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Second Language Learning Anxiety

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DOI: 10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0988

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 Second Language Learning Anxiety
BAHIYYIH HARDACRE AND EMRE GÜVENDIR

­Framing the Issue

The impact that second language anxiety has on second language (L2) learning
has been a widely studied topic in second language acquisition (SLA) research.
Most work on anxiety in SLA distinguishes a debilitating form of anxiety from a
facilitative one. The former can have a large negative impact on someone’s quality
of life as well as on their academic path by hindering learning, performance, and
ultimate L2 achievement. The latter provides the necessary motivation for some-
one to work and study harder in order to achieve their goals and be competitive in
today’s society. Nevertheless, the term second language learning anxiety is typically
used in SLA to refer to the debilitating kind of anxiety as educators and research-
ers strive to improve the quality and outcome of classroom education. But it is
imperative that when studying the causes and effects of anxiety in the classroom,
that it be described and measured correctly. Language educators and researchers
need to be able to parse out the factors that are relevant to a certain classroom
environment as not all manifestations of anxiety should be associated with
­language performance and achievement. Only a subset of anxiety experiences is
specifically associated with second language anxiety, and current research has
turned its attention to how second language anxiety is related to a complex and
dynamic web of language experiences.
One of the original contributions to the research on second language anxiety
was Scovel’s review of the existing literature in the late 1970s. In that article, he
proposed that anxiety should not be treated as a simple, unitary construct. Scovel
(1978) explained that anxiety should be measured physiologically, through the
recording of autonomic arousal responses, behaviorally, through the observation
of actions that people perform when anxious, and through structured self‐report
questionnaires that ask participants about their anxiety feelings and experiences.
All of these measures were widely available and used in psychology, a discipline
that largely influenced SLA research at that time. By contrasting studies that exam-
ined correlations of various kinds of anxiety with proficiency, performance, and
grades in second language, Scovel showed that the reason why such studies were

The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching.

Edited by John I. Liontas.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0988

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 2 Second Language Learning Anxiety

producing conflicting findings was largely due to the fact that some measures of
anxiety had little to do with second language learning and use. Scovel’s insights
still hold truth and should serve as a reminder to current SLA researchers and
second language teachers of the complexity of second language learning anxiety.

­Making the Case

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is responsible for learners’ negative emotional

reactions to contextual and situational elements of the language‐learning experi-
ence. In the mid‐1980s, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) developed a self‐report
questionnaire used to measure FLA called the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
Scale (FLCAS). This scale includes items that refer to typical anxiety‐inducing
­language classroom experiences, such as “I can feel my heart pounding when I’m
going to be called on in language class,” “I feel very self‐conscious about speaking
the foreign language in front of other students,” or “Language class moves so
quickly I worry about getting left behind” (Horwitz et al., 1986, pp. 125–32). If such
feelings are repeatedly experienced in a second language class, learners start to
associate these classroom situations with second language learning anxiety.
After establishing that language anxiety is a situation‐specific concept,
researchers’ attention turned to the potential sources of second language anxiety,
ways in which it might affect language learning, and the processes by which those
effects emerge. For instance, a study by Steinberg and Horwitz (1986) investigated
the subtle effects of anxiety on language use, and they found that people who were
treated in a way that made them feel anxious tended to avoid offering personal
interpretations of ambiguous pictures in their L2. These authors argued that over
time, subtle effects of anxiety arousal can have significant impact on the commu-
nication of students in the classroom and beyond.
Following this increasing interest in communication anxieties, researchers
turned their attention to the effects of anxiety on learners’ performance in the four
language skills, with listening and reading being sources of L2 input, and speak-
ing and writing being modes of L2 output. Research showed that as learners’
­anxiety increases, their listening comprehension decreases. Scarcella and Oxford
(1992) observed that anxiety can be detrimental to L2 listening performance when
learners believe they must understand every word they hear.
Research also explored the correlations between learners’ individual character-
istics such as personality traits and second language learning anxiety. An ­interesting
study conducted by Dewaele (2002) found that there were significant differences
between the way personality correlated with language anxiety in the L2 and L3,
suggesting that personality can differ substantially depending on social context
and patterns of language use. A more recent study by Dewaele (2013) provides an
extensive analysis of language anxiety across a number of variables, ranging from
L2 to L5, age of onset and current age, gender, context, frequency of use, socializa-
tion, and emotional intelligence. This study corroborates the notion that second
language anxiety is the result of a complex web of factors.

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 Second Language Learning Anxiety 3

Other areas of research concerned with language anxiety are perceived com-
munication competence and willingness to communicate. MacIntyre, Noels, and
Clement (1997) found that learners with higher anxiety tended to underestimate
their L2 ability, whereas relaxed students would overestimate it. Perceived com-
municative competence can affect a learner’s willingness to communicate, a fact
that was incorporated in MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, and Noels’ (1998) willing-
ness to communicate pyramid model, which also incorporated lower anxiety,
higher perceptions of competence, the desire to speak to a specific person at a
specific time, in addition to personality characteristics, intergroup climate, and
context (out of a total of 12 factors) as variables influencing a learner’s willingness
to engage in L2 oral communication.
Current SLA research has turned to complex systems theory (Larsen‐Freeman &
Cameron, 2008), an emerging conceptual framework that positions anxiety as a
result of multiple interacting factors that affect language learning and develop-
ment. Such factors may include other learners, situational context, linguistic abili-
ties, physiological reactions, somatic markers, self‐related appraisals, interpersonal
relationships, or pragmatics, among many others. For example, a study conducted
by Gregersen, MacIntyre, and Meza (2014) studied six pre‐service teachers who
were making a classroom presentation in their L2. During the presentation, the
speakers wore a heart rate monitor, but otherwise the talk was a normal part of
their course. Following the presentation, all students in the course (including the
six research participants) met with the instructor to review and evaluate a video
recording of the presentation. The six research participants viewed the video using
a specialized procedure that produced a continuous set of ratings of anxiety,
­showing changes in anxiety in real time. Three of the participants had been previ-
ously identified as low‐anxious and three as high‐anxious by the FLCAS (Horwitz
et al., 1986). Spikes in anxiety occurred when speakers forgot words or got lost
during their presentation. Anxious students were more prone to spikes in anxiety
because they tended to memorize their presentations, a strategy conducive to los-
ing one’s train of thought. However, the value of a dynamic approach was demon-
strated in one interesting set of results for a participant that had been identified as
low‐­anxious by the FLCAS. This student had an unexpected anxiety reaction dur-
ing her talk. These results suggest that even students who are typically comfortable
in their L2 can experience bouts of high anxiety, and that the emerging anxiety
experience can be influenced by factors not accounted for during classroom
experiments.
Research that treats language anxiety as a complex system can broaden our
understanding of how it works and how to help second language learners that
struggle with it. Second language anxiety can be the result of a combination of
internal physiological processes, cognition, emotional states, personality traits, the
demands of the situation, the relationship with other people involved, as well as
the context, among several other factors. MacIntyre and Serroul (2015) reported
findings that illustrated how classroom challenges can lead to an anxiety state that
reflects the coalescence of a number of dynamically changing processes. They
describe a complex chain reaction that takes place when learners’ language

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 4 Second Language Learning Anxiety

­ ocabulary and grammar processes are perceived to be failing, which starts with
v
an inhibition system being activated by the appraisal of a situational challenge,
followed by the feeling of having to respond, leading to coping efforts being acti-
vated; if the communication difficulties continue, the learner may perceive an
emerging anxiety reaction, which generates self‐deprecating cognition, which
shifts cognition toward saving face or terminating the conversation. MacIntyre
and Serroul add that these cognitive, emotional, and linguistic difficulties are
intertwined with physical reactions associated with elevated levels of anxiety,
such as perspiration, racing heartbeat, trembling voice, and shaking hands.
Repeated experiences of this nature can lead to increased avoidance motivation,
diminished perceptions of competence, and lower willingness to communicate.

­Pedagogical Implications

Second or foreign language anxiety has been found to have a significant impact on
L2 performance and achievement. For this reason, a great deal of effort has been
put into finding strategies to help learners cope with this multifaceted challenge.
SLA researchers and teacher preparation programs emphasize that the classroom
should be a place where students can make mistakes without fear of looking or
sounding inept. Teachers should strive to create a classroom environment where
their students feel supported and accepted, where they can increase their self‐­
confidence and sense of achievement in the process of learning their L2. The
­challenge, however, is not in convincing teachers of the logic in these teaching
principles, but in preparing them to recognize triggers of language anxiety, how to
avoid them, or how to help anxious students. Understanding that anxiety fluctu-
ates in a sea of complex, dynamic, and interacting factors, that is quite the
­challenge—multiplied by the number of students in a classroom.
It is very unlikely that a teacher would be able to control the entire range of vari-
ables that may trigger their students’ second or foreign language anxiety. Perhaps
a more attainable goal would be to focus on increasing learners’ enjoyment during
their time together in the classroom. A study conducted by Dewaele, Witney, Saito,
and Dewaele (2018) examined to what extent foreign language enjoyment and
foreign language classroom anxiety are linked to a range of learner internal varia-
bles and teacher and classroom‐specific variables within an educational context.
Participants in this study were 189 British high school students learning various
foreign languages. Dewaele et al. (2018) reported that higher levels of foreign lan-
guage enjoyment were linked to higher scores on attitudes towards the foreign
language, the teacher, language use in class, proportion of time spent on speaking,
relative standing, and stage of development. In contrast, lower levels of foreign
language classroom anxiety were correlated with higher scores on attitudes
towards the target language, relative standing, and stage of development. The
authors suggest that general “good” teaching practices are more likely to have a
positive effect on foreign language enjoyment than on foreign language classroom
anxiety due to its complex nature. The pedagogical implication proposed by these

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 Second Language Learning Anxiety 5

authors is that teachers should strive to boost foreign language enjoyment rather
than worry too much about students’ foreign language classroom anxiety.
A study conducted by Woodrow (2006) suggested that a student may experience
anxiety due to skills deficit or retrieval interference. This has implications at a
classroom level as a skills deficit anxious student would benefit from instruction
in language‐learning strategies and scaffolding of skills in order to cope with the
gaps in their language skills, whereas a retrieval interference anxious student
would benefit from desensitization and relaxation techniques that would help
them overcome their anxiety so that they can cope with the linguistic challenges at
hand. The pedagogical take‐away from this study is that teachers must talk to their
anxious students in order to identify the nature of their anxiety before deciding on
appropriate interventions.
Numerous additional scholarly sources offer theoretical suggestions to help
learners reduce or cope with their feelings of second language anxiety. Some
suggest practical means of addressing anxiety triggers that typically stem from
considering learner characteristics, learner beliefs about learning a second or
foreign language, teacher characteristics, language testing, classroom atmos-
phere, learning procedures, and other sources. Studies of this nature provide
insights into how educators can develop appropriate interventions to decrease
language anxiety among L2 learners. Nearly all of these studies position the
teacher as the central agent driving the implementation of these strategies.
Horwitz et al. (1986) argued that the teacher holds the major responsibility for
reducing learner anxiety by either focusing on the students’ anxiety‐provoking
situation or by establishing a relaxed and less stressful learning atmosphere in
the language classroom.
Other studies are more concerned with the general practice of teachers, rather
than with utilizing specific strategies to reduce learner anxiety in the classroom.
Some strategies suggested in the SLA literature include: observing proper teaching
behavior to your students; reducing learner communication apprehension; reduc-
ing the fear of negative evaluation from teacher and from peers in learners; reduc-
ing the fear of language testing in learners; properly addressing learner
anxiety‐provoking beliefs and misconceptions; helping students establish specific
and realistic L2 achievement goals; increasing students’ self‐confidence; creating
student‐centered lessons; promoting peer cooperation through task‐based teach-
ing; being thoughtful when providing constructive feedback at the right time and
in the right amount. For example, the first strategy from this list, which is to
observe proper teaching behavior, can be illustrated by a study conducted by
Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley (1999), in which the role played by instructors in
a language class could aggravate students’ second or foreign language anxiety.
They argue that teachers’ misguided attitudes and beliefs about language learning
and teaching, their reactions to the learners’ errors, and the way they manage their
classrooms can create a stressful environment. A teacher’s authoritative or careless
attitude, particularly when their students make mistakes, can have severe conse-
quences on learners’ willingness to communicate in the L2 classroom. A teacher
may not realize that when correcting a learner’s mistake, according to Myhill and

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 6 Second Language Learning Anxiety

Jones (2007), it may be perceived by students as punishment, aggravated by the

silent judgment of their peers.
In conclusion, students should be encouraged to practice communicating in the
L2 with confidence. Teachers can promote positive classroom behaviors via
encouragement, reassurance, positive reinforcement, and empathy (Onwuegbuzie
et al., 1999), creating a more welcoming environment. Students’ diversity should
be embraced and different opinions respected; teachers should encourage every-
one to participate and then praise their willingness to contribute to the lesson’s
conversation. Students should be encouraged to communicate despite the errors
that stem from their incomplete knowledge of the L2. Teachers must explain to
them that making mistakes is a normal part of the learning process. In order for
them to accept this truth, teachers need to talk to their students often about the
growth that can come out of their mistakes, as when paired with the appropriate
use of feedback, they provide opportunities to push the boundaries of their L2
linguistic understanding and achievement. Empowered with the knowledge of
how second language anxiety works, what affects it, and what is affected by it,
how it correlates with language performance and achievement, why it is impor-
tant to increase learners’ second language enjoyment, and what anxiety‐reducing
strategies have been shown to be more effective, teachers would most certainly
have the ability to help their students who struggle with second language anxiety.

SEE ALSO: Affect; Affect in Second Language Listening; Complexity, Accuracy,

and Fluency; Effective Classroom Strategies; Test Anxiety

References

Dewaele, J. M. (2002). Psychological and sociodemographic correlates of communicative

anxiety in L2 and L3 production. International Journal of Bilingualism, 6(1), 23–38.
Dewaele, J. M. (2013). The link between foreign language classroom anxiety and
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Language Journal, 97(3), 670–84. doi:10.1111/j.1540‐4781.2013.12036.x
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 Second Language Learning Anxiety 7

MacIntyre, P. D., & Serroul, A. (2015). Motivation on a per‐second timescale: Examining

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Suggested Readings

Dewaele, J. M., Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2008). The effects of trait emotional
intelligence and sociobiological variables on communicative anxiety and foreign language
anxiety among adult multilinguals: A review and empirical investigation. Language
Learning, 58(4), 911–60. doi:10.1111/j.1467‐9922.2008.00482.x
Horwitz, E. K. (2010). Foreign and second language anxiety. Language Teaching, 43(2), 154–67.
doi:10.1017/S026144480999036X
Santos, A., Gorter, D., & Cenoz, J. (2017). Communicative anxiety in the second and
third language. International Journal of Multilingualism, 14(1), 23–37. doi: 10.1080/
14790718.2017.1258980

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