Communication in a second language and individual differences: Effects of student age, gender, and socioeconomic status

Abstract

It has been widely argued that willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2) is a dual construct of the learner’s trait and state. This study aimed to explore the relationships between trait-level antecedents (students’ demographic features) and their L2 WTC. A sample of 1,502 university students was recruited to participate in this study. Data on their age, gender, and family socioeconomic status (SES) were collected. A questionnaire of L2 WTC was adopted to measure the participants’ WTC in meaning-focused activities and WTC in form-focused activities. A path model was tested via structural equation modelling， and significant relationships between student demographic features (age, gender, and SES) and L2 WTC were observed. The major findings were that male students had higher WTC in meaning-focused activities, but female students showed higher WTC in form-focused activities, and student age was negatively related to WTC in meaning-focused activities.

Keywords: Willingness to communicate, second language acquisition, demographic feature, higher education;