scholarly journals Foreign language anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Maria Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
High Anxiety ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Knowledge Requirements ◽  
Multiple Case

Although foreign language anxiety is a widely studied construct assumed to develop from negative experiences of language instruction, few researchers have focused on young learners in this regard. This multiple case study investigates levels and triggers of language anxiety in Swedish primary classrooms under rather favorable learning conditions with a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere, and without formal knowledge requirements or grades. A total of 225 learners, aged 8–12, studying English as their first foreign language completed a self-report questionnaire, a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), eliciting learners’ reactions to oral classroom participation. Foreign language anxiety was found along a continuum among learners. To investigate similarities and differences among students of differing anxiety levels, they were grouped into three categories: low, medium and high anxiety. The high anxiety group included 18.2% of learners, and for most of them, this anxiety was situation-specific and closely related to their own oral performance during English lessons. However, many classroom situations triggered language anxiety in other learners as well. It may therefore be advisable for teachers to reflect on common classroom practices that induce anxiety, rather than viewing language anxiety as a disadvantageous characteristic of individual learners. The results call for in-depth studies of classroom contexts where language anxiety develops. Moreover, the study’s contribution encompass new perspectives on research methodology with respect to young learners and in relation to foreign language anxiety.

scholarly journals AGE, GENDER AND GRADE EFFECT ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY AMONG CHILDREN

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Selami Aydin ◽  
Leyla Harputlu ◽  
Şeyda Savran Çelik ◽  
Özgehan Uştuk ◽  
Serhat Güzel
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Turkish Children ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Adult Language Learners ◽  
Subject Variables ◽  
The Relationship

The number of studies on the relationship between certain demo- graphic variables, age, gender and grade, and the levels of foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context regarding adult and young learners is fairly limited, whereas the findings obtained from prior studies did not reach a consensus on the influences of FLA, and studies mainly focused on adult language learners rather than young learners. This study aims to explore the effect of age, gender and grade differences on FLA and its types, communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety, among Turkish children who learn English as a foreign language. The participants were 494 children enrolled at primary and secondary schools. The data collection tools were a background questionnaire interrogating the variables mentioned and the Children’s Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (CFLAS). After computing the reliability coefficient of the scale and total variance, independent samples t-test and ANOVA were used to see the relationships between the levels of FLA and its types and subject variables, age, gender, and grade. The results showed that age, gender, and grade constitute significant differences regarding FLA and its types, when several items in the CFLAS were considered. In the light of findings, several practical recommendations are listed. 

scholarly journals FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY IN OUT-OF-CLASS PERFORMANCE.IDENTIFYING LANGUAGE-ANXIETY SOURCES, ITS EFFECTS, AND COPING STRATEGIES

Neofilolog ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Morena
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Achievement Motivation ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Negative Feeling ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
And Coping

Language researchers have long been aware that anxiety can be associated with the language learning process and negatively correlate with academic achievement, motivation and successful oral performance. Foreign language anxiety was first defined as a negative feeling associated with a language classroom and resulting from a fear of negative evaluation, tests and communication apprehension (Horwitz and Young, 1991). Some learners also reported that they experienced language anxiety in out-of-class oral performance, that it negatively affected their feeling of competence, and beliefs about their successful language acquisition, and also triggered physiological and cognitive responses. The research aimed at identifying sources of language anxiety and its manifestations in adult EFL learners in out-of-class settings, and a set of six strategies was proposed to help learners mitigate the feeling of foreign language anxiety.

scholarly journals An Exploration of Anxiety towards English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Pratika Ayuningtyas
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
General Level ◽  
High Anxiety ◽  
The Mean

This study aims at exploring the Foreign Language Anxiety among the ESP Students. The participants in this study were183 students of three different departments of Politeknik Sawunggalih Aji, Indonesia. There were 56 students of Information Technology Department, 93 students of Accounting Department and 34 students of Business Administration Department. The Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Howitz & Cope, 1986) was used to collect the data. The general level of anxiety among students of Politeknik Sawunggalih Aji, Indonesia is average to high as their mean score is 81.84. There are 169 students who suffered from average to high anxiety or 92.34%.  The results of the analysis revealed that the students of Information Technology department experienced the highest level of anxiety with the mean score of 84.8; the students of Accounting department experienced the next higher level of anxiety with the mean score of 80,8 and the students of Business Administration department experienced the lowest of anxiety with the mean score of 79,8%. Knowing these results, teachers should provide the materials and the teaching method which can help students overcoming their anxiety towards English. Therefore the level of anxiety can be pressed to low.

Exploring young learners’ L2 development and perceptions of mixed-age and same-age peer interactions in EFL mixed-age classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Kos
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Mixed Age

Abstract Although foreign language instruction in mixed-age (M-A) is gaining popularity (Heizmann and Ries and Wicki 2015; Lau and Juby-Smith and Desbiens, 2017; Shahid Kazi and Moghal and Aziz 2018; Thurn 2011), the research is scarce. Drawing from multiple data sources, this study investigated to what extent do peer interactions among M-A and same-age (S-A) pairs aid L2 development and how students perceive their interactions. In this study, the same learners (N=24) aged between 10 and 12 interacted with the same and different age partners during common classroom lessons in two EFL classrooms. The results suggest that both S-A and M-A peer interactions aided L2 development. Although S-A pairs outperformed M-A pairs on the post-test, the results are not statistically significant. The analysis of students’ perceptions revealed that the majority of students prefer working in S-A to M-A pairs. In addition to age/proficiency differences, factors such as students’ relationships and perceptions of one’s own and partner’s proficiency greatly impact how they interact with one another.

scholarly journals Foreign Language Anxiety and Student Interpreters’ Learning Outcomes: Implications for the Theory and Measurement of Interpretation Learning Anxiety

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Nan Chiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Learning Anxiety ◽  
Exam Scores

Although anxiety has been documented as an important variable in both interpretation performance and second language acquisition, there has been virtually no research on the interconnections between the anxiety reactions induced by these two cross-linguistic / cultural endeavors. A review of the literature on anxiety and interpretation performance finds that most of the existing studies have treated the anxiety induced by interpretation as a transfer of other general types of anxieties, such as trait anxiety, without considering the probable role of second language anxiety in interpretation performance. In order to determine the role of foreign language anxiety in 213 Chinese-English interpretation students’ learning outcomes, which were indexed by the participants’ mid-term exam scores and semester grades, this study employed Spielberger’s (1983)Trait Anxiety Inventoryto measure the students’ trait anxiety, while utilizing Horwitz, Horwitzet al.’s (1986)Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale(FLCAS) to measure the participants’ foreign language anxiety. Results of correlation analyses showed that a) trait anxiety was not related to either mid-term exam scores or semester grades, b) foreign language anxiety was significantly and negatively associated with both outcome measures, c) after controlling for the effect of trait anxiety, the relationship between foreign language anxiety and interpretation learning outcomes remained significant, and d) a vast majority of theFLCASitems had significant and negative associations with both outcome measures. Implications for developing a theory of and a measurement instrument for interpretation learning anxiety are suggested.

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