The Effect of Topic on Japanese L2 Willingness to Communicate

The purpose of this study is to explore factors that determine how the topic and the method of topic selection affect willingness to communicate (WTC) for Japanese EFL learners during small-group discussion activities. Topic, and the process of topic selection, is an established variable that can affect situational L2 WTC and is one classroom variable that can be better controlled by teachers who want to focus lessons on spoken output. It was determined that the learners' topic preferences significantly affect their L2 WTC. Topic interest, topic knowledge, personal experiences with the topic, and other topic-specific matters clearly affected the three participants’ WTC when using English. It was also determined that individual topic preferences can vary among students and that teacher instincts about topic selection can often be wrong. Based on findings from this study, recommendations are provided about how to select topics to help students feel secure and maintain high WTC in L2 group discussions. This action research (AR) study is undertaken to determine whether L2 WTC could be nurtured in a more effective way in my teaching.