Anxiety has been closely linked with L2 development for some decades. It was, however, not until 1986 that Horwitz and her colleagues affirmed its specific role in language learning by developing a foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) that examined a learner's degree of LA. As a situation-specific state, LA concerns the anxious feelings provoked where a foreign or second language is

This study investigated the relationship between English speaking performance and foreign language anxiety before and after an online peer learning program at the college level. A total of 59 students enrolled in a one-semester English Speaking Communication course at a university in central Taiwan participated in the study. The course entailed a 7-week online peer learning program. The participants took a computer-based speaking proficiency test and completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale questionnaire before and after the program. The collected quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The results revealed that the participants experienced a moderate level of anxiety when taking the computer-based speaking test before and after attending the online peer learning program. A negative correlation was observed between foreign language anxiety and computer-based speaking performance before the online peer learning program. However, after the online peer learning program, a positive correlation was noted between anxiety and speaking performance. On the basis of these findings, this study provides pedagogical suggestions for second-language practitioners.

This study investigated the relationship between language language anxiety and English speaking performance among Taiwanese college students. The participants were 59 students attending a one-semester course entitled English Speaking Communication at a university in central Taiwan. They underwent computer-based oral proficiency tests and completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation. The English majors experienced moderate levels of anxiety when taking the computer-based speaking test, and a negative but nonsignificant correlation was discovered between foreign language anxiety and speaking performance on the computer-based exam. Pedagogical suggestions for second-language educators are presented herein.