Second language willingness to communicate as a complex dynamic system

Abstract

The widely-cited work of MacIntyre et al. (Mod Lang J 82(4):545–562, 1998), which uncovered the underlying layers of willingness to communicate (WTC), engendered a growing series of studies within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Ever since, a number of perspectives have been adopted to conceptualize this construct including the theory of planned behaviour (MacIntyre et al. 1998; Zhong 2013), the theory of action control (MacIntyre & Doucette 2010), ecological systems theory (Cao 2011; Peng 2012), social identity theory (Miller and Pearson 2013), and sociocognitive theory (Cao 2014). More recently, however, dynamically-informed SLA research has gained ground and, therefore, a growing line of inquiry, mainly instigated by the innovative work of MacIntyre and Legatto (2011), has viewed WTC from a complex dynamic system (CDS) perspective. With a principal focus on the phenomenon of change, this theory mainly accounts for the changing nature of WTC, as opposed to the more traditional conceptualization of it as a stable trait-like predisposition (McCroskey and Baer 1985). The dynamic nature of WTC has now been firmly established through a number of studies (e.g., Pawlak and Mystkowska-Wiertelak 2015) and even though the application of this theory to WTC research is only in its infancy, a handful of studies (MacIntyre and Legatto 2011; Nematizadeh and Wood 2019; Wood 2016) have demonstrated its enormous potential in exploring countless unchartered territories. The present chapter will, therefore, adopt an evidence-based approach to viewing WTC as a complex dynamic system.