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1 – 10 of over 24000Jonas Holmqvist, Yves Van Vaerenbergh and Christian Grönroos
The service management literature emphasizes the importance of communication, but language difficulties can make communicating in business settings more difficult. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The service management literature emphasizes the importance of communication, but language difficulties can make communicating in business settings more difficult. The purpose of this paper is to address consumer willingness to communicate in a second language to identity the antecedents that drive consumer language preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the findings from two empirical studies in two multilingual countries with a total of 361 adult respondents.
Findings
The findings show perceived control to be the strongest antecedent of consumer willingness to communicate in a second language, and identifies second language skills as an antecedent in countries with little political tensions related to language, while political considerations is a strong antecedent in countries where language use is political.
Research limitations/implications
The studies are limited to countries with more than one official language. While multilingual countries make up around two-third of the world's population, future research could test whether the same antecedents are applicable in monolingual societies.
Practical implications
The findings help managers to understand in which situations consumers may be willing to switch language, and in which situations it is important to serve consumers in more than one language.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to draw upon both the service management literature and the sociolinguistic literature to develop and test a model to explain consumer language preferences. This model may help managers to develop strategies for customer service in multilingual markets.
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Given the significance of willingness to communicate and its integral role in the field of foreign/second language acquisition (F/SLA), this quantitative study intends to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the significance of willingness to communicate and its integral role in the field of foreign/second language acquisition (F/SLA), this quantitative study intends to examine the relationship between sensory emotioncy types and teacher immediacy with second language learners' willingness to communicate (WTC).
Design/methodology/approach
A total number of 280 students majoring in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and English Language and Literature completed three scales of Sensory Emotioncy Type (SET), Willingness to Communicate and Teacher Immediacy (TI). For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed.
Findings
The results of SEM showed that learners' WTC was significantly predicted by emotioncy and teacher immediacy. Further, reports from correlational and regression analyses revealed a significantly positive correlation, first, between teacher immediacy and learners' WTC, secondly, between emotioncy and learners' WTC.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study was that the participants were selected from one context with relatively a small sample which might restrict the generalization. Nonetheless, the present study findings might extend ancillary horizons and provided worthwhile insights into the perception of teacher immediacy and emotioncy on students' willingness to communicate.
Practical implications
The significance of the current study lies in its theoretical contribution to the notion of WTC and its pedagogical implications and suggestions to the benefits of rejuvenating second language teaching and learning. Findings of this study help pre-service and in-service teachers in providing them more robust picture of learners' individual differences; and hence exert the most appropriate tasks which learners have the most degree of familiarity and better to say, emotioncy.
Originality/value
In the current study notable results were obtained which would be efficacious to the present literature on the EFL teacher immediacy, emotioncy and willingness to communicate. First and foremost, the findings added to a growing body of literature on emotioncy as a relatively novel concept in academic settings and teacher immediacy , and willingness to communicate which have gained scant attention in the field.
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Janet R. Jones, Amy Foshee Holmes, Mary Fischer and Brooklyn Cole
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trust, honesty and transparency impact the willingness and timeliness of communicating financial information between Government…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how trust, honesty and transparency impact the willingness and timeliness of communicating financial information between Government Finance Officers (GFOs) and members of the municipal boards they serve.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data was collected from professionals who work with municipalities to ensure government resources are properly managed. Nonparametric local-linear regression was used to analyze the data.
Findings
Evidence suggests that trust in the board, GFO preference for honesty and greater transparency of the municipality influence the timeliness of communication. There is evidence that when the GFO and board members have a working relationship built on trust and the GFO has a preference for honesty, the GFO is more willing to share positive information with the board. In addition, there is evidence that with greater transparency and trust in the board, there is a reduction in the time of sharing positive information in situations where there is little discretion in disclosing and less willingness to share information.
Research limitations/implications
A principal limitation of this study is the small sample size. In addition, the study was conducted using only participants from the pool of members of the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas. As an exploratory study, the survey included a minimal number of questions to gather data from actual GFOs and included only six possible scenarios. The time constraint resulted in a reduced number of questions related to the models used. Other limitations include the potential of missing variables, factors or perceptions related to scenarios not presented in the survey instrument.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that with greater transparency, there is less time between the event and the GFO communication to the board providing the opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the decision-making process.
Originality/value
This study is the first to explore the effects of increased transparency on the level of communication between the GFO and the board.
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Victor Y. Haines, Tania Saba and Evelyne Choquette
This study aims to explore how the motivational construct of intrinsic motivation for an international assignment relates to variables of interest in international expatriation…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how the motivational construct of intrinsic motivation for an international assignment relates to variables of interest in international expatriation research.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaire data from 331 employed business school alumni of a high‐ranking Canadian MBA program was analyzed. The sample consisted of respondents from a wide variety of industries and occupations, with more than half of them in marketing, administration or engineering.
Findings
Higher intrinsic motivation for an international assignment was associated with greater willingness to accept an international assignment and to communicate in a foreign language. Externally driven motivation for an international assignment was associated with perceiving more difficulties associated with an international assignment. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for an international assignment were, however, associated with comparable reactions to organizational support.
Originality/value
Drawing from self‐determination theory, this study explores the distinction between authentic versus externally controlled motivations for an international assignment. It underscores the need to pay more attention to motivational constructs in selecting, coaching, and training individuals for international expatriation assignments. It extends a rich tradition of research in the area of motivation to the international assignment arena.
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This study aims to propose and test a model that examines the potential connections between two teacher situational variables (teacher immediacy and credibility) and three learner…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose and test a model that examines the potential connections between two teacher situational variables (teacher immediacy and credibility) and three learner affective factors (motivation, attitudes and communication confidence) and to examine how such associations predict learners’ L2WTC (Foreign/second language willingness to communicate) in a language class via a comprehensive communication model to structurally verify the theoretically based associations among these variables.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 214 females and 198 males took part in the study with age range between 19 and 38 years. Participants filled in a verified, translated Arabic version of the questionnaires using an online questionnaire. Data were gathered using questionnaires and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis and sequential mediation analysis using bootstrapping methods to identify and verify direct and indirect paths in the model.
Findings
The initial L2 communication structural model showed acceptable goodness of model fit. Teacher credibility and immediacy behaviors only indirectly predicted L2WTC through the mediation of affective variables. Motivation and communication confidence mediated the relationship between credibility and L2WTC, while the association between immediacy and L2WTC was mediated by communication confidence.
Originality/value
The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications globally for professions related to communication instruction, especially with regard to teacher credibility behaviors and particularly for practitioners and beneficiaries in EFL contexts where learners are widely acknowledged for their unwillingness to communicate in foreign language classes.
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Joseph Chwo‐ming Yu, Chin‐Hua Yi, Yu‐Ching Chiao and Yu‐Chen Wei
An investigation into the factors affecting the adaptation of spouses of Taiwan expatriates allowed for their modes of adaptation to be classified into ‘adjustment’, ‘reaction’…
Abstract
An investigation into the factors affecting the adaptation of spouses of Taiwan expatriates allowed for their modes of adaptation to be classified into ‘adjustment’, ‘reaction’ and ‘withdrawal’. Albeit a sample of 15 spouses were interviewed using a semi‐structured questionnaire, the research findings indicate that if an expatriate’s spouse is characterized as having high cultural flexibility, high social orientation, a high degree of willingness to communicate, a high conflict resolution orientation, low ethnocentricity and a high orientation towards knowledge, the overseas adaptation tends to be of the ‘adjustment’ mode. Research propositions based on case findings and relevant literature are derived here for future more in‐depth study.
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Dongyao Tan, Mike Yough and Cong Wang
The purpose of this paper is to investigate international students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in US university classrooms, focusing on the role of classroom environment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate international students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in US university classrooms, focusing on the role of classroom environment. International students in higher education have great economic and academic impacts, studying their WTC in classrooms facilitates their learning and speaking of English and helps them better participate in class activities and acclimatize to schooling in their adopted cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 50 Chinese undergraduate students who took English as a second language (ESL) class at a large Midwestern university. Four students participated in follow-up interviews.
Findings
Results revealed that in ESL classrooms, confidence and motivation had a direct impact on WTC, classroom environment had an indirect effect on WTC through the mediation of motivation and confidence. Qualitative analysis also showed that classroom environment greatly impacted WTC in both ESL and general classrooms, and teacher factors were most important.
Practical implications
These results have direct pedagogical implications for teachers serving international students in higher education.
Originality/value
This study facilitates the understanding of the previously under-studied influence of classroom environments on WTC, which has direct pedagogical implications. WTC research focuses predominantly on language learning classrooms, this study initiates an extended exploration of WTC in language learning as well as general classrooms.
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Marie-France Waxin, Chris Brewster and Nicolas Ashill
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct impact of individual variables (cultural openness, social orientation, willingness to communicate, confidence in own technical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct impact of individual variables (cultural openness, social orientation, willingness to communicate, confidence in own technical abilities, active stress resistance, prior international experience) on expatriate time to proficiency (TTP); and the moderating effects of the home country on the relationships between these individual variables and expatriate TTP.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a quantitative, self-administered questionnaire to gather data from assigned expatriates from different countries in India, analysed through partial least squares.
Findings
The findings show that, first, four individual variables, i.e. social orientation, willingness to communicate, confidence in technical abilities and active stress resistance reduce expatriate TTP in the global sample. Second, the individual antecedents of expatriate TTP vary significantly across home countries.
Research limitations/implications
The results confirm the importance of individual antecedents in explaining expatriate TTP and the importance of context in the study of expatriates’ cross-cultural effectiveness. The authors also propose new, shorter measures for the individual antecedents.
Practical implications
The practical implications for HRM professionals relate mainly to selection and cross-cultural training. Expatriates may also get a better understanding of the individual and contextual variables that impact their TTP.
Originality/value
The authors show that individual antecedents interact with context, here home country, to predict expatriate TTP in an under-researched host country, India.
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Drawing on diverse findings in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Language Teaching research, but centering on the unique needs and contexts of international students in…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on diverse findings in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Language Teaching research, but centering on the unique needs and contexts of international students in post-secondary education, this paper aims to develop a working theory of international students’ continued language development.
Design/methodology/approach
As a critical review, the paper focuses on the most relevant concepts that have important bearings on the research topic, such as attitude, motivation and willingness to communicate; the age and biological factor, namely, the critical period for SLA; the learning environment and methodological factors, such as the input hypothesis; and finally, the larger sociocultural factor, i.e. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of student development.
Findings
This paper has developed a comprehensive theory of second language development for international students by synthesizing all relevant research findings in SLA and language teaching research.
Research limitations/implications
Linguistic factors, i.e. how students’ different first languages impact their pace and difficulty in learning a second language, though important, are not included in this paper.
Practical implications
The paper can better inform international students, faculty members, support staff and even members of the larger community about the attributions, the processes and the possible outcomes of second language development for international students.
Originality/value
Second language development is an immensely important part of international students’ international education journey. But currently, there is no comprehensive and coherent understanding of this issue among stakeholders of international student success.
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Rebecca Abraham and Anthony Zikiye
Acculturation profiles based on the self‐oriented, others‐oriented, and perceptual dimensions of acculturative adjustment were derived for MNC employees of American, Canadian…
Abstract
Acculturation profiles based on the self‐oriented, others‐oriented, and perceptual dimensions of acculturative adjustment were derived for MNC employees of American, Canadian, Indian, Japanese, Latin American, Carribean and Nigerian origin. Our finding of significant, target‐specific, intercultural differences is of paramount importance in delineating areas of predeparture expatriate training and development.