Abstract
The development of students’ communication skills has long been one of the primary goals of education (Mercer, Wegerif and Major, 2020). This focus is particularly relevant for Learning Development practitioners, who support students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds in participating in class and various other learning contexts. This presentation highlighted the role of willingness to communicate (WTC), an individual tendency to engage in or avoid communication (McCroskey andBaer, 1985; MacIntyre et al., 1998), and explored its impact on students’ communication in classroom settings, especially for those using English as a second or additional language.
The presentation first unpacked the concept of WTC and introduced factors that facilitated or hindered students’ readiness to communicate. These factors include confidence, motivation, classroom atmosphere, teacher immediacy, and peer interactions, all of which contributed to individual differences (MacIntyre et al., 1998; Peng, 2012; Cai, 2021; Ducker, 2022). Next, the presentation outlined ongoing work that examined how curriculum design, specifically focusing on the assessment of class participation, could make WTC non-negotiable and potentially place students who were less ready to engage in conversation in a disadvantaged position (Lin and Forey, 2025).
The presentation concluded by discussing a self-created fictional character, Sprinkle, to explore multimodal contribution (Lin, 2025). For instance, beyond verbal communication, can students’ facial expressions, body language, eye contact, nodding, active listening, and multimedia work or demonstrations be considered part of class participation? The presentation invited reflection on how teacher-student dialogue should be initiated to co-create rules and expectations in the classroom. More importantly, it examined what we, as Learning Developers, can do to enhance students’ readiness to communicate and participate. It is hoped that by taking into account students’ individual differences, we can create a more equitable and inclusive participative learning environment for and with them.
The presentation first unpacked the concept of WTC and introduced factors that facilitated or hindered students’ readiness to communicate. These factors include confidence, motivation, classroom atmosphere, teacher immediacy, and peer interactions, all of which contributed to individual differences (MacIntyre et al., 1998; Peng, 2012; Cai, 2021; Ducker, 2022). Next, the presentation outlined ongoing work that examined how curriculum design, specifically focusing on the assessment of class participation, could make WTC non-negotiable and potentially place students who were less ready to engage in conversation in a disadvantaged position (Lin and Forey, 2025).
The presentation concluded by discussing a self-created fictional character, Sprinkle, to explore multimodal contribution (Lin, 2025). For instance, beyond verbal communication, can students’ facial expressions, body language, eye contact, nodding, active listening, and multimedia work or demonstrations be considered part of class participation? The presentation invited reflection on how teacher-student dialogue should be initiated to co-create rules and expectations in the classroom. More importantly, it examined what we, as Learning Developers, can do to enhance students’ readiness to communicate and participate. It is hoped that by taking into account students’ individual differences, we can create a more equitable and inclusive participative learning environment for and with them.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
| Volume | 37 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2025 |
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all the contributors who shared their reflections and enriched our insight into this conference presentation and its impact on the audience. Special thanks go to Hannah Awcock from Edinburgh Napier University, Marion Engrand O’Hara from Royal Holloway, University of London, Beverley Hancock Smith from De Montfort University, and Vic Boyd from City of Glasgow College. The community response was edited by Sarune Savickaite from the University of Exeter, who captured the key themes of the community discussion.The author did not use generative AI technologies in the creation of this manuscript.
Keywords
- Willingness to communciate
- Class participation
- Dialogic education
- Inclusivity
- Higher education