OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDYThe

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The current study examined the relationships
among L2 learning and L2 communication variables
using the WTC model and the socioeducational
model (the relationships among attitudes,
motivation, and achievement) as a framework.
Some insights from intercultural communication
research affected the conceptualization of variables
and the construction of measures.
More specifically, the L2 communication
model used to investigate the relations among
the variables shown in Figure 4 was constructed
and tested in the study. The general attitude,
international posture, presumably affects the
level of motivation, which, in turn, affects L2 proficiency,
as suggested in the socioeducational
model. Proficiency in a L2 presumably affects L2
communication confidence, whereas the level of
motivation influences willingness to communicate,
as shown in studies in Canada (MacIntyre &
Clement, 1996). Confidence in L2 communication
presumably influences WTC in a L2. In addition,
international posture or attitude toward the
international community directly affects WTC in
a L2.
In Clement's model (Clement & Kruidenier,
1985), the direction of the path was from selfconfidence
to achievement. The model under
consideration in this study regards a higher proficiency
as affecting confidence in communication.
The path in this direction was significant in
research by Gardener, Tremblay, and Masgoret
(1997).
METHODS OF THE STUDY
Participants
The participants were 389 Japanese students
majoring in information science at a coeducational
university in Osaka. They were freshmen
who had selected English among seven choices as
their primary foreign language to study. As a
demographic study revealed, 12 had spent over 3
months in English-speaking countries and were,
therefore, eliminated from the sample. This left
377 (269 or 71.4% males, 107 or 28.4% females,
and 1 unknown). The students had studied English
as a school subject for 6 years at junior and
senior high schools. Approximately 32% answered
that they had taken English lessons of