Linking classroom social climate to cross-setting willingness to communicate

Second language (L2) instruction conducted in a target language environment should pay strong attention to the effective articulation between various settings both within and beyond the classroom. This study is among the first to systematically investigate how in-class willingness to communicate (WTC) mediates the relationship between classroom social climate (CSC)—including three dimensions: task orientation, student cohesiveness, and teacher support)—and WTC in out-of-class and digital settings among 457 L2 Chinese learners in China, aiming to verify its applicability to the transfer of WTC across multi-settings. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the results revealed that task orientation and student cohesiveness significantly predicted in-class WTC, which in turn fully mediates their effects on WTC in both out-of-class and digital settings. Teacher support, however, presented a non-significant effect. These finding highlight CSC as a crucial factor in facilitating in-class WTC, which subsequently promotes cross-setting WTC. The study contributes to the development of a theoretical framework and offers practical implications for the natural transfer of WTC from in-class settings to out-of-class and digital settings, thereby providing pedagogical guidance for enhancing L2 Chinese learners’ WTC competence across multiple settings.