臺灣學生在不同社群媒體中的英語溝通意願

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學英語學系碩. 士. 論. 文. Master Thesis Graduate Institute of English National Taiwan Normal University. 臺灣學生在不同社群媒體中的英語溝通意願. Willingness to Communicate in English through Different Social Media among Taiwanese EFL Students. 指導教授：程玉秀博士 Advisor: Dr. Yuh-Show Cheng 研究生：張修榕 Hsiu-Jung Chang. 中華民國 103 年 2 月 February, 2014.

(2) 摘要本研究旨在檢視臺灣學生於不同社群媒體功能中使用英語溝通意願的變化，以及影響他們使用英語溝通意願的因素。首先，以語言冒險量表（Language Risk Taking scale）與社群媒體溝通意願量表來測量受試者的語言冒險傾向高低和社群媒體溝通意願程度，再來以媒體選擇問卷檢測他們對不同時效性（immediacy）及溝通模式（communication mode）的社群媒體偏好。接著，以重複測量變異數分析法分析在不同媒體功能之中學生的英語溝通意願差異，再以單向多變量變異數分析探討語言冒險傾向對英語溝通意願之影響。最後，藉由和高溝通意願與低溝通意願的學生的訪談，更進一步得知影響他們選擇不同性質媒體功能的因素。本研究分析結果如下：第一，不同社群媒體功能顯示對受試者之英語溝通意願產生顯著差異，而在配對比較中，受試者唯獨在使用 Facebook 聊天室與 Facebook 私人訊息、Skype 視訊通話與 Skype 語音訊息時之溝通意願無顯著差異，並且時效性與溝通模式兩因素對溝通意願具有顯著影響。第二，冒險傾向對個人在社群媒體中之英語溝通意願無顯著影響。第三，根據受試者訪談的內容，影響媒體選擇之因素可被歸類為：（一）媒體承載訊息濃度，（二）線上溝通真實性，（三）自視英語能力程度，（四）語言冒險傾向，及（五）其他。最後，根據訪談的發現與結果，本研究提供英語教師具體之建議，期盼可針對學生不同性格給予適當之溝通媒體管道以提升其透過英語與他人溝通之意願。. i.

(3) 關鍵字：溝通意願、社群媒體、時效性、溝通模式、冒險傾向. ii.

(4) ABSTRACT This study sought to examine Taiwanese English learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) when they communicate via different functions provided by social media and its relationship between one’s risk-taking propensity as an intrapersonal variable. Language Risk Taking scale and WTC on Social Media Questionnaire were employed to assess the participants’ degree of risk-taking propensity and WTC on social media. Then, Media Choice Questionnaire was adopted to examine the participants’ preference for social media of different immediacy and communication modes. ANOVA repeated measures was utilized to examine the differences in individuals’ WTC among different functions, and then one-way MANOVA was used to assess the impact of risk-taking propensity on WTC through social media. Finally, interviews were conducted with high- and low-WTC participants to learn more about what influenced their media choice behavior. The results can be summarized as follows. First, a significant effect of media function was found on the participants’ L2 WTC, and all of the pairwise comparisons were significant except that between Facebook Messenger and Facebook Messages, and that between Skype video call and Skype video messages. Both immediacy and communication mode showed significant effect on their WTC. Second, risk-taking propensity did not exert significant influence on one’s L2 WTC through the four functions provided by the two social media. Third, the interviewees’ comments on the influential factors of social media choice behavior were categorized into five main themes: media richness, authenticity of online communication, self-perceived proficiency, risk-taking propensity in a language, and others. At last, based on findings of the study, some pedagogical implications are offered for the English instructors, hoping to foster Taiwanese learners’ individual WTC when they communicate in English with others in authentic life. iii.

(5) Key words: Willingness to Communicate (WTC), social media, immediacy, communication mode, risk-taking propensity. iv.

(6) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to many people who have helped and supported me to survive the thesis-writing challenge. First of all, I must show my deepest thanks to my advisor, Dr. Yuh-Show Cheng, who not only taught me academic logical argumentation but also shared with me a wealth of her expertise and research insight despite the torture on her eyes. She offered great help with quantitative analysis of the study as well. I benefitted considerably from her profound knowledge in the research field. Besides, her encouragement and enduring support provided me the power to go through difficult times. Her ability to bring me back on track has been a godsend. The ultimate accomplishment of this study would have been impossible without her. I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to my committee members, Dr. Pin-Ju Chen and Dr. Chun-Chieh Tseng for their valuable ideas and professional advice. Their precious and generous comments significantly helped me improve the quality of the study further. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all the English-major participants and their teachers from National Taipei University of Education, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University─my alma mater, Ming Chuan University, and University of Taipei. They have assisted me in finishing questionnaire survey and further interviews. I would not forget their kindness and effort to lend me a hand during the last summer. Many other people have helped me weather the emotional storms and stress of finishing the master degree, some of whom deserve special mention. I have enjoyed the camaraderie among the classmates of NTNU TESOL─especially Daphne, Summer, and Tammy. I have benefited much from discussions and encouragements with each other. It is because we believe we can that we finally get there. Besides, I v.

(7) would like to thank some teachers and student-teachers at Wuling Senior High School. Although it is indeed a tough job to finish the thesis during teaching practicum, I am lucky to have them as my source of confidence, relaxation and laughter─especially Elsa, Ivy, Jimmy, Katy, and Spencer. My special thanks are also due to Ching for his faith in me when I was pessimistic and lost hope. Finally, I love my parents, who are always unconditionally tolerant of my poor temper and my disappearance for finishing the master degree for these four years. My father and mother provided me with opportunities as a child to learn English and to expand my world. Their love and emotional support have been invaluable in helping me to focus on my academic pursuits. They are always there for me. I would like to share my joy and happiness with them.. vi.

(8) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHINESE ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. i ENGLISH ABSTRACT................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xi LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... xii. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 2 Purpose of the Study.................................................................................................. 4 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................... 6 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 7 Willingness to Communicate (WTC) ................................................................ 7 Asynchronous and Synchronous Communication ........................................... 8 Social Media....................................................................................................... 9 Risk-Taking Propensity...................................................................................... 9 Organization of the Study........................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REIVEW ...................................................................... 11 Theoretical Foundations of WTC Construct ......................................................... 11. vii.

(9) Approaches to Conceptualizing WTC .................................................................. 13 Trait-like Approach to WTC ........................................................................... 13 Situational Approach to WTC......................................................................... 14 Ecological Approach to WTC ......................................................................... 15 Development of L2 WTC Models ...................................................................... 16 MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) Model ..................................................................... 16 Wen and Clément’s (2003) WTC Model ...................................................... 18 Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) L2 WTC Model................................................ 19 The Role of Risk-Taking Propensity in WTC ...................................................... 20 Social Media and Communication ........................................................................ 22 Attributes of Social Media .............................................................................. 22 Theoretical Approaches to Classifying Social Media ..................................... 24 Social Media under Investigation ................................................................... 26 Facebook ................................................................................................. 26 Skype ...................................................................................................... 27 The Role of Personality in Media Choice ....................................................... 28 Pedagogical Use of Social Media in Practice ....................................................... 28 WTC in Social Media: Empirical Research in the L2 Contexts ........................... 31 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 34 Research Design ................................................................................................... 34 Participants ........................................................................................................... 35 Instruments ........................................................................................................... 35 viii.

(10) Social Media Use Questionnaire ..................................................................... 36 Background Questionnaire .............................................................................. 36 Risk-taking Propensity Questionnaire ............................................................ 36 Willingness to Communicate (WTC) on Social Media Questionnaire ........... 37 Media Choice Questionnaire ........................................................................... 39 Semi-structured Interviews ................................................................................... 39 Data Collection and Data Analysis Procedures .................................................... 40 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS .............................................................................................. 42 Survey Results ...................................................................................................... 42 Participants’ Background Information ......................................................... 42 Effects of Social Medium Functions on Willingness to Communicate (WTC) ..................................................................................................................... 44 Effects of Risk-taking Propensity on WTC through Social Media.............. 48 Media Choice ............................................................................................... 49 Interview Results .................................................................................................. 53 Media Richness ............................................................................................ 55 Authenticity of Online Communication....................................................... 56 Self-perceived Proficiency ........................................................................... 57 Risk-taking Propensity in a Language ......................................................... 58 Other Factors ................................................................................................ 60 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................. 63 Major Findings and Discussion ............................................................................ 63 ix.

(11) Social Media and WTC ........................................................................................ 63 Media Preference and WTC ................................................................................. 65 L2 Self-confidence and WTC............................................................................... 68 Risk-taking Propensity and WTC ......................................................................... 70 Media Usage Frequency and WTC ...................................................................... 71 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 72 Pedagogical Implications...................................................................................... 73 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ................................................ 74 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 75 APPENDIX A Questionnaire of Risk-Taking, WTC on Social Media, and Media Choice (Chinese Version) ........................................................................................ 97 APPENDIX B Risk-taking Propensity Questionnaire Items (English Version) ........ 100 APPENDIX C WTC on Social Media Questionnaire Items (English Version) ......... 101 APPENDIX D Media Choice Questionnaire Items (English Version) ...................... 102. x.

(12) LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Categorization of Functions Provided by Social Media .................................. 5 Table 2: Different Categories of the WTC-on-Social-Media Questionnaire Items ..... 38 Table 3: Demographic Data of the Participants ........................................................... 42 Table 4: Self-perceived English Proficiency ............................................................... 43 Table 5: Descriptive Statistics for WTC through Each Medium’s Function ............... 44 Table 6: Pairwise Comparison of WTC through Different Functions of Social Media ....................................................................................................................... 45 Table 7: Summary Table of Two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA of Immediacy and Communication Mode ................................................................................... 46 Table 8: Descriptive Statistics for Risk-taking Propensity .......................................... 48 Table 9: Descriptive Statistics of the High and Low Risk-taking Groups’ WTC ....... 49 Table 10: Participants’ Preference for Immediacy and Communication Mode .......... 50 Table 11: Comparison of Preferences for Immediacy and Communication Mode Reported in the Second and Third Parts of the Questionnaire ..................... 52 Table 12: Background Information of the Interviewees .............................................. 54. xi.

(13) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) Heuristic Model of WTC Variables .......................17 Figure 2: Variables Moderating the Relation between DC and WTC in the Chinese EFL Classroom (Wen & Clément, 2003) ..........................................19 Figure 3: Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) Hypothesized L2 WTC Model in the Chinese EFL Classroom .....................................................................................20 Figure 4: The Marginal Means and Interaction of Immediacy and Mode .....................47. xii.

(14) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background Despite the constant controversy over the term CALL (computer-assisted language learning), technology integration into language classrooms has been an important issue to educational researchers since the introduction of the Internet and the Social Networking Sites (SNSs). According to Prensky (2007): Today’s schoolchildren … travel with their own personal GameBoys, Handicams, cell phones, portable CD and MP3 players… Each day the average teenager in American watches over 3 hours of television, is on the Internet 10 minutes to an hour, and plays 1½ hours of video games. (p.37) Besides face-to-face interaction and paper-based letter, the tools or media enabling us to communicate in recent days encompass e-mail, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, Plurk, and virtual social gaming worlds, just to name a few. In this sense, to satisfy the emerging communicative needs of the Digital Natives learners, coined by Prensky in 2001, instructors could not educate them in traditional ways anymore (Fischer & Konomi, 2005; McLoughlin & Lee, 2007): “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow” (Dewey, 1916). According to Hsi (2007), therefore, literacy requires a redefinition that incorporates “digital fluency”—intelligences to use the Internet, social networking software, communication multimedia tools, and mobile phones in order to functionally live and learn in the Digital Age. On the other hand, the incorporation of online technology into L2 teaching holds considerable promise for improving learners’ motivation and willingness to communicate (WTC). MacIntyre et al. (1998) indicated that WTC should be the primary goal of language instruction since it contributes to increased opportunity for genuine second language (L2) practice. Derived from unwillingness to communicate (Burgoon, 1976), WTC was initially defined as the probability of one’s tendency to initiate a 1.

(15) communication when presented with an opportunity (McCroskey & Baer, 1985). Before MacIntyre et al’s (1998) proposal of a heuristic WTC model, WTC was recognized as a trait-like personality-oriented predisposition to talk in various situations. In MacIntyre et al’s (1998) model, more emphasis is placed on the influence of situational factors on WTC among L2 learners; and WTC is conceptualized as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2” (p.547). Following this situational view, the role of varying media as a platform of communication in WTC is worth attention. According to Internet World Stats (2012), the amount of Internet users is over 2 billion, which accounts for 34.3% of global population. Social media, which provide us various internet-based communication platforms, show great promise as a motivator to foster WTC among learners of the new generation. It is thus necessary to examine how social media could influence WTC. The importance of social media in communication offers the background for conducting the present study.. Statement of the Problem Several popular social media have received the attention of WTC researchers. Generally, their studies showed that social media could positively affect WTC among L1 or L2 students by suspending the threat of social penalty in face-to-face settings, triggering interest in communication, and/or providing various channels of communication for users to choose from. However, most of these studies investigated WTC through single social medium, such as online-chatting system, digital game, or SNS (Freiermuth & Jarrell, 2006; Lloyd, 2012; Reinders & Wattana, 2011; Sheldon, 2008). Few studies compared WTC across different social media though it is interesting to find out if one’s WTC vary with social media. Similarly, few studies have compared WTC across different functions afforded 2.

(16) by the social media, which can generally be categorized based on immediacy (i.e., synchronous or asynchronous) and communication mode (e.g., written or spoken). Previous research has suggested that immediacy and communication mode might play a role in determining one’s WTC. For example, in Lloyd’s (2012) study, media users of different personality traits exhibited different levels of WTC in the contexts of synchronous voice chat and asynchronous text-based interaction. However, the interaction effect of immediacy and communication mode on WTC remains unclear. Also, it should be noted that only a few TESOL researchers in Taiwan paid their attention to the role of social media in students’ WTC, analyzing it from the perceptive of Taiwanese culture milieu. Since communication is always bound with the cultures of its speakers, generating pancultural assumptions about speakers’ WTC appears to be unwarranted (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990a). More specifically, from McCroskey and Richmond’s viewpoint, the personal quality of being verbally expressive does not necessarily correlate to one’s interpersonal relationships in a positive way. People’s perception of willingness to talk may dramatically differ from culture to culture. This “variability in talking behavior among people” is said to be rooted in the WTC construct (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990a, p.72). Then, research findings about WTC via social media obtained in other cultures might not apply to Taiwan. Therefore, localized studies on WTC are much needed if we hope to offer implications for enhancing Taiwanese students’ English L2 WTC via social media. To conclude, this study intends to fill the above-mentioned research gaps by examining the effects of different social media and different functions of social media on WTC among EFL learners in the context of Taiwan, the culture of which is strongly influenced by Chinese culture. Considering the fact that the relationship between users’ personal trait and social media usage has aroused many researchers’ attention in the fields of L1 3.

(17) communication and cyberpsychology (e.g., Hamburger & Ben-Artzi (2000) on extraversion-introversion, Chak & Leung (2004) on shyness, and Ehrenberg, Juckes, White & Walsh (2008) on self-esteem), this study also aims to investigate the role of personality in L2 WTC through different social media. Among the personality factors investigated in previous WTC research, risk-taking propensity has been identified as one of the influential elements of Chinese students’ L2 WTC (Wen & Clément, 2003). According to Wen and Clément (2003), the fear of looking ridiculous and of identity loss “is commonly found among Chinese students who are, on average, more inclined to adopt a face-saving option” (p.29). Although appropriate amount of risk-taking performance was suggested to facilitate L2 learning (Beebe, 1983; Naimen, Frohlich , & Stern, 1975; Rubin, 1975; Rubin & Thompson, 1982; Trimpop, 1994), this face-saving tendency may restrain Chinese students from taking risks in communication so as to avoid making mistakes and could consequently reduce their desire to communicate. However, the effects of this personal trait on Chinese learners’ L2 WTC via social media remain under-explored. Thus, the researcher decided to explore the relationship of WTC through social media to the personality factor of risk-taking propensity.. Purpose of the Study The present study was conducted for three purposes. The first goal was to compare Taiwanese EFL learners’ WTC when they communicate in English on four internet-based means of communication: Facebook Messenger, Facebook Messages, Skype video calls, and Skype video messages. The research focus will be placed on the functions the social media provide rather than on the social media itself since a single social medium may allow more than one feature in terms of interpersonal socializing. The functions listed in Table 1 are classified according to their immediacy 4.

(18) (i.e., the horizontal axis) and communication mode (i.e., the vertical axis): For example, one of the most common methods to conduct synchronous written communication is online chat, Cell 1, where users could exchange verbal information simultaneously. If two interlocutors are unable to be online at the same time, then the information could be electronically stored and read later by the receiver when he or she connects to the Internet, which belongs to Cell 2. For another kind of communication mode, which requires users’ listening and speaking ability, it can be classified as synchronous or asynchronous as well, referring to Cell 3 and 4 respectively. Specifically, the researcher attempts to investigate whether immediacy and mode of communication provided by different functions of the social media make a significant difference in learners’ English L2 WTC. Second, the study aims at examining the influence of risk-taking propensity on WTC through the four internet-based means of communication mentioned above. The third aim is to explore other potential factors that guide EFL learners to choose a specific social medium to communicate with others in English.. Table 1 Categorization of Functions Provided by Social Media. Synchronous. Asynchronous. 1. Online chat. 2. Electronic message. (e.g., on Facebook Messenger). (e.g., on Facebook Messages). Oral/. 3. Voice-Over-Internet. 4. Video message. Aural. (e.g., on Skype video calls). (e.g., on Skype video messages). Written Mode. Communication. Immediacy. 5.

(19) Research Questions In this study, the following three key research questions are addressed. RQ1: What is the effect of the social media’s functions on an EFL individuals’ willingness to communicate in English? More specifically, we address the following two questions: (a) Is there a significant difference in an EFL individuals’ willingness to communicate in English through different functions of the social media in the context of Taiwan? (b) Is there a significant interaction effect of social media’s immediacy and communication mode on willingness to communicate? RQ2: Does the personality factor of risk-taking propensity have a significant effect on EFL individuals’ willingness to communicate in English through different functions of the social media in the context of Taiwan? RQ3: What factors do EFL learners perceive to influence their choice of different social media for communication in English in the context of Taiwan?. Significance of the Study The previous WTC studies have demonstrated the dynamic nature of UnWTC or WTC through a social medium (Freiermuth & Jarrel, 2006; Lloyd, 2012; Reinders & Wattana, 2011) and the link between individuals’ personality traits and their online communication behavior (Hamburger & Ben-Artzi, 2000; Kraut et al., 2002; Sheldon, 2008). Nevertheless, most of these studies were limited to a single social medium and did not offer much analysis in terms of the effects of a social medium’s nature or the communication mode it provides. In contrast, the present study examines how L2 WTC differs with functions or media among learners of relatively high L2 proficiency level. The findings of this study may enrich our understanding regarding the role of social media in WTC. Furthermore, EFL students’ WTC through different functions of 6.

(20) social media have not been sufficiently researched at the undergraduate level in Taiwan. Therefore, the results of the present study might shed some light on the effects of social media and personality traits on undergraduate EFL learners’ WTC in the context of Taiwan. Rather than being confined to the speaking aspect or face-to-face communication only, focus on WTC could be expanded into text-based or delayed-time mode of communication as well. Moreover, through such an examination, the researcher anticipates giving pedagogical implications to the college instructors in Taiwan in engendering L2 learners’ WTC when they attempt to introduce the social media in question into language classrooms. To heighten learners’ L2 WTC, students’ innate personal attributes and different natures of social media are worth our attention. Finally, the researcher hopes to academically contribute to the domain of WTC theory from a situational perspective by connecting it with analysis of social media’s natures.. Definitions of Terms Willingness to Communicate (WTC) The concept of willingness to communicate (WTC) refers to the probability of one’s tendency to initiate a communication in L1 when presented a free choice (McCroskey & Baer, 1985). Later, McCroskey and Richmond (1987) defined WTC more specifically as “a personality-based, traitlike predisposition which is relatively consistent across a variety of communication contexts and types of receivers” (p.134). This trait perspective was widely challenged by those who took a situational perspective and argued that WTC should be better understood as a dynamic construct emerging through situational variables (e.g., Cao & Philp, 2006; Kang, 2005; Tiu, 2001; Wang, 2008). The situational perspective of WTC has gained more recognition from L2 researchers, such as MacIntyre et al. (1998), who defined WTC as “a 7.

(21) readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2” (p.547). Conceptually derived from the situational approach, an ecological understanding of WTC, which stresses the impact of both individual and contextual/environmental variables on WTC, was proposed in recent years by Cao (2011), Peng (2012), and Peng and Woodrow (2010). From an ecological perspective, “a learner is an organism embedded in the environment…any changes in a learners’ behavior would affect the psycho-social atmosphere in the environment, which in turn causes changes to all parties involved” (Peng, 2012, p.211). Therefore, an ecological approach to WTC research is “contextualized, situated and observation-based research which focuses on contextual analysis” (van Lier, 2004; cited in Cao, 2011, p. 469). Among the diverse conceptualizations as presented above, MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) perspective of WTC seems to best suit the purpose of this research because the present study does not intend to examine the broader contextual factors in WTC but assumes WTC varies with different situations and interlocutors. Therefore, the researcher defines WTC in English via social media as learners’ perceptions of their psychological readiness to initiate a conversation in English online via different functions of social media with their classmates and friends.. Asynchronous and Synchronous Communication Often contrasted with face-to-face interaction, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is an umbrella term describing any form of communicative transaction conducted via computers. With respect to immediacy, CMC can be achieved in the asynchronous or synchronous form: While the former allows delayed-time interaction such as electronic mail, the latter refers to real-time activities such as text-based chatrooms despite the possible geographical distances between the interlocutors. In this study, as presented earlier, the emphasis will be placed on the 8.

(22) asynchronous and synchronous communication occurring in different functions of social media, which serve as a virtual platform for them to operate.. Social Media Distinct from traditional media such as newspaper or television programs, social media are relatively inexpensive and readily accessible to the public to publish or receive information. Kaplan and Haelein (2010) defined social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (p.61). According to Kaplan and Haelein (2010), types of social media therefore include blogs, collaborative projects, SNSs, content communities, virtual social worlds, and virtual game worlds. Whereas similar ideas like social media were termed “information and communication technology (ICT)”, “social networking service”, or “social networking tools”, to avoid ambiguity, the researcher would use the term “social media” and follow Kaplan and Haelein’s (2010) idea, defining it as the online interactive applications that individuals use to construct their own personal social network in real life.. Risk-Taking Propensity Ely (1986) labeled the construct Language Risk Taking, specifically referring it to “an individual’s tendency to assume risks in using the L2 in the second language class” (p.3), and viewed it as a crucial antecedent of voluntary classroom participation. The researcher expanded Ely’s (1986) conceptualization and defined risk-taking propensity as one’s tendency to bear risks in using the L2 to communicate with others.. 9.

(23) Organization of the Study The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction of background, the statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research questions, the significance of the study, definition of terms and organization of the study. Chapter two contains a detailed literature review of theoretical foundations of WTC constructs, approaches to conceptualizing WTC, development of L2 WTC models, risk-taking propensity and WTC, and social media and communication. It also reviews empirical studies on the relation between WTC and social media usage in the L2 contexts. Chapter three offers information about the research design and data collection and analysis procedures of the study. Chapter four displays the findings of both the quantitative and qualitative data analyses. Finally, Chapter five summarizes and discusses the main findings, followed by limitations. Besides, pedagogical implications and suggestions are given at the end of the chapter.. 10.

(24) CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REIVEW This section contains literature review of the key theoretical foundations of WTC constructs, approaches to conceptualizing WTC, development of L2 WTC models, risk-taking and WTC, and the relation of social media to communication. Besides, it introduces theories and studies regarding social presence, media richness, and media choice performed by the social media users. Finally, empirical studies on the relation between WTC in English and social media usage in the L1 or L2 contexts are reviewed.. Theoretical Foundations of WTC Construct In McCroskey and Richmond’s (1990a) article on WTC studies, five primary foundations for the development of its construct were identified: works of Phillips (1968) on reticence, McCroskey (1970) on communication apprehension (CA), Burgoon (1976) on unwillingness to communicate (UnWTC), Mortensen, Artson, and Lustig (1977) on predispositions toward verbal behavior (PVB), and McCroskey and Richmond (1982) on shyness. They were introduced as follows. The interest and concern of WTC are said to originate from Phillips’s (1968) recognition of reticence—a speech-personality disorder afflicting the “normal” speaker. One suffers from reticence may be defined as “a person for whom anxiety about participation in oral communication outweighs his projection of gain from the situation” (p.40). While previous research on stage fright and stutter reinforced the connection between inadequacy of speaking performance and one’s emotional disturbance, Phillips proposed reticence as a problem of social personality in general communication contexts and believed that it was associated with deeper psychological factors. Following Phillip’s (1968) conceptualization, McCroskey (1970) labeled the 11.

(25) phenomenon of communication-bound anxiety “communication apprehension (CA)”, which was subsequently defined as “an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (McCroskey, 1977, p.78). Rather, from Burgoon’s (1976) perspective, the construct of CA , reticence, anomia, alienation, introversion, and self-esteem were regarded as composing elements of unwillingness of communicate (UnWTC)—“a chronic tendency to avoid and/or devalue oral communication” (p.60). UnWTC was later conceptualized as a counterpart of WTC, referring to the probability of one’s tendency to initiate a conversation when free to do so (McCroskey & Baer, 1985). The fourth theoretical basis of WTC is Mortensen et al.’s (1977) idea of predispositions toward verbal behavior (PVB) in L1 communication. They considered PVB to be a predictor of one’s actual talking frequency across different social contexts. Another important construct related to WTC is shyness, which was conceptualized as the tendency to be timid and talk less (McCroskey & Richmond, 1982) or as a social anxiety (Leary, 1983). Although some researchers viewed CA and shyness as conceptually alike (Parks, 1980), McCroskey and Richmond (1982) concluded that CA and shyness form a “genus-specie relationship” instead of being parallel constructs. Besides, both CA and reticence were suggested to be two possible subcategories of shyness, resulting from fear and poor communication skills respectively. The constructs of reticence, CA, UnWTC, PVB, and shyness share a similar assumption that the tendency toward withdrawal from interaction is generally based on individual traits. They all provide significant theoretical foundations for WTC theories and studies in L1 and L2 communication as well.. 12.

(26) Approaches to Conceptualizing WTC This section introduces three approaches to conceptualizing WTC: trait-like, situational, and ecological approaches.. Trait-like Approach to WTC Evolved from Burgoon’s (1976) UnWTC, the notion of WTC in L1 communication was proposed by McCroskey and Richmond (1987) as a “personality-based, traitlike predisposition which is relatively consistent across a variety of communication contexts and types of receivers” (p.134). In other words, one’s WTC in one context (e.g., discussing in meetings) is argued to be correlated with that in other communication contexts (e.g., talking in dyads or interacting within a small group); also, one’s WTC with one kind of receiver (e.g., acquaintances) is argued to be correlated with that with other kinds of receivers (e.g., friends or strangers). Moreover, McCroskey and Richmond (1990b) labeled the variables which were claimed to exert a certain degree of influence on individuals’ WTC as “antecedents”, which included introversion, self-esteem, communication competence, CA, and cultural diversity. They concluded that WTC was positively associated with frequency and amount of communication involving desired outcomes. A number of studies indicated that individuals tended to experience higher CA when speaking in foreign languages than when using their mother tongue (Allen & Andriate, 1984; McCroskey, Fayer, & Richmond, 1985). Subsequently, MacIntyre (1994) applied the WTC construct to the domain of L2 communication, suggesting that CA and self-perceived competence were the two most immediate factors determining one’s level of WTC across different situations, while anomie and alienation—correlates of UnWTC in Burgoon’s (1976) earlier work—were not identified as casual factors. In addition, some other personal traits were demonstrated 13.

(27) to correlate with one’s L2 WTC by researchers who believed that WTC is a predisposition, including L2 self-confidence (Clément, Baker, & MacIntyre, 2003; Kang, 2005; Peng & Woodrow, 2010; Yashima, 2002; Yashima, Zenuk-Nishide, & Shimizu, 2004), learning motivation or orientation (Hashimoto, 2002; MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Donovan, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004), international posture (Yashima, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004), age and gender (MacIntyre, et al., 2002), and foreign language anxiety (Chu, 2008; Liu & Jackson, 2002). However, some scholars argued that the picture would not be complete without taking situational factors into consideration. In particular, MacIntyre (2007) called for a methodology adapted to the dynamic nature of WTC as a volitional decision that underlies communication at specific moments. This situational perspective is presented as follows.. Situational Approach to WTC Analyzing WTC from the situational perspective, some scholars claimed that WTC would vary across cultural or contextual settings. For instance, levels of teacher immediacy—the instructors’ effort to narrow down the psychological distance between teachers and students in class—might affect students’ WTC levels (Cao, 2011; Hsu, 2006; Lin, 2003; Wang, 2008; Wen & Clément, 2003). The extent of social support for language learning, especially from one’s friends, was shown to influence WTC among L2 French immersion students outside the classroom (MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Conrod, 2001). MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, and Donovan (2003) also suggested that previous immersion experience would promote the WTC among the university-level students. In Tiu’s (2001) study, it was discovered that if provided with opportunities for practical speaking or normal conversation, high school students would experience greater WTC in the English class. Kang (2005) discovered that the 14.

(28) emergence of situational WTC among Korean college students is susceptible to the joint role of three situational determinants (i.e., topic, interlocutor, and speaking context) and three psychological antecedents (i.e., security, excitement, and responsibility), suggesting that WTC is a dynamic situational construct changing from moment to moment rather than a trait-like stable tendency. In a more recent research, Cao and Philp (2006) examined L2 learners’ differences in WTC when engaged in the interaction of whole class, small group, and dyad. They found that interlocutor effect and group size or perceived suitable speaking opportunity would come into play in WTC levels. According to the discussion above, situational and contextual factors should be considered when examining one’s WTC in addition to individual characteristics. Taking this situational view, MacIntyre et al. (1998) defined L2 WTC as “a readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2” (p.547). MacIntyre et al.’s conceptualization is widely used in L2 research. The following section presents an ecological view expanded from the situational perspective.. Ecological Approach to WTC Ecology implies “the relationships between all the various organisms and their physical environment” (van Lier, 2002, p.14). From the ecological perspective, the language-learning contexts are “socially constructed and dynamically negotiated on a moment-by-moment basis” (van Lier, 2000, 2002, as cited in Cao, 2011, p.469) and learners are “immersed in an environment full of potential meanings” as they interact “within and with this environment” (van Lier, 2000, p.245). In other words, an ecological approach values the interdependence between internal and external variables with focal focus on contextual analysis from a holistic view. As forerunners 15.

(29) in analyzing WTC from an ecological perspective, Wen and Clément (2003) discovered that students’ motivational orientations, affective perceptions, and societal contexts all played a critical role in determining their WTC besides personality factors. However, the first typical ecological approach to researching WTC is Cao’s (2009) qualitative analysis of situational WTC among six university L2 learners in New Zealand. More recently, several researchers took an ecological perspective, exploring the intertwined relationship among a range of potential antecedents to WTC in the L2 classrooms of China (Peng, 2012; Peng & Woodrow, 2012) and New Zealand (Cao, 2011). These antecedents spanned individual, linguistic, contextual, and societal levels. As Peng (2012) concluded, “from an ecological perspective, a learner is an organism embedded in the environment…any changes in a learners’ behavior would affect the psycho-social atmosphere in the environment, which in turn causes changes to all parties involved” (p.211).. Development of L2 WTC Models This section presents WTC models in L2 communication (MacIntyre et al., 1998; Peng & Woodrow, 2010; Wen & Clément, 2003) which marked the influence of intrapersonal factors on individuals’ WTC and informed the conceptual framework of the current study.. MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) Model MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) heuristic model (see Figure 1) is one of the most comprehensive constructs to account for WTC among L2 learners. In the model, linguistic, communicative, and social-psychological variables are integrated to form a pyramid composed of six hierarchical layers: The bottom three layers—those of motivational propensities, affective-cognitive context, and social and individual 16.

(30) context—are hypothesized to serve as the basis for the rest of the factors to play their role in rendering the final outcome of WTC. For example, one’s personality and motivation for L2 learning are relatively enduring and stable in comparison with factors of state self-confidence or desire to talk with a specific person. On the other hand, the upper three layers—those of communication behavior, behavioral intention, and situated antecedents—presumably assume the role of higher immediacy in influencing individual’s WTC level with respect to specific situations or interlocutors.. Figure 1. MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) Heuristic Model of WTC Variables. Although the value of MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) WTC model is evidenced in several studies (Dörnyei, 2003; Hashimoto, 2002; MacIntyre et al., 2001; Matsuda & Gobel, 2004; Wen & Clément, 2003; Yashima, 2002; Yashima et al., 2004), these studies were primarily conducted with students in the Western-culture world. As engendering pancultural assumptions about WTC might be hardly justifiable (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990a), an L2 WTC construct customized for EFL learners 17.

(31) is warranted. An ecological model of WTC in a Chinese setting was proposed by Wen and Clément (2003), as presented below.. Wen and Clément’s (2003) WTC Model With the hope of extending MacIntyre et al.’s (1998) heuristic model to a Chinese setting, Wen and Clément (2003) proposed a Chinese conceptualization of WTC in English, in which the cultural values of Confucianism are brought into the picture. In the paper, a number of factors embedded in the Confucian Classics that might influence one’s WTC were discussed and labeled as “societal context”, “personality factors”, “motivational orientation”, and “affective perceptions” on a continuum with DC (i.e., Desire to Communicate) and WTC as both ends, as shown in Figure 2. Within the model, a distinction between DC and WTC is made: The former is conceptualized as “a deliberate choice or preference” while the latter focuses on the readiness to talk. Wen and Clément (2003) noted that an individual having the desire to communicate may choose to withdraw from the attempt due to anxiety or the tense atmosphere in a specific context. In other words, one is likely to experience a complex process from having the desire to talk to actually engaging in a conversation. Wen and Clément’s (2003) WTC model seems quite well-rounded as a preliminary attempt to take an ecological approach to WTC, which involves a dynamic interplay among communicative, linguistic, and social-psychological correlates among Chinese students. However, the model is yet to be objectively tested by empirical studies.. 18.

(32) Figure 2. Variables Moderating the Relation between DC and WTC in the Chinese EFL Classroom (Wen & Clément, 2003). Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) L2 WTC Model Having a similar focus to Wen and Clément (2003) on WTC among Chinese EFL learners, Peng and Woodrow (2010) developed another L2 WTC model, also adopting an ecological approach. They perceived classroom dynamics to be related to individual and contextual variables. Figure 3 shows their model. On the one hand, among the four variables investigated, Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) model hypothesized individual’s L2 communication confidence as the most significant predictor of WTC among Chinese university students, which is consistent with previous findings (e.g., Clément et al., 2003; MacIntyre & Charos, 1996; MacIntyre et al., 1998; Yashima, 2002) despite regional variance. On the other hand, Peng and Woodrow (2010) specifically underlined the controlling power of culture-fueled beliefs on students’ motivation and L2 self-confidence. The cultural influence on Chinese learners will be further discussed in the next section.. 19.

(33) Figure 3. Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) Hypothesized L2 WTC Model in the Chinese EFL Classroom. It should be noted that both Wen and Clément’s (2003) and Peng and Woodrow’s (2010) L2 ecological WTC models are confined to classroom settings. Moreover, most of the previous WTC studies only paid attention to the face-to-face or speaking aspect of communication. The gaps thus motivated the researcher to investigate whether the communication mode (i.e., written or oral/aural) would exert a significant influence on WTC among Taiwanese undergraduate EFL students when they authentically communicate in English through social media outside the classroom. Besides, the researcher intends to examine the role of risk-taking propensity, a personal trait highlighted in Wen and Clément’s (2003) model, in WTC with respect to different communication modes and immediacy of social media. Issues related to risk-taking propensity are addressed in the following section.. The Role of Risk-Taking Propensity in WTC This section is concerned with the relation between WTC and a personality factor that has been briefly discussed in the previous chapter—risk-taking propensity. 20.

(34) specifically regarding L2 learners in the EFL settings. According to Naiman et al. (1975) and Rubin and Thompson (1982), one of the prominent attributes of successful language learners is the capacity to willingly make an intelligent guess, thereby suggesting the importance of risk-taking in L2 learning. Risk-taking is defined as “any consciously, or nonconsciously controlled behavior with a perceived uncertainty about its outcome” (Trimpop, 1994, p.9). To facilitate communication in an L2, some risks are unavoidable, such as making mistakes, feeling frustrated, being laughed at, receiving a negative judgment from others, or imposing embarrassment on oneself (Beebe, 1983). Like individuals afflicted with CA, “people who fear negative evaluation rarely initiate conversation and interact minimally” (Gregerson & Horwitz, 2002, as cited in Liu & Jackson, 2008, p.72). Applying the notion to the L2 classroom with a narrower focus, Ely (1986) labeled the construct Language Risk Taking, referring to one’s tendency to bear risks in using the L2 in the class setting. As mentioned earlier, in Wen and Clément’s (2003) conceptualization of WTC among Chinese, one of the variables on the continuum from DC to WTC is “personality factors” (see Figure 3). As two subcategories of personality factors, risk-taking and ambiguity tolerance were recognized by Wen and Clément as culturally significant and affectively correlated with WTC among Chinese students. East Asian students have been notoriously regarded as shy, conservative, self-effacing, passive, reticent, and therefore unwilling to speak in L2 in class (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996; Flowerdew & Miller, 1995; Tsui, 1996; Zimbardo, 1977) since they have long been encouraged to restrain the desire to talk in the class. Also, it is considered ‘selfish’ to waste other students’ class time by expressing one’s own ideas in Chinese classrooms (Bond, 1996; Kennedy, 2002). For example, a participant in Peng’s (2012) qualitative study revealed his concern that if being too verbally expressive, “others will think you 21.

(35) are a crank” (p.207). As a result, East Asian or Chinese students are often considered to be low risk-takers and cautious monitors who tend to overemphasize both accuracy and self-correction (Wen & Clément, 2003). Along a similar line, Kang (2005) labeled one of the psychological antecedents to situational WTC as security, referring to “feeling safe from the fears that nonnative speakers tend to have in L2 communication” (p.282). In other words, if one reports satisfactory level of security, then one is arguably more willing to try out the newly learned language and to bear the risk of failure. Based on the discussion above, it is concluded that risk-taking propensity may play a role in WTC construct in a Chinese cultural context. It is then arguably worthwhile to examine how Taiwanese EFL students’ risk-taking propensity relates to WTC in English via social media.. Social Media and Communication The following sections discuss the attributes of social media available, the common ways to classify social media (i.e., Social Presence and Media Richness Theory) and the role of personality factors on individuals’ media choice. The two popular social media under study—Facebook and Skype—and the communication functions they mainly feature are introduced as well.. Attributes of Social Media Since the launch of the Internet in the 1960s, how we communicate has been dramatically revolutionized and it is an ongoing process around the globe. Thanks to the technological inventions and the advancement of computer-mediated communication (CMC), people are not required to meet with each other at the same 22.

(36) time in the same place to “talk” anymore. Compared with face-to-face communication, CMC features aloneness, anonymity, expression equality, and time delay (Berge &Collins, 1995; Tu, 2000; Wang & Woo, 2007). With CMC, participants are provided a less threatening environment in which they can voice themselves more freely and equally (Chu, 2008; Joinson, 1998; Tu, 2000; Warschauer, 1996) since online audience is less likely to judge the opinion by who they are. Also, it was pointed out that with visual anonymity, CMC allows shy and considerate people more opportunities to comment without the fear of negative reactions (Chun, 1994; Phllips, 1983; Hartman, et al., 1991). The phenomenon motivated Van Gelder (1990) and Misanchuk, Morrison, and Peterson (1997) to refer to CMC as “egalitarian”. Online communication or CMC can be synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (time-delayed). Asynchronous CMC systems, in particular, enable media users not only to retrieve the information whenever they want but also to prepare their responses without time pressure. CMC provides a virtual technological platform for social media to evolve and operate on. As Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined, social media is “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content” (p.61). According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2007), User Generated Content (UGC) needs to meet three basic requirements: being published on a networking website publicly accessible to a particular group of people, showing creative effort, and being produced outside of professional practices. Corresponding to the concept of UGC, Musser and his associates (2007) identified three key features of social media as user participation, openness, and network effects, which capture the participatory essence of social networking value. It seems that social media not only invite user to get involved in the 23.

(37) public sharing but also level the playing ground in the digital world. One of the typologies of Web 2.0 tools (i.e., social media applications) was proposed by Conole and Alevizou (2010). From their perspective, Web 2.0 tools could be categorized as media sharing, media manipulation and mash ups, instant messaging, chat and conversational arenas, online games and virtual worlds, social networking, blogging, social bookmarking, recommendation systems, wikis and collaborative editing tools, and syndication. In a similar fashion, Kaplan and Haelein (2010) classified them as blogs, collaborative projects, SNSs, content communities, virtual social worlds, and virtual game worlds depending on their degree of self-presentation/self-disclosure and social presence/media richness. The following section is concerned with the two most common theoretical approaches to categorizing social media—Social Presence and Media Richness.. Theoretical Approaches to Classifying Social Media Regardless of the convenience and other benefits inherent in the CMC tools, they still do not replace the most traditional communication media—that is face-to-face interaction. One of the reasons is the sacrifice of the multiple resources of verbal or non-verbal cues in CMC, such as immediate feedback, intonation, physical proximity, eye contact, facial expression, and body gestures. To respond to the discrepancy among access to information afforded by various media, Social Presence Theory (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976) argues that communication media vary in their degree of Social Presence, and that these variations are important in determining the way individuals interact…thus, the capacity to transmit information about facial expression, direction of looking, posture, dress, and non-verbal cues, all contribute to the Social Presence of a communication medium. (p.65) 24.

(38) Simply put, the higher the social presence, the greater the impact the communicators have on each other’s behavior (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). As Short et al. (1976) conceived, social presence is related to the dimensions of intimacy (Argyle & Dean, 1965) and immediacy (Wiener & Mehrabian, 1968) in social psychology. The former denotes an equilibrium developing among eye-contact, physical proximity, intimacy of topic, smiling, and so forth; the latter refers to the psychological distance placed between a speaker and the objects he communicates about, the addressee, or the communication itself. Both of them can be seen as a kind of verbal strategy employed to match the specific conditions and interlocutors. Another idea closely related to Social Presence is Media Richness. Daft and Lengel (1986) proposed Media Richness Theory, which is sometimes referred to as Information Richness Theory. They claim that media differ in their ability to reduce ambiguity, to satisfy interpretation needs, and to transmit information (Daft & Lengel, 1984). Media can be characterized as “rich” or “lean” according to the immediacy of feedback, the mobilization of symbolic cues, the use of natural language, and personal factors (Daft & Wiginton, 1979). Given this understanding, face-to-face communication is the richest medium with the greatest potential to eliminate ambiguity than any other media such as teleconferencing or memos. In the theory, information richness is defined as “the ability of information to change understanding within a time interval” (Daft & Lengel, 1986, p.560). More specifically, uncertainty and equivocality are proposed as two forces that influence information processing (Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986). The former refers to “the gap between the data that is needed and the data that is currently available to resolve a problem or issue”, and the latter refers to “the existence of multiple and conflicting interpretations of an issue” (Trevino et al., 1990, p.177). When there is a lack of consensual understanding (i.e., equivocality), negotiation is required in order to reach 25.

(39) agreement among communicators. The theory further posits that people would select appropriate media to match the equivocality of the message content (Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986; Lengel & Daft, 1988). The two approaches (i.e., Social Presence and Media Richness) seem to overlap to a certain degree in that both of them attempt to account for the influence of media choice on social communication processes. The research adopted the criterion of Media Richness to classify and determine the functions of social media to be investigated in this study, as shown in Table 1.. Social Media under Investigation Facebook. One of the social media investigated in the study is Facebook. Facebook is an SNS launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. It has attracted nearly one billion users around the world as of September 2012 (Fowler, 2012) and has been claimed as the most popular SNS among college students (Cassidy, 2006; Stutzman, 2006). According to Qualman (2011), “if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third largest”. Generally speaking, Facebook allows its users to create a personal profile, exchange private messages, chat online (by text or video), participate in discussion threads, publish on virtual timelines, join different groups, and keep a blog to stay connected with friends or family. It is then not surprising that this SNS was described as “a hip, hot and happening site” (Vander Veer, 2008, p.158) that engages a flood of members around the world. Furthermore, Schwartz (2009) recently argued that Facebook has become an extension of the classroom in which a wide array of interaction takes place among students. While Facebook has been seen as an integral part of the Net Generation learners’ life, however, it was noted that the students were not necessarily able to make the most of the Web 2.0 tools in ways that would benefit them (Blattner & Lomicka, 2012; 26.

(40) Tapscott, 1997, 2009). Therefore, additional insight is needed regarding how students’ WTC in English can be affected by the functions Facebook affords. Among the functions it affords, the current study focused on Facebook Messenger as synchronous written-mode communication and on Facebook Messages as asynchronous written-mode communication. Skype. Skype is a free Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software alternative to conventional phone service. It was initially released in 2003 and has already reached 663 million global users in 2011 (“Skype grows FY,” 2011). Users are enabled to carry out a real-time two-way chat by voice, video, or instant text message simultaneously; also, Skype supports conference calls up to 25 users at the same time. Basically, the service of direct voice communication with peers is free of charge while some extra paid services are also available such as calls to landline numbers or mobile phones. Currently, Skype is recognized as the most widely used VoIP application, well-supported on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems (Mullen, Appel, & Shanklin, 2009). Along a similar line, from Mullen et al.’s (2009) viewpoint, the mere existence of VoIP services “is not enough to benefit language learners in an organized, structured way” (p.102); rather, it warrants closer examination as to how to provide the support students need for taking advantage of the opportunities such application presents (Mullen et al, 2009). To contrast with the services afforded by Facebook previously mentioned in terms of communication mode and immediacy, the synchronous oral/aural-mode communication carried out on Skype video calls and the asynchronous oral/aural-mode communication carried out on Skype video messages were chosen for study.. 27.

(41) The Role of Personality in Media Choice The discussion of media choice might benefit from consideration of the role of personal traits. As mentioned earlier, CMC is said to have an equalizing effect on online participation across gender, social status, and age (Beauvois, 1992; Kelm, 1992; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996, 2000). It was also reported facilitating discussions by “free[ing] people from the bonds of physical appearances and enable[ing] communication at the level of ideas” (Gunawardena, Wilson, & Nolla, 2003, p.760). The relatively lower media richness of CMC channels in comparison with face-to-face communication might be an advantage for some (Tu, 2000). In particular, asynchronous communication may allow users to reflect more on their production and to prepare more carefully, thereby reducing individuals’ amount of anxiety (Aiken, 1993; Eastmond, 1995; Lloyd, 2012; Tu, 2000). Such kind of CMC might also lead to a decline in communication barriers and a relaxation of face-maintaining principle (Garramone, Harris, & Anderson, 1986; Hiemstra, 1982; Hiltz & Turoff, 1993) and may thus encourage risk averters to adventure or gambit more comfortably in an L2. Therefore, it might be reasonable to expect risk-avoiding users to prefer asynchronous to synchronous CMC, as supported by Lloyd’s (2012) study. On the other hand, risk takers that are more willing to bear risks might prefer spoken over written mode of CMC in that the former claims higher information richness despite higher risks inherent in speaking performance. However, these assumptions have not been tested in L2 communication studies, especially concerning learners’ WTC.. Pedagogical Use of Social Media in Practice Some social media (e.g., Blogs, SNSs, and Virtual Game Worlds) have been widely applied in pedagogy for not only facilitating teaching and learning efficiency 28.

(42) but also integrating students’ real-life experience into the classroom. This section will briefly discuss the pedagogical benefits these social media bring both inside and outside the classroom. From Kaplan and Haenlein’s (2010) viewpoint, Bulletin Board System (also known as BBS) established the foundation of social media which “allowed users to exchange software, data, messages, and news with each other” (p.60). BBS was found to engage students in a knowledge construction process (Pena-Shaff & Nicholls, 2004), to give shy students an opportunity to enter group discussions without feeling intimidated (Phillips & Santoro, 1989), to boost student computer literacy and allow easier access to the instructor (Kahn & Brookshire, 1991), to facilitate learner-interface interaction with message threading (Tu, 2000), to create a collaborative learning environment for undergraduate students (Hiltz, 1997), and to result in better use of syntax in students’ publishing (Riel, 1990). Another pervasive asynchronous text-based social media broadly used as educational tools is Blogs, also called “the new bulletin boards” (Selingo, 2004). It was revealed that student could use blogs to publicly publish their own writing to real audience (Lara & Lomicka, 2008), to peer review (Flatley, 2005; Wu, 2006), to work on their project collaboratively in any time and place (Flatley, 2005), to enhance their literacy through storytelling (Huffaker, 2006), and to share materials among peers more efficiently than using e-mail or journal (Quible, 2005; Selingo, 2004). SNSs are defined by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) as “applications that enable users to connect by creating personal information profiles, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles, and sending e-mails and instant messages between each other” (p.63), such as Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and LinkedIn. They were argued to foster relationships among students (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Kok, 2008), to develop a sense of community and learners’ socio-pragmatic 29.

(43) competence in language classrooms (Blattner & Fiori, 2009; Kok, 2008; Rovai, 2002), to increase learner autonomy by connecting learners with other L2 speakers (McBride, 2009), to create an alternative space that enables critical literacy in relation to writing (Reid, 2011), and to substantially enhance students’ learning motivation (Shih, 2013). As McBride (2009) concluded, the “addictive appeal” of SNSs may induce “a sense of flow” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990), in which an individual feels strongly immersed in an activity and loses track of time due to the full engagement (Egbert, 2005). According to Goleman (1996), such a state may represent “the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning” (p.91). In virtual game worlds, users can take the form of avatars and interact with one another just as in real life. It is said that “virtual worlds are probably the ultimate manifestation of Social Media, as they provide the highest level of social presence and media richness of all applications discussed thus far” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, p.64). As Gee (2003, 2007) noted, games are designed to bring pleasure and learning together through a focus on an engaging goal-oriented task. Take World of Warcraft (WoW), a widely played massively multiplayer online game, for example. Since WoW supports multilingual communication in English, Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish and other languages, its potential of facilitating language learning has been broadly explored. One of the earliest related studies (Thorne, 2008) described an interaction between two players in US and Russia, who initially spoke different first languages but successfully communicated with each other by resorting to various strategies. The transcript implicitly exhibited a number of educational values lain in the virtual game world, such as natural language use, moderate self-correction at the linguistic level, motivation to learn the other’s language, and reciprocal expert status (Thorne & Fischer, 2012). Few years later, a gamer posted on an online forum a question: “Does WoW help you learn a foreign language?” From the feedback on the 30.

(44) discussion topic, Thorne (2010) discovered that WoW contributed to overall fluency, fostered naturalistic acquisition of a second or third language, and exposed players to the concept of World Englishes. Though the list is far from exhaustive, it can be concluded that applying social media to language learning may foster critical thinking ability, develop students’ social competence, promote peer collaboration, and expand the learning beyond the classroom walls (Sirc & Reynolds, 1990; Tu, 2000; Wang & Woo, 2007). However, as Tu (2000) cautioned, to provide a better environment for L2 students to learn, the nature of social media and users’ perceptions of the media should be taken into consideration. Tu’s suggestion motivated the researcher to examine the influence of a learner variable, risk-taking propensity, on individuals’ social media performance.. WTC in Social Media: Empirical Research in the L2 Contexts This section reviews empirical studies examining users’ L2 WTC through such social media as online-chatting system, digital game, and SNSs. Freiermuth and Jarrell (2006) employed electronic online chat as the teaching technique and examined its effects on interlocutors’ WTC. This study consisted of a highly homogenous group, all being female Japanese university students. The aim was to evaluate their WTC level by examining their experiences of task-solving online in small groups and comparing them to participants who completed the same tasks in spoken conversation groups. Thirty-six undergraduate students were divided into two groups based on their TOEIC scores and class levels in a heterogeneous manner. After the tasks were carried out, a questionnaire was delivered to assess the procedure and students’ experiences of working in each medium. Freiermuth and Jarrell (2006) concluded that online chat actually elicited a higher WTC among students since it suspended the social rules found in face-to-face settings. Participants’ 31.

(45) perceived inabilities in English were eliminated and there was no social penalty for making an error or having pronunciation problems. Overall, students were enabled to relax and focus on the language exercise without the threat of embarrassment. Digital games were used as language-learning online media by Reinders and Wattana (2011), who were interested in the effects of playing a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) on language learning and players’ WTC. The pilot study involved 16 undergraduate students from Thailand between 21 and 26 years old, all of who reported playing digital games 27 hours per week on average. An existing game called Ragnarok Online was employed as the main material and modified to ensure its appropriateness to the L2 learning context. After finishing each gaming session, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to report their WTC in English on a Likert scale about various situations possibly encountered during the game. As the results indicated, compared with face-to-face interaction, the digital game positively increased students’ interaction in the L2 through text-based and oral-based chat during the gaming sessions. Also, they generally showed positive attitude toward communication in English, especially when confused about the quest posed by the digital game. Overall, the use of digital game in language learning was proved to substantially enhance players’ WTC and motivation and to provide a relatively non-threatening environment for interaction in L2 as well. More recently, Lloyd (2012) investigated language learners’ use of Livemocha, a SNS affording language exchange in asynchronous or synchronous, written or spoken form. The author aimed at exploring the combined influence of personality variables and social situation on one’s WTC on the site, hypothesizing that WTC would increase in the online communication environment. Eight undergraduate students in UK voluntarily participated in the project with different L2s to practice. During the ten-week project, they were required to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 32.