The Relationship Between Chinese EFL Learners’ L2 Motivational Self System and Willingness to Communicate

Abstract

—This study explores the relationships between the L2 motivational self system (L2MSS)—Ideal self, Ought-to self, and Learning experience—and the willingness to communicate (WTC) based on the results of a questionnaire survey of 120 freshmen from English majors (English, Business English, Translation). The results demonstrate that: (1) in the L2MSS, the ideal self has the greatest mean of 3.83, and the WTC has a mean of 3.74. Overall, each value is in the upper-middle range. (2) The ideal self, the ought-to self, and the learning experience are positively correlated with the WTC in a significant way, among which the correlation coefficient of the learning experience is the largest one, being 0.593. (3) In the L2MSS, the ideal self and the learning experience can significantly predict the learners’ WTC. The study suggests that it may be more effective in motivating students’ WTC if teachers can guide students to establish a positive ideal self and build a good teacher-student relationship in the teaching process.