Anxiety in adult foreign language learning: The case of Ghanaian undergraduate students of Spanish

Abstract

This study investigates students’ anxiety levels through the administration of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) among Spanish learners at a Ghanaian University. The differences according to level of instruction, the association between classroom anxiety and performance, as well as the possible relationship between language immersion and anxiety are also analysed using descriptive statistics, and Pearson’s Moment Correlation Coefficient. The findings indicate that the majority of student participants experienced foreign language classroom anxiety. Nonetheless, contrary to previous research findings, anxiety was not found to decrease systematically as proficiency increased. Additionally, as confirmed by previous studies, the result of the Pearson correlation analysis showed that students’ overall Spanish classroom anxiety and their classroom achievement had a negative association.

English speaking anxiety among English-major tertiary students in Ghana

“…The study confirmed that speaking English language is a dreaded experience for the students. Also, a study by Lomotey [22] focused on Spanish speaking anxiety among Ghanaian undergraduate students and confirmed that majority of the learners had foreign language classroom anxiety. The study also revealed there was a close negative relationship between speaking anxiety and academic performance.…”

The Reflection of Students’ Efl Classrooms Anxiety in Undergraduate Program

“…Their research revealed that second language (L2) achievement and language anxiety measured simultaneously were negatively correlated. Thus, Their research challenges the findings of Lomotey (2021).…”

“…Although foreign language anxiety has been examined from various angles, including the effect of gender and education levels on students' ability to concentrate and study (Mulyono et al, 2020), another investigation conducted by Pakpahan and Gultom (2022) investigated the students' speaking anxiety in online learning. Moreover, Lomotey (2021) researched the same topic about anxiety in adult foreign language learning. In addition, research on predicting anxiety based on language achievement was also conducted (Alamer & Lee, 2021).…”

“…Research on Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) has been investigated by some researchers (e.g., Mulyono et al, 2020;Pakpahan & Gultom, 2022;Lomotey, 2021;Alamer & Lee, 2021;Alsalooli & Al-Tale', 2022Prima et al, 2022. Based on their investigations, there are various findings related to language anxiety.…”

“…Based on the investigation, they found that the number of high anxiety levels decreased after using online courses. Moreover, Lomotey (2021) studied the same topic about anxiety in adult foreign language learning. Her investigation showed that the majority of participants experienced foreign language classroom anxiety.…”