Factors associated with foreign language anxiety

Abstract

Foreign language anxiety is a complex phenomenon that has been found to be a predictor of foreign language achievement. This study of 210 university students examined factors that predict1 foreign language anxiety. A setwise multiple regression analysis revealed that seven variables (i.e., age, academic achievement, prior history of visiting foreign countries, prior high school experience with foreign languages, expected overall average for current language course, perceived scholastic competence, and perceived self-worth) contributed significantly to the prediction of foreign language anxiety. An analysis of variance, which included trend analysis, revealed that freshmen and sophomores reported the lowest levels of foreign language anxiety, and that anxiety levels increased linearly as a function of year of study. The educational implications of these findings for understanding foreign language anxiety and for increasing foreign language learning are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.

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

“…It is indicated that foreign language anxiety is different from ordinary anxiety, proper to the situation, that it emerges in foreign language courses and affects students achievement adversely. It is widely accepted (Onwuegbuzie et al, 1999) that foreign language anxiety has a negative effect on students achievement in foreign language courses.…”

Self and Language Anxiety

“…For instance, Matsuda and Gobel's (2004) research on language anxiety and performance in the foreign language classroom reported that self-confidence is an important factor in language performance in the classroom of first-year college students in Japan. In addition, Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley (1999) and Casado and Dereshiwsky (2004) found the same results examining university students' language learning and language anxiety-self-confidence is the key to language learning.…”

“…Other studies also support the belief that self-confidence is an important factor for successful language learning (e.g., Casado & Dereshiwsky, 2004;Ehrman & Oxford, 1995;Matsuda & Gobel, 2004;Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 1999, 2000Ro, 2013). For instance, Matsuda and Gobel's (2004) research on language anxiety and performance in the foreign language classroom reported that self-confidence is an important factor in language performance in the classroom of first-year college students in Japan.…”

“…To sum up, based on the previous studies on language anxiety, self-confidence has a negative relationship to language anxiety (e.g., Casado & Dereshiwsky, 2004;Cheng, Horwitz, & Schallert, 1999;Clément, 1980;Liu & Chen, 2013;Matsuda & Gobel, 2004;Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 1999;Peng & Woodrow, 2010;Ro, 2013). Next, I am going to analyze the relationship between language anxiety and language identity (L2/FL), and the development of language identities.…”

From a Vicious Circle of Anxiety to a Virtuous Circle of Learning: Experience of Teaching Statistics to a Heterogeneous Clientele

“…Statistics anxiety may be a critical factor in influencing and attaining a student's academic and vocational goals' [4] . A large body of empirical research to-date has documented a strong and consistent negative association between statistics anxiety on the one hand and academic performance on the other [7,8,11,13,14] . However, it can be argued that statistics anxiety is not necessarily a demotivating factor resulting in lower achievements.…”