No abstract

Self-perceived communication competence (SPCC), communication apprehension (CA) and Willingness to communicate (WTC) are all well-researched constructs in language learning contexts. This research is an initiative to understand effects of SPCC and CA on WTC of Pakistani university students. Focusing on theoretical model in communication research by McCroskey and his colleagues, the current study draws upon quantitative data using three questionnaires from 88 language learners in a public sector Pakistani university and attempts to understand the role of SPCC and CA in enhancing the WTC of learners in multiple formal and informal contexts. Results suggest that acquaintance level with the participants and contexts of language use may be the important factors to effect WTC of learners for first/foreign language use. Findings of this research in formal context offer strong evidence that strong CA in one language can result in positive SPCC in the other language and becomes a reason to enhance WTC in that particular language. For informal context, there exists a positive relationship between SPCC and WTC in any particular language. If learners have a positive SPCC in one language, they demonstrate a strong WTC in the same language. Moreover, relationship of SPCC, CA and WTC depends a lot on degree of acquaintance that interlocutors share in formal context, however, there is lack of evidence in informal context to suggest any possible directions.

Teamwork orientation and personal learning: The role of individual cultural values and value congruence.

The role of organizational structure as an important contextual variable has long been recognized in affecting a host of employee attitudes and behaviors, but there is a dearth of theoretical and empirical research that examines the ways in which organizational structure influences the occurrence of self-efficacy and its performance effects. This study addresses this gap by exploring how the two core structural components—formalization and centralization—separately and jointly affect employee self-efficacy and how they interact with self-efficacy to influence employee task performance. The study further examines the extent to which structure weaves its influence on individual performance through perceptions of self-efficacy. Data from 120 Pakistani public sector employees were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and polynomial regression to assess the hypothesized relationships. The empirical analysis shows that formalization is positively associated with self-efficacy while centralization has a negative association, and such an improvement/attenuation in self-efficacy is partly transformed into performance improvements. The findings further reveal that self-efficacy and performance relationship is diminished under conditions of high formalization and high centralization. We discuss implications for theory and practice and delineate directions for future research.

The current study examined whether employee individual‐level masculinity–femininity values moderate the relationship between leadership styles (structural, human resource, political, and symbolic) and employee job satisfaction. Overall, the research provided support for the impact of individual‐level masculinity–femininity on follower reactions to various leadership behaviors. The findings indicated that followers who scored high on feminine orientation perceived a weaker relationship between all leadership behaviors and job satisfaction. Followers with more masculine values associated more perceptions of job satisfaction with human resource, political, and symbolic leadership and viewed leaders' structural behaviors as less important for satisfaction at work.