The concept of willingness to communicate (WTC) is pivotal in understanding student engagement in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. As a dynamic and multifaceted construct, WTC is subject to continual fluctuations throughout the communication process, often changing situationally. Traditionally, learner silence in class or during second language (L2) conversations is perceived negatively, as it can signal a lack of motivation to speak, thereby impeding optimal language acquisition. However, silence can also function as a communicative strategy or reflect learners’ essential feelings and emotions. This study explored the relationship between Japanese EFL learners’ situational WTC and their instances of silence during L2 (English) conversations. Participants were recruited for the study and were asked to deliver short speeches and engage in conversations with a researcher, during which their periods of silence were observed and recorded. All participant utterances were meticulously transcribed and analysed. Additionally, participants self-assessed their WTC for each utterance, and a stimulated recall interview was conducted to gather in-depth qualitative data. The results generally indicated that participants’ WTC was somewhat decreased when silence occurred between and during utterances. However, the findings also revealed the intricate and multifaceted nature of silence in relation to WTC, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding and nuanced consideration of learners’ silence. This study highlights the complexity of the interplay between WTC and silence, suggesting that silence should not be solely viewed as a negative phenomenon but rather as an integral part of the communicative process that warrants careful analysis and understanding.
AldersonJ. C.ClaphamB. J.WallD. (1995). Language test construction and evaluation. Cambridge University Press.
2.
BaoD. (2014). Understanding silence and reticence. Bloomsbury.
3.
BaoD. (2020).Silence, talk, and in-betweens: East-Asian students’ responses to task challenge in an Australian university. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 17–36). Multilingual Matters.
4.
BaoD. (2023). Silence in English language pedagogy. Cambridge University Press.
5.
BraunV.ClarkeV. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.
6.
BraunV.ClarkeV.HayfieldN.TerryG. (2019). Thematic analysis. In LiamputtongP. (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in health social sciences (pp. 843–860). Springer.
7.
CaoY. (2011). Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39, 468–479.
8.
CaoY. (2014). A sociocognitive perspective on second language classroom willingness to communicate. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 789–814.
9.
CaoY.PhilpJ. (2006). Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group and dyadic interaction. System, 34, 480–493.
10.
Council of Europe. (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment: Companion volume. Council of Europe. Available at: https://rm.coe.int/1680459f97 (accessed October 2024).
11.
DörnyeiZ. (2014). Researching complex dynamic systems: ‘Retrodictive qualitative modelling’ in the language classroom. Language Teaching, 47, 80–91.
12.
DoyonP. (2000). Shyness in the Japanese EFL class. Language Teaching, 24, 10–11.
13.
Eddy-UM. (2015). Motivation for participation or non-participation in group tasks: A dynamic systems model of task-situated willingness to communicate. System, 50, 43–55.
14.
EgiT. (2008). Investigating stimulated recall as a cognitive measure: Reactivity and verbal reports in SLA research methodology. Language Awareness, 17, 212–228.
15.
FlowerdewJ.MillerL. (1995). On the notion of culture in second language lectures. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 345–374.
16.
GassS. (2003). Input and interaction. In DoughtyC.LongM.H. (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 224–255). Blackwell.
17.
GassS.MackeyA. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
GrangerC.A. (2004). Silence in second language learning: A psychoanalytic reading. Multilingual Matters.
19.
GrangerC.A. (2013). Silence and participation in the language classroom. In ChapelleC.A. (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1–6). Blackwell.
20.
HarumiS. (2020). Approaches to interacting with classroom silence: The role of teacher talk. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 37–59). Multilingual Matters.
21.
HumphriesS.AkamatsuN.TanakaT.BurnsA. (2020). Silence in Japanese classrooms: Activities and factors in capacities to speak English. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 123–142). Multilingual Matters.
22.
JaworskiA.SachdevI. (1998). Beliefs about silence in the classroom. Language and Education, 12, 273–292.
23.
KangS.-J. (2005). Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language. System, 33, 277–292.
24.
KarasM.FaezF. (2020). Communicative language teaching and silence: Chinese (pre-service) teachers’ perspectives. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 105–122). Multilingual Matters.
25.
KimS.AtesB.GrigsbyY.KrakerS.MicekT.A. (2016). Ways to promote the classroom participation of international students by understanding the silence of Japanese university students. Journal of International Students, 6, 431–450.
26.
KingJ. (2013). Silence in the second language classrooms of Japanese universities. Applied Linguistics, 34, 325–343.
27.
KrashenS. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon.
28.
KubotaR. (1999). Japanese culture constructed by discourses: Implications for applied linguistic research and English language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 9–35.
29.
LiuJ. (2002). Negotiating silence in American classrooms: Three Chinese cases. Language and Intercultural Communication, 2, 37–54.
30.
LongM. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In RitchieW.BhatiaT. (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413–468). Academic Press.
31.
MacIntyreP.D. (2007). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 564–576.
32.
MacIntyreP.D. (2012). Currents and waves: Examining willingness to communicate on multiple timescales. Contact, 38, 12–22.
33.
MacIntyreP.D.BlackieR.A. (2012). Action control, motivated strategies, and integrative motivation as predictors of language learning affect and the intention to continue learning French. System, 40, 533–543.
34.
MacIntyreP.D.CharosC. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 15, 3–26.
35.
MacIntyreP.D.ClémentR.DornyeiZ.NoelsK.A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82, 545–562.
36.
MaherS. (2020). Examining L2 learners’ silent behaviour and anxiety in the classroom using an approach based on cognitive-behavioural theory. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 80–104). Multilingual Matters.
37.
McCroskeyJ. C. (1992). Reliability and validity of the willingness to communicate scale. Communication Quarterly, 40, 16–25.
38.
McCroskeyJ. C.RichmondV. P. (1991). Willingness to communicate: A cognitive view. In Butterfield BothM. (Ed.), Communication, cognition and anxiety (pp. 19–44). Sage.
39.
McVeighB.J. (2002). Japanese higher education as myth. M.E. Sharpe.
40.
MirandaM.E.S. (2017). Evaluating communicative language by using creative dialogues. English. Teaching Forum, 55, 32–35.
41.
NakaneI. (2007). Silence in intercultural communication: Perceptions and performance in the classroom. John Benjamins.
42.
PawlakM.Mystkowska-WiertelakA. (2015). Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System, 50, 1–9.
43.
PengJ. (2020). Willing silence and silent willingness to communicate (WTC) in the Chinese EFL classroom: A dynamic systems perspective. In KingJ.HarumiS. (Eds.), East Asian perspectives on silence in English language education (pp. 144–166). Multilingual Matters.
44.
SatoR. (2019). Fluctuations in an EFL teacher’s willingness to communicate in an English-medium lesson: An observational case study in Japan. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 13, 105–117.
45.
SatoR. (2023a). Examining fluctuations in the WTC of Japanese EFL speakers: Language proficiency, affective and conditional factors. Language Teaching Research, 27, 974–994.
46.
SatoR. (2023b). Japanese EFL speakers’ willingness to communicate in L2 conversations: The effects of code-switching and translanguaging. Teaching English as a Second Language Electronic Journal (TESL-EJ), 27(3).
47.
SchmidtR. (1992). Psychological mechanisms underlying second language fluency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14, 357–385.
48.
ShachterJ. (2023). Tracking foreign language teacher emotional reactions to student silence: An autoethnographic case study in Japan. Journal of Silence Studies in Education, 2, 82–101.
49.
SobkowiakW. (1997). Silence and markedness theory. In JaworskiA. (Ed.), Silence: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 39–62). Mouton de Gruyter.
50.
SoltaniB.TranL. (2023). Examining space, silence, and agency in language socialization of an international student in the EAP and mainstream courses. TESOL Quarterly, 57, 480–510.
51.
SwainM. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In GassS.MaddenC. (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Newbury House.
52.
SwainM. (2005). The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In HinkelE. (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (Vol. 1, pp. 471–483). Lawrence Erlbaum.
53.
SwainM.LapkinS. (1995). Problems in output and the cognitive processes they generate: A step towards second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 16, 371–391.
54.
TomlinsonB. (2020). Assisting learners in orchestrating their inner voice for L2 learning. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 19, 32–47.
55.
UminoT. (2023). Reconceptualising the silent period: Stories of Japanese students studying abroad. Journal of Silence Studies in Education, 2, 68–81.
56.
VygotskyL.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
57.
YangL.LinY. (2024). To talk or to remain silent? Foreign language enjoyment and perceived classroom climate as drivers of change in Chinese EFL learners’ willingness to communicate: A latent growth curve analysis. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2024.2391376
58.
YashimaT. (2009). International posture and the ideal L2 self in the Japanese EFL context. Motivation, language Identity and the L2 Self, 86, 144–163.
59.
YashimaT.MacIntyreP.D.IkedaM. (2018). Situated willingness to communicate in an L2: Interplay of individual characteristics and context. Language Teaching Research, 22, 115–137.
60.
YoneyamaS. (1999). The Japanese high school: Silence and resistance. Routledge.
61.
ZarrinabadiN. (2014). Communicating in a second language: Investigating the effect of teacher on learners’ willingness to communicate. System, 42, 288–295.
