Dynamics of Students’ willingness to Communicate in English during an Online Discussion

Abstract

A number of studies on WTC have applied various conversational contexts to gain a deeper understanding of students’ WTC. However, there is no study reporting the dynamic nature of one’s WTC during an online oral group discussion. Accordingly, the present study attempted to contribute to the literature of WTC by examining the students’ WTC during an online group discussion. Applying idiodynamic case study, six English-majoring students were recruited. The findings showed that the dynamics of students’ WTC was constructed by psychological, conversational, and linguistic aspects. The use of the internet as the mediator of communication was also found to influence one’s WTC in either positive or negative directions. The analysis showed that the direction of influence of internet on one’s WTC was accounted for by their self-confidence.