Peter D. MacIntyre

Personality, Attitudes, and Affect as Predictors of Second Language Communication

Numerous studies have established the importance of affective variables, such as attitudes, motivation, perceived competence, and anxiety, in predicting success in second language learning and communication. Path analysis was used to investigate the relations among these variables, to examine their impacton the frequency ofsecond language communication, and to examine the role of global personality traits. Significant paths affecting the frequency of communication were found, from willingness to communicate in the second language (2), language learning motivation, perceived L2 communicative competence, and the opportunity for contact with L2 speakers. Further results demonstrate thatglobal personality traits and language-related affective variables (such as attitudes and anxiety) set the psychological context for second language communication. These results are interpreted in terms of models of second language learning and communication.

An Instrumental Motivation in Language Study: Who Says It Isn't Effective?.

The major purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of integrative motivation and instrumental motivation on the learning of French/English vocabulary. Integrative motivation was defined in terms of a median split on scores obtained on subtests from the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery, while instrumental motivation was situationally determined in terms of monetary reward for doing well. The results demonstrated that both integrative motivation and instrumental motivation facilitated learning. Other results indicated that instrumentally motivated students studied longer than noninstrumentally motivated students when there was an opportunity to profit from learning, but this distinction disappeared when the incentive was removed. Both integratively and instrumentally motivated students spent more time thinking about the correct answer than those not so motivated, suggesting that both elements have an energizing effect. A secondary purpose of this study was to assess the consequences of computer administration of the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery. In this respect the results were most encouraging. Computer administration appeared not to detract from the internal consistency reliability of the subscales used, and moreover there was an indication that an index of reaction time to individual items might provide a way of identifying social desirability responding

Sex and Age Effects on Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety, PerCeived Competence, and L2 Motivation Among Junior High School French Immersion Students

The students who participate in immersion education are an impressive group. In the present study we looked at students in a junior high school in Nova Scotia. In the local area, English is far and away the dominant language, though there are French-speaking communities within a 2-hr drive and Canada is an officially bilingual country. Therefore, the students are not in a “foreign” language-learning environment, but in all probability, they are not likely to encounter spoken French in their daily lives. The students have all the challenges of adolescence to contend with: moving from an elementary to a junior high school in grade 7, the wonders of puberty, growing academic expectations from teachers, demands from school administration to speak only French while at school, and the burgeoning social life of a newly minted teenager. On top of all this, participants in this research are required to give up their well-developed native language, English, and undertake to be educated in a second language, French. Impressive. The present study reports a cross-sectional investigation of second language communication among students in a junior high French late immersion program. The effects of language, sex, and grade on willingness to communicate (WTC), anxiety, perceived communication competence, and frequency of communication in French and on attitude/motivation variables are examined globally and at each grade level. Most of these variables have been widely studied among adult learners, most often at the university level. The present study attempted to look at a much younger group to examine the patterns earlier in the language learning process. We found that students’ second language WTC, perceived competence, and frequency of communication in French increased from grades 7 to 8 and that these increases were maintained between grades 8 and 9, despite a drop in motivation between grades 7 and 8 and a steady level of anxiety across the three grades. Gender differences in language anxiety were observed across the three grades. Contrary to our expectations, compared to girls, boys reported more anxiety in grade 9. However, the differences between WTC across the first and second language narrowed as students progressed through the program. [The present article first appeared in Language Learning, 52(3), 2002, 537–564]

Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language The Effects of Context, Norms, and Vitality

Past research has focused primarily on second language (L2) acquisition as a tool for promoting intercultural communication. The social context model, for example, stresses the importance of contact, L2 confidence, and identity in acquiring a L2. The willingness to communicate (WTC) model, however, emerged from a concern with the functions of L2 use. This study combines these two models to consider both contextual and individual difference variables in L2 use. Participants were 130 Anglophone (majority) and 248 Francophone (minority) students attending a Canadian bilingual university. Path analyses supported a model in which context, individual, and social factors were all important determinants of L2 use, although patterns of relations differed depending on the ethnolinguistic vitality of the group. The importance of subjective norms was further confirmed as moderators of the relationship between L2 confidence and identity among Francophones. Results are discussed within the context of current models of intergroup communication.

Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis

This study considers the personality‐based sources of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) among the constructs originally identified by Burgoon (communication apprehension, anomie, alienation, introversion, and self‐esteem). The relations among these variables and their contribution to WTC are tested using causal modelling. Results suggest that WTC is caused by a combination of communication apprehension and perceived competence which have their roots in introversion and self‐esteem. Limitations of the WTC construct and implications of the model are discussed.

Motivational influences on computer-related affective states

Previous studies have established the importance of computer-related affective variables in predicting user satisfaction, frequency of use, and students academic performance. This study examined the effects of motivation to learn to use computers, and previous experience with computers on three computer-related affective states: anxiety, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Participants included 59 male and 52 female university and college students enrolled in introductory computer programming and fundamental courses. Gender differences were found in previous experience with computers, as well as most of the motivation, and all of the affective variables. A path analysis was used to further investigate these relations and to examine their effect on academic performance in introductory computer classes. Results supported the theoretical model, with some modifications. Gender differences in structure were negligible. Finally, students were grouped according to reasons for taking the course: intrinsic, extrinsic, or both. Significant differences among the three groups were found for six of the 10 variables, in all cases favoring an intrinsic motivational orientation.

The Effects of Induced Anxiety on Three Stages of Cognitive Processing in Computerized Vocabulary Learning

Language anxiety is a prevalent phenomenon in second language learning. This experiment examines the arousal of anxiety caused by the introduction of a video camera at various points in a vocabulary learning task. Seventy-two students of 1st-year university French were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) one group who had anxiety aroused during their initial exposure to the stimuli, (b) a second group who had anxiety aroused when they began to learn the meanings of the words, (c) a third group who had anxiety aroused when they were asked to produce the French word (when prompted with the English), and (d) a control group who did not experience anxiety arousal. Significant increases in state anxiety were reported in all three groups when the video camera was introduced, and concomitant deficits in vocabulary acquisition were observed. It is concluded that the stage at which anxiety arises has implications for any remedial action taken to reduce the effects of language anxiety.

Willingness to communicate: Antecedents & consequences

Willingness to communicate (WTC) is examined at the trait and state levels, which are viewed as complementary. Measures of trait WTC, extraversion, emotional stability, self‐esteem, communication apprehension, and competence were administered to 226 male and female university students. A structural equation model examined the hypothesized antecedents to WTC and revealed a good fit to the data. Seventy of the participants also volunteered for a communication laboratory. Trait WTC was related to volunteering for the lab portion of the study and state WTC was related to initiating a difficult communication task. Also, state perceived competence predicted both time and number of ideas on an easy speaking task; state anxiety predicted time and number of ideas on a difficult speaking task.

Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self‐perceived competence

Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate (WTC), communication apprehension, and self‐perceived communication competence were examined using three age cohorts of participants drawn from junior high, high school, and university student populations. Results indicate that junior high females are higher in WTC than their male counterparts and females at the university level are higher in communication apprehension and lower in self‐perceived competence than are male university students. Communication apprehension and self‐perceived competence show a consistent negative relationship that does not vary with age or sex in the present sample. The degree to which communication apprehension arid self‐perceived competence predict WTC varies with age and sex. In all three age cohorts, communication apprehension is a significant predictor of WTC among women. Among men, self‐perceived competence emerges as a significant predictor of WTC in all three age groups.

Affect: The Role of Language Anxiety and Other Emotions in Language Learning

The term ‘affect’ includes many things, such as feelings of self-confidence, feeling willing to communicate, or feeling anxious. Perhaps the most widely studied affective reaction to L2 communication, and the main focus of this chapter, is language anxiety. Language anxiety is a term that encompasses the feelings of worry and negative, fear-related emotions associated with learning or using a language that is not an individual’s mother tongue. The term covers language being learned in locations where intergroup contact is available (so-called ‘second’ language) or not available (so-called ‘foreign’ language) and also covers various language skills (especially speaking, but also reading, writing, and comprehension). After reviewing the literature on language anxiety, we will consider the issue of affective variables more broadly. There is still much to learn about the role of affective variables in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), and we will conclude with some suggestions for future research.