Second Language Anxiety and Achievement

Abstract

Second language (L2) anxiety has been the object of constant empirical and theoretical attention for several decades. As a matter of both theoretical and practical interest, much of the research in this domain has examined the relationship between anxiety and L2 achievement. The present study meta-analyzes this body of research. Following a comprehensive search, a sample of 97 reports were identified, contributing a total of 105 independent samples (N = 19,933) from 23 countries. In the aggregate, the 216 effect sizes (i.e., correlations) reported in the primary studies yielded a mean of r = −.36 for the relationship between L2 anxiety and language achievement. Moderator analyses revealed effects sizes to vary across different types of language achievement measures, educational levels, target languages, and anxiety types. Overall, this study provides firm evidence for both the negative role of L2 anxiety in L2 learning and the moderating effects of a number of (non)linguistic variables. We discuss the findings in the context of theoretical and practical concerns, and we provide direction for future research.

Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Performance: A Meta‐Analysis

“…This effect size was smaller than Horwitz's (2000) observation (r = −.50 and r 2 = 25%). Teimouri et al (2019) found a slightly bigger overall correlation of −.36 (95% CI [−.39, −.33]), which aggregated the correlations with self-perceived performance (−.47), GPA (−.26), course grade (−.34), and language test (−.36).…”

“…Horwitz (2000) reckoned that the typical correlation coefficient was around −.50 (accounting for roughly 25% of the variance in FL performance). Despite Horwitz's observation, no previous study (except Teimouri, Goetze, & Plonsky, 2019) has systematically evaluated the magnitude of the overall correlation with control over sample size, participants' background, and between-study variation. The overall correlation magnitude is important in that it allows us to clarify the role of FL anxiety in FL learning (e.g., the variance shared by anxiety and performance).…”

“…To my knowledge, only one meta-analysis (Teimouri et al, 2019) has been conducted to systematically evaluate the correlation between FL anxiety and performance. Teimouri and colleagues found that the overall correlation was −.36 (95% CI [−.39, −.33]).…”

“…While Teimouri et al (2019) have deepened our understanding of FL anxiety, several issues remain open for discussion. First, Teimouri et al included studies that used selfperceived measures or GPA to estimate the overall anxiety-performance correlation.…”

“…Performance Measure. Similar to Teimouri et al (2019), the current study also evaluates whether the type of performance measure modulates the anxiety-performance correlation. Whereas Teimouri et al included four types of performance measures (GPA, self-perceived performance, course grade, and language test), the current study includes only course grade and language test in the primary studies (see the rationale discussed in the previous section).…”