Language Teaching Research Quarterly

This study examines whether and to what extent video, voice and text-based communication in a synchronous online foreign language classroom affect the university students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and what impact anxiety, online disinhibition and online attention control exert on the level of WTC. Applying a cross-sectional design, a four-part questionnaire gathered data on participants’ 1) background information and self-reported online attention control during lessons; 2) anxiety in different communication modes (adapted version of SCAM, McCroskey & Richmond, 1985); 3) disinhibition levels (modified version of the Measure of Online Disinhibition, Stuart & Scott, 2021); and 4) WTC in the three modes of communication (adopted from MacIntyre et al., 2001; Mystkowska-Wiertelak & Pawlak, 2016). The results of an RM ANOVA point to a variation in WTC depending on the communication mode, with video communication showing the lowest WTC. Further, a series of linear regressions reveal that in all three contexts anxiety stands in negative correlation with WTC, while students’ disinhibition and online attention control appear as positive WTC predictors. The findings contribute to the underexplored realm of digital L2 learning, shedding light on the pivotal role of previously under-researched variables.