The Relationship between Ideal L2 Self and Willingness to Communicate Inside the Classroom

Abstract

Over the past decades there has been a dramatic increase in academic research on motivation to learn a second or foreign language (L2). The present study tried to investigate the relationship between the ideal L2 self as a motivational variable and willingness to communicate in English (L2 WTC) inside the classroom. Participants were 56 university students majoring in English as a foreign language (EFL) at a private university in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected using the Ideal L2 Self Scale and Willingness to Communicate inside the Classroom Scale. Findings of descriptive statistics indicated that 32.1% of the participants had high L2 WTC inside the classroom, 30.4% had moderate L2 WTC inside the classroom, and 37.5% had low L2 WTC inside the classroom. Findings also revealed a significant relationship between these two constructs noticing the relations at a skills specific level. The implications are discussed to present ideas to language teachers, teacher trainers, and curriculum designers to raise their awareness on the impact of ideal L2 self on willingness to communicate.