University of Mohaghegh Ardabili Faculty of Literature and Humanities
Department of English
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of
M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language
The relationship between willingness to communicate and reflectivity/impulsivity styles of learning: Gender differences
revisited
By:
Halimeh E’tezadi Superviser:
Dr. Afsaneh Saeedakhtar Advisor:
Dr. Reza Abdi
January 2020
Title and Author:
The relationship between willingness to communicate and reflectivity/impulsivity styles of learning: Gender differences revisited
Halimeh E’tezadi
Supervisor: Dr. Afsaneh Saeedakhtar
Graduation date: 2020
Number of pages: 166
Abstract
The current study seeks to investigate the relationship between cognitive styles, reflectivity/impulsivity (R/I) and willingness to communicate (WTC) considering gender differences. The impact of funds of knowledge (FoK) on WTC was also assumed.
The participants were 99 students (69 female and 30 male). A proficiency test, preliminary English test (PET), was administered among the participants to select the intermediate learners. Then, three sets of questionnaires (on WTC, R/I, and FoK) were administered. As the last step for collecting data, 34 people were randomly interviewed. The results revealed that there was not a significant relationship between R/I and WTC.
However, there was a relationship between gender and WTC but the relationship was not significant. FoK was also found to be significantly correlated with students’ WTC. The participants reported, in the interview, that the amount of information, the teacher/professor’s behavior, and to some extent the topic of discussion played an important role in determining their WTC.
Key terms: Cognitive styles of learning, funds of knowledge, impulsivity, reflectivity, WTC
Chaptor One Introduction 1.1. Introduction
Benjamin Jowett (2017) writes about Plato’s view on reflectivity:
... Quick intelligence, memory, sagacity, cleverness, and similar qualities, do not often grow together, and that persons who possess them and are at the same time high-spirited and magnanimous are not so constituted by nature as to live orderly and in a peaceful and settled manner; they are driven any way by their impulses, and all solid principle goes out of them... On the other hand, those steadfast natures which can better be depended upon, which in a battle are impregnable to fear and immovable, are equally immovable when there is anything to be learned; they are always in a torpid state, and are apt to yawn and go to sleep over any intellectual toil (p. 504).
Long after Plato’s quote, a number of researchers (e.g., Ghapanchi & Dashti, 2011; Haghighi, Ghanavati, & Rahimi, 2015;
Nemat Tabrizi & Esmaeili, 2016; Mehrabizadeh Honarmand &
Rastegar, 2016; Soltani, Hadidi, & Seifoori, 2015) have done studies on cognitive styles, including R/I, which absolutely differ across individuals. They examined the relationship between R/I and some other personal variables such as reading comprehension, emotional intelligence, etc. They came to some conclusions, as an example they found no significant effect of R/I on reading comprehension
(Ghapanchi & Dashti, 2011), and on emotional intelligence (Nemat Tabrizi & Esmaeili, 2016). Reflective learners are those who seek accuracy and fluency, whereas, impulsive learners prefer to learn more thoroughly rather than more precisely. The former group avoids making mistakes, while the latter one might be more open to making mistakes (Shabani, Ramazani, & Alipoor, 2017). Reflective
individuals have the predisposition to analyze the possible solutions and select the most accurate one in order to avoid errors while impulsive people choose the first solution without thinking about its appropriateness (Michalska & Zając-Lamparska, 2015).Michalska and Zając-Lamparska believed that the impulsivity dimension of cognitive style “manifests itself in situations in which a person is faced with a specific cognitive problem and must choose one of the
possible solutions that compete with each other” (p. 574). R/I, two features of individuals, have been identified to have close relationship with language learning processes (Kagan, 1966). Based on the
findings of a study by Soltani et al. (2015), there was a relationship between Iranian male and female English foreign learners’ (EFL) use of R/I styles and their meta-cognitive awareness of reading strategy use, meaning that the reflective learners reported a significantly higher meta-cognitive awareness of reading strategies compared to the impulsive learners. In line with the effetiveness of learning styles (R/I) on reading skill, Nemat Tabrizi and Esmaeili (2016) found that there was a significant relationship between Iranian EFL impulsive learners’ emotional intelligence and their reading comprehension but no tangible relationship was found between reflective Iranian EFL learners’ emotional intelligence and reading comprehension.
Althhough many studies have revealed the effect of learning styles on learning various language skills and sub-skills, there was no consensus about the role of learning styles in language classes.
According to a study by Shabani et al. (2017), reflectivity did not have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners.
Winke (2007) also concluded learning styles did not affect learning in terms of reading comprehension.
Besides the studies on learning styles, specially R/I, and reading comprehension, the relationship between learning styles, synopsis (reflective)/ecstasis (impulsive), and WTC was also under investigation. Estakhr and Saberi (2017), for instance, concluded that there was a significant relationship between Iranian students’ learning style and their WTC, i.e., the students’ tendency to talk in class, which seems to be highly connected to learning styles; R/I. Impulsive students due to providing spontaneous responses, without deliberation, are taken as possessing high WTC. They show more interest to take part in classroom speaking activities and look more active than reflective students. Reflective students, on the other hand, think quietly before reacting (e.g., Alqadi, 2015; Batalla, Ledzińska, & Stolarski, 2014).
This deliberation makes them sound low in WTC and it might be thought that they are not that much inclined to collaborate in classroom activities.
What is absolute is that students do not enter the class as blank slates. Their background knowledge, interests, family related factors, all can affect their learning (Kinney, 2013; Wessels, 2012). When
engaging with questions about parents, communities, and children’s personal lives, it is argued that the teachers drew on their funds of knowledge (FoK) (Greenberg & Moll, 1992). The term FoK was used by Greenberg and Moll to refer to the information, skills, and strategies which families and households acquire and use to maintain their survival and well-being. As Ali, Halima, and Osman (2015) state, FoK actually is the teachers’ attempt to comprehend the students’
background experiences, culture, and language to construct a beneficial learning climate. In fact, in a situation that teachers are aware of students’ family and culture, they can understand them and creat circumastances in which the students are willing to express themselves and take part in class activities. When the teachers attempt to make use of FoK for learning, the degree of WTC might increase.
In order to establish a high rapport with students and obtain more information about their family life to foster their learning (e.g., Gonzalez, 2014; Kinney, 2013), the concept of FoK was entered in classroom studies. Maitra (2017) writes: “The literature review explicitly reveals that FoK is a concept embedded in one’s cultural identity–such as ethnicity, language, and customs–are all linked to student engagement” (p. 94). Therefore, FoK probably plays an
important role in effecting students’ WTC. According to Genzuk (1999), FoK represents a major and undeveloped academic instruction resourse that can be provided by teachers especially the ethnic ones who share the same background and language skill. In an article by Yee (2005), the views of two teachers on FoK were presented. Both teachers seemed to consider parental involvement as a compensation for the limitations of the packed school curriculum.In this study, it is aimed to find the mediating effect of FoK on students’ WTC. It also intends to identify the relationship between R/I and WTC.
1.2. Statements of the Problem
Taking a brief look at previous studies on WTC shows that many factors have been found to influence WTC. Cameron (2015) considered the effect of context on WTC. He found participants’ WTC to be influenced by their characteristics such as confidence, motivation, and personality, which varies from country to country and semester to semester. On the area of personal characteristics, self-confidence (Robson, 2015), motivation (Ely, 1986; Riasati, 2018; Zohrabi, 2016), and anxiety (Hashimoto, 2002; Rastegar, 2015) received much attention in WTC studies. Robson (2015) claimed that the students’
self-confidence contributed to WTC. The studies by Riasati (2018) and
Zohrabi (2016) showed a positive relationship between motivation and WTC. Ely (1986) found that motivation affected classroom participation positively. Hashimoto (2002) and Rastegar (2015) reported a significantly negative relationship between anxiety and WTC. Gender was also considered among the probable factors that affected WTC. Tannen (1990) claimed that males seemed to be high in WTC than females; however, Estakhr and Saberi (2017) examined the effect of gender on WTC and found no significant effect. Therefore, more studies should be conducted to reach a consensus as to the role of gender in WTC. Since R/I is related to the students’ interaction in the class, it might be have influence on their WTC. This hypothesise is one of the aims of the present study which has not been revealed clearly by the previous researches.
Researchers such as Newman (2012), Kinney (2013), and Subero, Vila, and Esteban-Guitart (2015) examined the benefits of FoK on language learning. Newman (2012) revealed the impact of FoK on students’ writing. Kinney (2013) reported beneficial findings for the influence of FoK on academic content. Subero et al. (2015) also presented an improvement in students’ learning by entering FoK in class. Although previous studies have revealed the effect of FoK on
learning, the probable influence of FoK on WTC has been remained untouched. The present study intends to fill in the gaps identified in previous studies by investigating the mediating role of FoK, R/I, and gender in WTC.
1.3. Significance of the Study
The findings of this study are beneficial for teachers, teacher educators, students, and syllabus designers. Teachers try to find some ways to accelerate students’ WTC since this ability by providing opportunities for production can flourish learning (Swain, 2005).
They also can recognize the exact reasons of unwillingness to communicate in the class and find ways to eradicate them. Since reflective students normally seem not to be very smart and eager to learn, with the help of the results of this study, teachers would be more alert about the students’ different cognitive styles to prevent the misjudgment of learners’ ability. They would pay attention to the characteristics of each learning style and make effort to reinforce the strengthes and weakness of them. They can also enhance the students’
WTC through applying FoK by creating an atmosphere to intrique them to be more active.
Teacher educators can also help pre-service teachers notice students’ different cognitive styles. Teacher educators can also turn their faces to the area of various cognitive styles of learning, they can suggest many intellectual techniques to the teacher to help the
students get the benefit of learning more and more. Genzuk (1999) belived that FoK approach can help teachers access the lived experiences of household histories and practices by understanding static ideas about students’ culture. Therefore, teachers inspire on FoK to offer friendly atmospheres for the learners to highly be involved in WTC.
Learnrs, as the core of learning process, should find out their own cognitive learning styles. They should become more alert about the significance of WTC and participate more in class activities. The findings of this study can also help them understand their own learning styles and try to choose the strategies which work best for them. Syllabus designers, in turn, would try to design tasks to improve the students’ WTC.
1.4. Purpose of the Study
Since increasing WTC among language learners leads to more successful language acquisition (Doucette & MacIntyre, 2010),
researchers have attempted to explore how WTC can be improved among EFL learners. As a result, Donovan and MacIntyre (2004) emphasized that being reticent and unwilling to communicate generally has an unfavorable consequence for language learners. On the whole, people who are unwilling to communicate usually take the risk of being considered inefficient in comparison to others who are equally-experienced and qualified (Richmond & Roach, 1992).
Richmond and McCroskey (1989) emphasized that individuals who are communicating more, are by and large better evaluated in different contexts (e.g., school, organization, and society). All in all, the degree of WTC to some extent can indicate the eagerness of learning the FL, however, due to the different cognitive learning styles that learners possess, it cannot be absolutely confirmed that WTC by itself can indicate the willingness to learn.
Previous studies done in the domain of WTC (e.g.,
Hashimoto, 2002; Estakhr & Saberi, 2017; Riasati, 2018; & Zohrabi, 2016) have addressed different factors (e.g., affective factors,
motivation, teacher related factors, & gender); however, the effect of cognitive styles, i.e., students’ R/I on WTC has remained unexplored.
Moreover, the concept of FoK has recently been the interest area of
pedogagic researchers, and the relationship between FoK and WTC has not been clearly revealed. The current study intends to shed light on these topics considering gender differences.
1.5. Research Questions
1. Is there any relationship between students’ cognitive styles of learning, i.e., R/I and WTC?
2. Is there any relationship between students’ gender and WTC?
3. Is there any relationship between FoK and WTC?
1.6. Research Hypotheses
1. There is no relationship between students’ cognitive styles of learning, i.e., R/I and WTC.
2. There is no relationship between students’ gender and WTC.
3. There is no relationship between FoK and WTC.
1.7. Definition of Key Terms
1.7.1. FoK. FoK approach seeks to make a connection between students’ background experiences and family lives with learning context. FoK helps teachers get familiar with the students’
personal lives and try to use those information to improve learning.
Gonzalez, Moll, and Amanti (2005) argued that FoK is in fact linking instruction to students’ lives. “FoK is gained through culture and history and does not merely represent household knowledge; rather, it is deeply embedded in culture” (Maitra, 2017, p. 95).
1.7.2. R/I. Brown (2000) believed that impulsivity is a person’s quick answer to a problem while reflectivity is a person’s slower and more calculated answer to a problem. It has been argued that some students are slow and accurate (reflective learners), unlike impulsive learners, these students take longer to respond…. and consequently make fewer errors in answering a question, and solving a problem (Haghighi et al., 2015).
1.7.3. WTC. The construct of WTC, according to Kang (2005), is an individual’s inclination towards being engaged in the act of communication in a specific situation, which can vary according to interlocutor(s), topic, and conversational context.
1.8. Limitations and Delimitations of the Study
During conducting this research some limitations appeared unwantedly. The number of the students who responded to the questionnaire and were willing to respond to interview questions was not satisfactory. Selecting the participants from one single city, i.e.,
Ardabil, and including only intermediate level learners in the study were among the delimitations of the study. Since previous studies (e.g., Gholami, Kashanian, & Rostami, 2016) have concluded that level of proficiency can influence learners’ WTC, attempts were made to choose intermediate learners who can express their intended
meaning easily.
Chapter Two
Review of Literature
Chapter Two Review of Literature 2.1. Introduction
In this chapter, at first some explainations about the nature of the main variables, WTC, R/I, and FoK are presented. There are also the results of some other studies on the above-mentioned variables.
Then, the empirical studies are provided on WTC, R/I, and FoK.
2.2. WTC
A significant body of research has highlighted the importance of individual differences (IDs) in second language acquisition (SLA) research (e.g., Andreou, Andreou, & Vlachos, 2004, 2006; Andreou, Andreou, & Vlachos, 2005, 2006; Andreou & Galantomos, 2009;
Dӧrnyei, 2005, 2009). IDs refer to the characteristics or traits which differentiate individuals from each other and seem to prevent the precise formulation or general themes concerning how humans acquire a particular language aspects over time (Dӧrnyei, 2005). One of the IDs variables which has beem the subject of intensive research in second language (L2) is WTC (Ӧz, Demirezen, & Pourfeiz, 2015).
According to previous studies, higher levels of WTC largely contribute to L2 development and successful communication in a variety of L2 communication context (Ӧz et al., 2015). Moreover, in second/foreign education programs, learners’ academic achievement is judged based on their ability to communicate effectively in the target language (Riggenbach & Lazaraton, 1991). In the past, WTC was regarded as an enduring trait like disposition, but more recently it has been considered dynamic with both transient and enduring
characteristics (e.g., Cao & Philp, 2006). Generally, language learners’ tendency to initiate the discourse and speaking skills in particular contexts with some individuals refers to WTC (Mehrgan, 2013). WTC also includes the readiness of language learners to enter into discourse at a particular time as explained by MacIntyre,
Clement, Dornyei, and Noels (1998). As Bozorgpour Motlag and Pourhosein Gilakjani (2018) believe, students’ communication is a situation that should not be ignored; in fact, the degree of students’
WTC in the target language is the factor that affects classroom interaction success.
Kang (2005) claims that due to the emphasis on authentic communication which plays an importanat role in L2 learning, WTC
و ناونع :روآدیدپ منا
یریگدای یاه کبس و وگتفگ هب لیامت نیب هطبار رظن رد اب :ینآ/هناروکف
یتیسنج یاه توافت نتفرگ
یداضتعا همیلح,
داتسا :امنهار ترخادیعس هناسفا ترکد
:رواشم داتسا یدبع اضر ترکد
خیرتا :عافد نمبه
98
:تاحفصدادعت 166
نیاپا هراشم :همنا نیاپا هراشم / هورگ منا
همنا :هدیکچ
ینب هطبار تنفیا هب رضاح هلاقم توافت تنفرگ رظن رد با ندرک تبحص هب لیاتم و ینآ/هناروکف ,ینهذ ییرگدیا یاه کبس
یرثتا تنفیا هلاقم نیا رگید فده .دزادرپیم یتیسنج یاه یلبق براتج
ناگدننک تکرش .تسا ندرک تبحص هب لیاتم یور رب
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تراهم طسوتم نباز نومزآ ینعت
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رفن
ط هب هبحاصم مانجا یارب یاتم و ینآ/هناروکف یاه کبس ینب یهجوت لباق ی هطبار اه هتفیا قبط .دندش باختنا یفداصت رو
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.درادن دوجو ندرک تبحص هب نج ینب
هطبار ندرک تبحص هب لیاتم و تیس هجوت لباق نادنچ هن ی
ی یننچهم .دش هدهاشم
هک داد ناشن جیاتن ناگدننک تکرش یلبق براتج
لیاتم و انهآ ندرک تبحص هب .دنتسه طبترم رگیدهم هب
جیاتن ساسارب
ندرک تبحص هب لیاتم نازیم ینیعت رد یمهم شقن ثبح عوضوم یدودح تا و ,داتسا/ملعم راتفر ,تاعلاطا نازیم ,هبحاصم .دنراد هژاو
:یدیلک یاه ینهذ ییرگدیا یاه کبس
یلبق براتج, ینآ, هناروکف, ندرک تبحص هب لیاتم,
هدکشناد یناسنا مولع و تایبدا
یسیلگنا نابز یشزومآ هورگ دشرا یسانشراک همان ناباپ هجرد تفایرد یارب همان نایاپ
یسیلگنا نابز شزومآ شیارگ یسیلگنا نابز هتشر
یاه توافت نتفرگ رظن رد اب :ینآ/هناروکف یریگدای یاه کبس و وگتفگ هب لیامت نیب هطبار یتیسنج
:رگشهوژپ
یداضتعا همیلح
:امنهار داتسا
رتخادیعس هناسفا رتکد
:رواشم داتسا
یدبع اضر رتکد
98نمهب
