









































Teaching Techniques 

Elizad Lizdas, Undergraduate Student, Berry College, Mount Berry, GA; email 
ellie.lizdas@vikings.berry.edu. 

Using Self-Visualization and Goal-
Setting Activities to Increase 
Willingness to Communicate 

GATESOL Journal 2024, 
Vol. 33(1), pp. 28-32 

doi:10.52242/gatesol.192 
ISSN: 2331-6845 

Eliza Lizdas 
Berry College 

Abstract 
One obstacle many English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers face is getting all students 
to participate and speak in English in the classroom. Willingness to communicate (WTC) is 
therefore a relevant topic, as it is the probability of initiating communication, given both the 
choice and opportunity to do so. Some of the many factors that play into WTC are how 
students view themselves as learners of English, the kind of learners they hope to be, and what 
goals they set for themselves. This teaching techniques piece describes a five-week 
intervention utilizing goal-setting and self-visualization activities in an adult ESL class to 
increase students’ WTC and provides suggestions for adoption in other contexts. 

Keywords 
Willingness to communicate (WTC), self-visualization, goal-setting, confidence, motivation, 
ESL 

Introduction 
Willingness to communicate (WTC) is the probability of initiating communication, given the 
choice and opportunity to do so (MacIntyre, 2007). WTC is a complex construct to study, as it 
involves factors such as motivation, classroom setting, and students’ self-perception as learners of 
English. Students with higher levels of motivation are more likely to communicate in their second 
language (L2). Teachers can also greatly impact students’ motivation (Fen Ng & Kiat Ng, 2015). 
Teachers can, for example, increase motivation in the classroom by creating a positive learning 
environment, implementing student goal-setting, and promoting positive self-evaluation (Fen Ng 
& Kiat Ng, 2015). All of this, in turn, can improve learner attitude and confidence. The way 
students view themselves as learners of English and the kind of learner they hope to become, 
meaning their vision of their future self (e.g., as an effective and capable user of English) also 
affect WTC. Students who establish a strong self-image as competent users of English are more 
likely to communicate in the target language inside and outside the classroom (Lee & Lee, 2020). 
Enhancing learners’ vision of their ideal L2 self increases students’ confidence and motivation to 
learn (Magid & Chan, 2012). Goal-setting and self-visualization activities have led to significant 
increases in WTC and motivation when implemented in an ESL class (Al-Murtadha, 2018). 

The goal of this teaching technique was to increase ESL students' WTC by implementing 
a five-week intervention program including self-visualization and goal-setting activities. This 
technique combined aspects of previous studies (e.g., Al-Murtadha, 2018; Magid & Chan, 2012) 
that looked at the impact of self-visualization and goal-setting activities on WTC to evaluate their 
effectiveness in the success of ESL students. These activities included guided visualization, 
scripted imagery, and creating specific goals and action plans. 

mailto:ellie.lizdas@vikings.berry.edu


29 GATESOL Journal 33(1) 

Description of the Intervention 
Prior to starting the intervention, students completed a demographic form to collect preliminary 
information. One class session was video recorded, and the teacher completed an observation 
scheme to evaluate students’ participation during whole group discussions and activities. The 
criteria for the observation scheme (adapted from Cao, 2014) are listed below. 

1. The student responds to a question asked by the teacher about vocabulary.
2. The student responds to a question asked by the teacher about language form/grammar.
3. The student volunteers to participate in a class activity.
4. The student volunteers an answer without being prompted/asked by the teacher.
5. The student reads a question/text off the board.

For five weeks, the intervention activities were implemented once a week for 20-30 minutes during 
regular class time. All students participated in the intervention. 

Based on the observation scheme, four students were selected to participate in semi-
structured one-on-one interviews with the teacher-- two students with low class participation, and 
two with high class participation. Levels of participation were defined by the number of times they 
participated in whole group discussions, as measured by the observation scheme. The purpose of 
the semi-structured interviews was to gather more information on students’ desire to participate in 
class and what obstacles they faced regarding participation. Students were asked questions about 
their desire to participate in class, in situations in which it was easy for them to participate in group 
discussions, and what obstacles they faced in participating. Students reported that they wanted to 
participate in class more often, but that they were uncomfortable speaking in front of a group 
because they were nervous that they would make a mistake or that others would not be able to 
understand them.  

Week One 
In week one of the intervention, students completed a general visualization activity (based on Sun, 
2019, see below). Students were instructed to close their eyes and then the instructor read the 
numbered steps aloud. 

1. Close your eyes and begin slowing your breath to a calming, relaxing rhythm.
2. Visualize a place where you feel content and calm. This might be somewhere you’ve

visited or an imagined scene of somewhere you’d like to go.
3. Use your five senses to add as much detail to your image. What do you hear? Can you

smell relaxing fragrances, such as trees, blooming flowers, or something cooking? Are
you warm or cool? Can you feel the air on your skin? Is the sky bright, dark, stormy,
full of stars?

4. Imagine yourself moving forward, feeling calmer and more peaceful as you enter your
vision more deeply.

5. Continue breathing slowly as you look around the scene you’ve created, fully
experiencing it with all of your senses.

6. With each inhale, imagine peace and harmony entering your body. Visualize
exhaustion, tension, and distress leaving your body as you exhale.



Lizdas 30 

After the guided visualization activity, students listened to success stories of other English learners. 
One of the classroom volunteers who recently moved to the United States and learned English 
shared her story, including her successes and challenges learning English. In the last and main 
activity, students created a list of their strengths and weaknesses as English learners. 

Week Two 
In week two, students described and pictured themselves as future L2 learners, speakers, 

workers, etc. through guided and scripted imagery (see below). Students first closed their eyes and 
listened to a scripted imagery activity about the perfect job interview (from Magid & Chan, 2012). 

 Close your eyes and imagine that today is the day of a very important job interview in a 
large, famous, international company that you have been dreaming of working in for a 
long time. This job could be in any part of the world where you would like to live. You 
have prepared very well for the interview and as you get dressed, you are feeling really 
confident that you will do well. As you look at yourself in the mirror, you are happy with 
how professional and mature you look. You arrive at the company a few minutes before 
the interview and are feeling very calm as you wait to be called into the boss’s office. 
When you step into his or her office, you can see that the boss is impressed by your 
business-like appearance, your friendly, confident smile and your firm handshake. He or 
she asks you to sit down and starts to ask you questions. Although some of the questions 
are quite difficult, you are able to use your excellent English to answer all of them 
extremely well. You can see that the boss is pleased and very satisfied with all of your 
answers. The boss is also impressed by your fluency, grammar, vocabulary and 
pronunciation in English. You show him or her that you have so much knowledge, so 
many skills and are highly qualified for this job of your dreams. As the interview ends, 
there is no doubt in your mind that you will get this job. Stay with this feeling of complete 
confidence as you open your eyes and come back to this room.  

After listening and reflecting on the scripted imagery, students spent time reflecting on a positive 
and successful experience they had using English in the past. Students wrote down notes about 
their experience and then described it to a peer. 

Week Three 
In week three, students discussed broadly their goals as future learners/speakers of English. For 
example, they were prompted with questions such as:  

“Do you want to be more confident speaking English?” 
“Do you want to engage in more conversation in English?” 
"Do you want to speak more fluently in English?” 

Students then made a list of any obstacles they might face in reaching these goals and shared these 
lists with each other, then with the teacher. 

Week Four 
In week four, students reflected on how they could reach their broad goals from the previous week 
by setting SMART goals (Doran, 1981), which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and 



31 GATESOL Journal 33(1) 

time-based. Students were taught a brief lesson on SMART goals, were given some examples (see 
below), and then they each wrote down three goals - one for the semester, for the next year, and 
for the next five years.  

SMART Goal Examples 
This semester: I will watch a TV show in English for one hour a week for the next two 
months. 
Next year: I will finish reading 3 books in English within the next year. 
Next five years: I will be able to speak English fluently and be confident communicating 
with others in English. 

The purpose of writing three SMART goals was to create specific, concrete goals that students 
would be more likely to achieve, especially because they would be completed outside of the 
classroom. 

Week Five 
In week five, students revisited the SMART goals they created the previous week. They discussed 
their progress since the previous week and how realistic their goals were. They also discussed 
whether they enjoyed the intervention activities, their effectiveness on students’ WTC, and 
whether students planned to do similar goal-setting activities in the future. The discussion took 
place in pairs, then as a whole class. 

Outcomes 
At the outset of the intervention, students exhibited hesitancy towards engaging in the activities, 
reflecting a common apprehension among English language learners regarding speaking and 
participation. Many expressed concerns about making mistakes and felt uneasy speaking in front 
of their peers. During the initial stages, students found it challenging to identify their strengths, 
likely due to their unfamiliarity with such introspective exercises. 

However, as the intervention progressed, a noticeable shift occurred in the classroom 
dynamics. Over subsequent weeks, their receptiveness to the activities grew, along with an 
increasing willingness to participate in the class. Students began to vocalize their appreciation for 
the exercises, acknowledging their newfound ability to reflect on their language learning journey. 
In post-intervention semi-structured interviews, this sentiment was echoed, with students 
attributing their enhanced confidence and reduced anxiety toward speaking English to the 
intervention activities. 

Conclusion 
This teaching technique was done in an adult ESL class, but it can be adapted for any age or skill 
level by modifying the language and the topic of the activities. The activities in the intervention 
were targeted for students with an intermediate-advanced proficiency level as they are conducted 
completely in English, which required students to reflect on their English language learning 
journey in their L2. Activities could be modified for more novice L2 learners by conducting parts 
in the students’ L1. This teaching technique requires little preparation, and although this 
intervention was implemented over five weeks for twenty minutes each week, it can be shortened 
or lengthened based on the students’ specific needs. These activities could be implemented, for 
example, for a few minutes at the beginning of class as a warm-up.  



Lizdas 32 

The teaching technique was adopted in an adult ESL class with the goal of increasing student 
WTC and participation. The idea was that by completing activities to help students reflect on their 
strengths and weaknesses and create goals, they would understand the need for speaking in the 
target language, gain confidence in the target language, and therefore speak more frequently in 
class. Students responded positively to these activities, as described in the section above, and there 
is potential for these activities to increase the confidence and WTC of English language learners 
across contexts. 

References 

Al-Murtadha, M. (2018). Enhancing EFL learners’ willingness to communicate with visualization 
and goal-setting activities, TESOL Journal, 53(1), 133-157. https://doi.org/10.1002/
tesq.474 

Cao, Y. (2014). A sociocognitive perspective on second language classroom willingness to 
communicate. TESOL Quarterly, 48(4), 789–814. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.155 

Doran, G. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives, 
Management Review, 70(11), 35-36. 

Fen Ng, C. & Kiat Ng, P. (2015). A review of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of ESL learners, 
International Conference on Culture, Languages, and Culture, 1(1), 24-31. 

Lee, J. & Lee, K. (2020). Role of L2 motivational self system on willingness to communicate of 
Korean EFL university and secondary students. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 
49(1), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09675-6 

MacIntyre, P.D. (2007). Willingness to communicate in the second language: Understanding the 
decision to speak as a volitional process. The Modern Language Journal, 91(1), 564–576. 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00623.x 

Magid, M. & Chan, L. (2012). Motivating English learners by helping them visualise their Ideal 
L2 Self: Lessons from two motivational programmes. Innovation in Language Learning 
and Teaching, 6(2), 113-125. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2011.61469 

Sun, Q. (2019). Eastern thoughts, Western practices: Meditation and mindfulness relaxation 
activities for learning and well-being in adult and higher education, New Directions for 
Adult and Continuing Education, 2019(161), 45-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20310 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Received: January 26, 2024 | Accepted: April 5, 2024 | Published: May 24, 2024 

https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.474
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.474
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.155
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09675-6
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00623.x
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2011.61469
https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20310

	GATESOL Journal2024, Vol. 33(1), pp. 25-29
	Using Self-Visualization and Goal-Setting Activities to Increase Willingness to Communicate
	doi:10.52242/gatesol.192
	ISSN: 2331-6845

