Willingness to Communicate in Instructed Second Language Acquisition: Combining a Macro- and Micro-perspective

This book offers a comprehensive account of individual differences variables as well as contextual factors that impinge on second language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). Firstly, it adopts a macro-perspective on WTC, which entails an attempt to identify variables that are related to WTC, taking into account the specificity of the Polish higher education setting. Secondly, it embraces a micro-perspective on WTC, striving to pinpoint the individual and contextual influences on levels of WTC in the course of regularly-scheduled, naturally-occurring English classes, as well as to capture the dynamic nature of WTC during such classes. Together, these perspectives bring the reader closer to understanding the mechanisms underlying WTC in specific contexts, thereby providing a basis for recommendations for classroom practice that could translate into learners’ success. It will be of interest to second language acquisition researchers and students, as well as to methodologists and materials writers who can use the research findings to improve the practice of teaching and learning speaking in the language classroom.

Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak is Assistant Professor at the Department of English Studies of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts of Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań/Kalisz, Poland as well as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Modern Languages of the State University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland. Her main interests comprise, apart from teacher education, second language acquisition theory and research, language learning strategies, learner autonomy, form-focused instruction, willingness to communicate, and motivation. Her recent publications include Production-oriented and Comprehension-based Grammar Teaching in the Foreign Language Classroom (with Mirosław Pawlak, Springer, 2012) and Willingness to Communicate in Instructed Second Language Acquisition (with Mirosław Pawlak, Multilingual Matters, 2017). Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak is Assistant to the Editor of the journal Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (www.ssllt.amu.edu.pl).

Mirosław Pawlak is Professor of English at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, State University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland, and the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland. His research interests include form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, classroom discourse, learner autonomy, learning strategies, motivation, willingness to communicate, pronunciation teaching, and study abroad.