Demystifying the role of L2 speaking embarrassment and anxiety in the interaction of bilingual learners’ self-efficacy and willingness to communicate (WTC): A multinational serial mediation study

Abstract This multinational study sought to uncover the complex relationships among bilingual learners’ self-efficacy, speaking embarrassment, speaking anxiety, and willingness to communicate (WTC) in second and foreign language (L2) classrooms. Using maximum variation sampling, data were collected from 736 bilingual learners across China, Iran, and Kuwait, ensuring a diverse representation of cultural and linguistic contexts. A serial mediation model was used to examine whether speaking embarrassment and speaking anxiety mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and WTC. The results showed that learners’ self-efficacy was strongly associated with their WTC. More importantly, speaking embarrassment and anxiety significantly mediated this relationship – both independently and sequentially – with higher self-efficacy reducing speaking embarrassment, which in turn lowered speaking anxiety, ultimately leading to greater WTC. Notably, the observed patterns were consistent across the three bilingual contexts, highlighting the cross-cultural robustness of these findings. Theoretically, the study extends the pyramid model of WTC by demonstrating how enduring personal traits like self-efficacy interact with transient affective states, such as embarrassment and anxiety, to shape bilingual L2 learners’ communicative behavior. Practically, the results point to the need for pedagogical interventions that simultaneously strengthen L2 learners’ self-efficacy and alleviate their negative emotional experiences, ultimately enhancing their tendency to speak in the target language.