Learners’ willingness to communicate in face-to-face versus oral computer-mediated communication

Abstract

The present study had two main goals: to explore performance differences in a task-based environment between face-to-face (FtF) and oral computer-mediated communication (OCMC) groups, and to investigate the relationship between trait-like willingness to communicate (WTC) and performance in the FtF and OCMC groups. Students from two intact intermediate university Spanish classes carried out two decision-making tasks in random groups of three; one task was carried out via Skype and the other was performed FtF. To determine L2 WTC, participants completed a WTC questionnaire, adapted from Cao and Philp (2006). Results showed that learners initiated a significantly higher number of speaking turns in ocmc. Additionally, the significant positive correlation found between WTC and the number of turns and words spoken in the FtF setting did not hold for the OCMC group. In other words, number of turns and words produced reflected WTC in the FtF mode but not in the OCMC mode. This reveals that learners indeed interact differently through ocmc and FtF, which could pose certain advantages for L2 teaching and learning.