Abstract
Despite the impact of technology on education, little research has investigated Asian students’ informal digital learning activities in relation to willingness to communicate (WTC). Driven by the desire to bridge the gap between technology and education, this study examines the extent to which digital informal digital learning of English (IDLE) can predict WTC in class, beyond class and in digital settings and identifies the mechanisms in IDLE that contribute to students’ WTC. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the data collection procedure consisted of two main phases. First, questionnaires were administered to 365 Vietnamese university students to collect quantitative data. Subsequently, the sample was randomly stratified to select 15 students for semi-structured qualitative interviews. After the data cleaning stage, the quantitative data from the remaining sample of 328 was projected to SPSS version 27 for analysis. We employed normality tests, EFA, CFA, internal coefficient consistency, Pearson correlation, regression analysis, and descriptives. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The quantitative findings generally indicate a positive significant relationship between IDLE and WTC. In fact, IDLE was more associated with WTC in digital settings than that in the other contexts. The interview data show that the students prioritized some informal digital learning activities to solve their academic problems. Also, their level of WTC in the digital context was higher than that in class because the students could communicate freely, without being controlled and scared of being corrected. Their level of WTC outside the classroom was the lowest as it was mainly directed by their needs. The results suggest implications for education in the digital era.
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