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One of the primary goals of second language (L2) instruction is to enable students to actively engage in L2 communication, with willingness to communicate (WTC) serving as a critical antecedent that facilitates such communicative behavior. Therefore, research on L2 students' WTC (L2 WTC) is gaining sustained attention in recent years. A variety of personality (e.g., grit and trait emotional intelligence), emotional (e.g. foreign language enjoyment and anxiety), and environmental factors (e.g., class social climate and perceived teacher support) have been shown to influence students' L2 WTC, with intricate interplay between these factors. However, a dearth of research has integrated these three factors in one model to probe into the their intricate interplay and combined influence on students' L2 WTC, constraining our understanding of the underlying mechanism behind students' propensity to engage in L2 communication. Based on Control-Value Theory (CVT), this study selected 258 undergraduate English majors as participants and employed regression analysis and mediation effect tests to investigate the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and L2 WTC. Concurrently, it examined the possible mediating roles of perceived teacher support (PTS), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and foreign language anxiety (FLA) in this relationship. The results revealed that: (1) trait EI significantly and positively predicted L2 WTC; (2) FLE and FLA served as a positive and negative mediator, respectively, in the relationship between trait EI and L2 WTC, while PTS functioned as a positive mediator in a specific model; (3) trait EI indirectly influenced L2 WTC through the serial mediation of PTS and FLE. These findings are expected to provide empirical support for CVT and offer valuable insights for future theoretical research on L2 WTC, as well as practical implications for L2 teaching in higher education in China.
Li et al. (Sat,) studied this question.