Ideal second language (l2) self and willingness to communicate among learners of Turkish as a foreing language

Over the past decades there has been a dramatic increase in academic research on motivation to learn a second or foreign language (L2). The present study tried to investigate the relationship between the ideal L2 self as a motivational variable and willingness to communicate in Turkish as a foreign language. Participants were 98 university students learning Turkısh as a foreign language at HU TOMER in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected using the Ideal L2 Self Scale and Willingness to Communicate Scale. Findings of descriptive statistics indicated that 19,4% of the participants had high, 60,2% had moderate, and 20,4% had low L2 WTC. As for levels of the participants' the ideal L2 self, 52% of the participants reported high levels of the ideal L2 self, whereas less than one forth 22% of them had low levels of the ideal L2 self. And 26% of them reported moderate levels of the ideal L2 self. Findings also revealed a significant correlation between the two constructs. The pedagogical and theoretical implications were obtained as a result of the study. In the direction of these implications, it is desired to raise awareness about the role of ideal L2 self in developing second language communication among Turkısh as a foreign langauge learners. Again in this direction, it has been discussed with teachers to help the students develop the self-guided communication skills and to direct their success in learning a second language.