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The Three Layers Of Influences On Second Language Communication

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There are three layers of influences represent situation specific influences and three layers represent stable, enduring influences on second language communication. At the base of the model are the societal and individual context of communication. This layer involves an interaction between society and the individual. The societal context provides the opportunities for both learning and using a second language, entailing such things as the attitudes and values of society members, prejudice, and discrimination. Good intergroup relations encourage the learning of a second language and its subsequent use, whereas poor intergroup relations may decrease the willingness to learn and communicate in another language (Peter MacIntyre et al., 1998). The individual’s personality is another factor that helps explain how individuals react to and communicate with the members of their own cultural group as well as out-group members. Personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience, influence second language learning and the willingness to communicate in that second language (MacIntyre & Charos, 1996; Lalonde & Gardner, 1984; Mohammadzadeh & Jafarigohar, 2012. Different types of personalities may entail more or less willingness to learn a second language as well as different levels of competence and/or confidence in using another language to communicate (Ehrman and Ehrman & Oxford cited in MacDonald, Clément, &
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