Effects of Trait Emotional Intelligence and Sociobiographical Variables on Communicative Anxiety and Foreign Language Anxiety Among Adult Multilinguals: A Review and Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Dewaele, Jean-Marc; Petrides, and Furnham, Adrian (2008) The effects of trait emotional intelligence and sociobiographical variables on communicative anxiety and foreign language anxiety among adult multilinguals: A review and empirical investigation. Language Learning 58 (4) 911-960. This is an author-produced version of a paper published in Language Learning . This version has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof corrections, published layout or pagination.All articles available through Birkbeck ePrints are protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Abstract. This study considered the effects of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI; Petrides & Mavroveli, 2007) and sociobiographical variables (age, gender, education level, number of languages known, age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use, socialization, network of interlocutors, self-perceived proficiency) on communicative anxiety (CA) in the first language and on foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the second, third, and fourth languages of 464 multilingual individuals, in five different situations (speaking with friends, colleagues, strangers, on the phone, and in public). Data were collected via Web-based questionnaires. Participants were divided into three groups based on their trait EI scores (low, average, high). Nonparametric statistical analyses revealed a consistent pattern of results across languages and situations. Higher levels of trait EI corresponded to significantly lower CA/FLA scores. Participants who started learning the second and third languages at a younger age also suffered less from FLA. Purely classroom-based language instruction was found to be linked to higher levels of FLA compared to instruction that also involved extracurricular use of the language. The knowledge of more languages, a higher frequency of use, a stronger socialization in a language, a larger network of interlocutors, and a higher level of self-perceived proficiency in a language were also linked to lower levels of CA/FLA.Keywords. trait emotional self-efficacy, TEIQue, bilingualism and emotion, number of languages known, age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use, L2 socialization, network of interlocutors, selfperceived proficiency

Self-reported use and perception of the L1 and L2 among maximally proficient bi- and multilinguals: a quantitative and qualitative investigation

“…Communicative anxiety has been found to be consistently lower in the first language compared to languages acquired later in life (Dewaele 2007c). This finding was confirmed by Dewaele et al (2008), where levels of communicative anxiety and foreign language speaking anxiety increased significantly from the L1 to the L2, and from the L3 to the L4 of multilinguals, across a range of situations. Levels of communicative anxiety were linked to a myriad of interacting psychological, situational, linguistic, cultural, and social factors.…”

“…It is also the preferred language for expressing feelings or anger, for swearing, and also for performing cognitive operations like mental calculations (Dewaele 2004a(Dewaele , 2007a. Not surprisingly, participants suffered less from communicative anxiety in situations in their L1 than in a language acquired later in life (Dewaele 2007c;Dewaele et al 2008). In all these studies, selfperceived proficiency and the frequency of using the L2, L3, and L4 were strongly correlated with the dependent variables.…”

Foreign Language Anxiety on the Learner of French as a Third Language in Turkey

“…But this situation is contrary when one speaks a second language (Dewaele, 2006). Dewaele et al (2008) in his study for example show that foreign language anxiety has a significant negative effect on the recall of French L2 words. An anxious person would not necessarily suffer from anxiety when speaking a foreign language but a generally little anxious multilingual individual may suffer from foreign language anxiety when speaking a second language (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1994).…”

Graduate students as academic writers: writing anxiety, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence

“…In the context of writing anxiety, no studies were found examining the relationship between EI and writing anxiety. Students reporting higher EI, however, report lower levels of language learning and communicative anxiety (Shao et al, 2013) and are more effective in managing their anxiety than students with lower EI (Dewaele, Petrides, & Furnham, 2008). We were therefore interested in examining the relationship between EI and writing anxiety in our study.…”