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Self-Consciousness and the Unwillingness to Communicate: An Ethnographic Case Study

Self-Consciousness and the Unwillingness to Communicate: An Ethnographic Case Study

Cuong Huy Nguyen (International University-Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
Copyright: © 2024 |Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-5365-3.ch004
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Abstract

Willingness to communicate (WTC) inside the classroom has been vastly investigated. However, little research examines willingness to communicate in classes of English as a medium instruction. This ethnographic case study explored the reasons behind this phenomenon, through class observations and interviews. The findings showed that self-consciousness was the main barrier to their WTC in English as a second/ foreign language (L2WTC). The students were self-conscious of their own English proficiency and the risk of social rejection. Self-consciousness, which was initially found in only some students, gradually spread out and made up a Vietnamese-speaking classroom environment that deprived the whole class of the opportunities to speak English. An in-depth understanding of self-consciousness related to students' L2WTC will enable instructors and administrators to adopt proper measures to safeguard a classroom environment favorable for oral communication in English.
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2. Literature Review

To provide the background for the study, three main concepts, including L2WTC, self-consciousness, and the role of interaction, are reviewed below.

2.1 Willingness to Communicate in L2 (L2WTC)

A majority of studies on L2WTC are set in Asian contexts and focus on either the factors influencing L2WTC or the strategies to improve it inside the classroom. WTC was first proposed by McCroskey and Baer (1985) to refer to a durable personality trait among those L1 users willing to engage in social interactions. Based on this psychological construct, MacIntyre et al (1998) proposed a model of factors that had influence on L2WTC. WTC was defined as “readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2” (MacIntyre et al, 1998, p. 547). This model (see Figure 1) has six major layers of factors, each of which includes some specific constructs. According to this model, communication behaviors (L2 use) is impossible without L2WTC, which is in its turn pre-conditioned by individual and situational characteristics.

Figure 1.

Model of Factors Influencing WTC

979-8-3693-5365-3.ch004.f01
(MacIntyre et al., 1998)

Key Terms in this Chapter

Self-Conscious: Uncomfortably conscious of oneself as an object of the observation of others.

Case Study: A research methodology that involves collecting data from a single case or a group of similar cases to understand a complex phenomenon.

Ethnographic Case Study: A mix between ethnography and case study, the purpose of which is to make use of the strengths of each approach to best serve the intended research problem.

Ethnography: A type of social research that involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members' own interpretation of such behavior.

Willingness to Communicate in L2 (L2WTC): Readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using an L2.

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