J. (1991). Communicative language teaching: State of the art. TESOL Quarterly, 25 261–277.
Google Scholar
Uy, M. A., Foo, M.-D., & Aguinis, H. (2010). Using experience sampling methodology to advance entrepreneurship theory and research. Organizational Research Methods, 13, 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428109334977.
Google Scholar
van Dijk, M., Verspoor, M., & Lowie, W. (2011). Variability and DST. In M. Verspoor, K. de Bot, & W. Lowie (Eds.), A dynamic approach to second language development: methods and techniques (pp. 55–84). John Benjamins Publishers.
Google Scholar
Weaver, C. (2005). Using the Rasch model to develop a measure of second language learners’ willingness to communicate within a language classroom. Journal of Applied Measurement, 6(4), 396–415.
Google Scholar
Wood, D. (2016). Willingness to communicate and second language speech fluency: An idiodynamic investigation. System, 60, 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.05.003.
Google Scholar
Yashima, T., MacIntyre, P. D. & Ikeda, M. (2016). Situated willingness to communication in an L2: Interplay of individual characteristics and contextual factors. Language Teaching Research, 1–23.
Google Scholar
Yue, Z. (2014). Chinese university students’ willingness to communicate in the L2 classroom: The complex and dynamic interplay of self-concept, future self-guides and the sociocultural context. In K. Csizér & M. Magid (Eds.), The impact of self-concept on language learning (pp. 250–267). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092383-015.
Zirkel, S., Garcia, J. A., & Murphy, M. C. (2015). Experience-sampling research methods and their potential for education research. Educational Researcher, 44(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X14566879.
Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the students who participated in this research. We also thank the reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of the paper. The research was facilitated by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (No. 453-2013-1944) to the second author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran
Gholam Hassan Khajavy
Department of Psychology, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS, Canada
Peter D. MacIntyre
English Language Department, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
Tahereh Taherian
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Jessica Ross

Authors

Gholam Hassan Khajavy
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Peter D. MacIntyre
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Tahereh Taherian
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Jessica Ross
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gholam Hassan Khajavy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Department of English, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
Nourollah Zarrinabadi
Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
Mirosław Pawlak

Appendix

Week-by-week moving correlations with 5–10 data points.

Week 1:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.79	0.77	0.78	0.77	0.79	0.85
0.83	0.83	0.83	0.84	0.88
0.82	0.83	0.86	0.91
0.77	0.87	0.91
0.78	0.88
0.96

Note For each of these tables, the columns represent the size of the moving window, that is, how many pairs of scores are involved in the correlation. A window of ‘5’ indicates that 5 pairs of scores are involved in each correlation.

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.62	−0.32	0.23	0.10	−0.18	−0.38
−0.23	0.33	0.21	−0.09	−0.31
0.29	0.15	−0.15	−0.36
−0.09	−0.38	−0.53
0.04	−0.25
−0.18

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.52	−0.08	−0.08	0.16	−0.03	−0.27
−0.10	0.19	0.19	−0.04	−0.28
0.10	0.01	0.01	−0.43
−0.56	−0.71	−0.71
−0.56	−0.63
−0.38

Week 2:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.58	0.54	0.51	0.57	0.87	0.93
0.49	0.45	0.53	0.87	0.92
0.52	0.53	0.87	0.92
0.52	0.87	0.92
0.86	0.91
0.89

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.64	0.55	0.54	0.53	0.23	−0.04
0.45	0.43	0.39	0.01	−0.33
0.95	0.20	−0.69	−0.87
0.27	−0.68	−0.87
−0.72	−0.89
−0.88

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.21	0.13	0.21	0.17	0.00	−0.18
−0.12	−0.05	−0.01	−0.23	−0.45
0.67	−0.64	−0.92	−0.93
−0.64	−0.92	−0.92
−0.94	−0.93
−0.95

Week 3:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.33	0.68	0.70	0.72	0.81	0.90
0.69	0.71	0.73	0.81	0.90
0.72	0.74	0.82	0.90
0.71	0.80	0.89
0.86	0.93
0.94

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.48	−0.02	−0.08	0.11	−0.26	−0.48
−0.12	−0.16	0.08	−0.30	−0.51
−0.46	−0.10	−0.42	−0.60
0.12	−0.31	−0.55
−0.06	−0.41
−0.30

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.64	−0.28	−0.32	−0.01	−0.26	−0.50
−0.34	−0.36	0.02	−0.25	−0.51
−0.52	−0.03	−0.29	−0.54
0.29	−0.07	−0.45
0.05	−0.38
−0.21	−0.28

Week 4:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.94	0.95	0.90	0.94	0.95	0.95
0.93	0.87	0.93	0.94	0.95
0.89	0.94	0.95	0.96
0.94	0.95	0.95
0.96	0.96
0.98

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.81	−0.13	−0.07	−0.06	−0.51	−0.61
−0.27	−0.14	−0.12	−0.55	−0.62
−0.14	−0.12	−0.54	−0.61
−0.02	−0.48	−0.56
−0.38	−0.48
−0.25

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.93	−0.09	−0.07	−0.06	−0.44	−0.53
−0.21	−0.18	−0.16	−0.49	−0.55
−0.19	−0.16	−0.49	−0.54
−0.05	−0.43	−0.48
−0.30	−0.39
−0.23

Week 5:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.79	0.80	0.80	0.83	0.85	0.86
0.65	0.64	0.69	0.74	0.75
0.97	0.94	0.92	0.92
0.95	0.91	0.91
0.61	0.58
0.66

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.47	−0.65	−0.67	−0.69	−0.72	v0.66
−0.57	−0.59	−0.60	−0.66	−0.60
−0.50	−0.50	−0.57	−0.51
−0.04	−0.30	−0.26
−0.39	−0.09
−0.28

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.16	−0.31	−0.34	−0.38	−0.57	−0.56
−0.03	−0.04	−0.11	−0.45	−0.47
−0.30	−0.30	−0.60	−0.57
0.21	−0.52	−0.45
−0.69	−0.48
−0.50

Week 6:

WTC and Enjoyment

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.88	0.94	0.57	0.55	0.57	0.77
0.99	0.45	0.45	0.46	0.73
0.49	0.50	0.52	0.75
0.52	0.54	0.76
0.62	0.82
0.92

WTC and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
−0.14	−0.47	−0.39	−0.34	−0.32	0.17
−0.27	−0.24	−0.20	−0.17	0.32
−0.26	−0.23	−0.20	0.32
−0.63	−0.49	0.36
−0.50	0.41
0.42

Enjoyment and Anxiety

5	6	7	8	9	10
0.05	−0.43	−0.41	−0.40	−0.37	0.04
−0.30	−0.27	−0.26	−0.22	0.20
−0.23	−0.23	−0.19	0.23
−0.32	−0.21	0.35
0.10	0.57
0.33

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Khajavy, G.H., MacIntyre, P.D., Taherian, T., Ross, J. (2021). Examining the Dynamic Relationships Between Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety and Enjoyment Using the Experience Sampling Method. In: Zarrinabadi, N., Pawlak, M. (eds) New Perspectives on Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_9

Download citation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_9
Published: 01 May 2021
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67633-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67634-6
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Examining the Dynamic Relationships Between Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety and Enjoyment Using the Experience Sampling Method

Abstract

Access this chapter

Notes

References

Acknowledgements

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding author

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Appendix

Appendix

Rights and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Download citation

Share this chapter

Publish with us

Search

Navigation