ANXIETY IN LANGUAGE

LEARNING

ALEJANDRO POSADA
VALENTINA REYES
JULIAN ZULUAGA
 WHAT IS ANXIETY?

“Anxiety is a psychological construct, commonly

described by psychologists as a state of
apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly
associated with an object”

(Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971 cited in Scovel, 1991: 18).

 WHAT IS ANXIETY?

According to Freud, a feeling of impending danger or

unpleasant emotional state that can be based on objective,
neurotic, or moral threats that one tries to avoid.
Objective anxiety - real threat in the physical world to one's
well-being Ex. Plane crash
Neurotic anxiety - ego feels overwhelmed by the id, which
threatens to express its irrationality in thoughts and
behavior. There is a fear of external punishment for such
expression.
Moral anxiety - feeling that one's inner values are about to
be compromised. Feeling guilty for going against ones values.
 WHAT IS ANXIETY?

Psychologists make a distinction between three

categories of anxiety: trait anxiety, state anxiety,
and situation-specific anxiety.

 Situation-specific anxiety,
situations or events such as
public speaking,
examinations, or class
participation
 *Effects of anxiety can be both positive (produce
motivation) and negative, though anxiety seems to
negatively influence learning the most in an indirect
manner, specifically language learning.
Language learning Anxiety or Second/Foreign language Anxiety

The concept of language anxiety was first proposed

by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) in their paper
Foreign Classroom Language anxiety.
Language Anxiety:
“a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings and
behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from
the uniqueness of language learning experience”(p.128).
Language learning Anxiety or Second/Foreign language Anxiety

FLA is related to the discomfort of being limited to

the individuals competence in the new language ;
feeling that they can’t be themselves
"I think that there’s some amount of inherent anxiety in language
learning, because A, it’s just difficult, time-consuming and
complicated, and B, I think that for some people it’s a threat to our
self-concept. We can’t be ourselves when we speak the language. We
have to be limited just to whatever it is that we can say.”
There is a "range" of responses/reactions to a
language learning environment since everyone
encounters in one way or another.
Language learning Anxiety or Second/Foreign language Anxiety

it has been found that the feelings of tension or

nervousness centre on the two basic task
requirements of foreign language learning: listening
and speaking (Horwitz et al., 1986: 29)
Language learning Anxiety or Second/Foreign language Anxiety

* anxiety isn't only seen in low-performing students,

those aren’t as good at learning languages or don’t
study enough, as it is also present in highly advanced
students.
 FLCAS

Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale

 measures the level of foreign language anxiety in a
classroom
Created by Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J.
(1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The
Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.
33 questions
 WHAT CAUSES LANGUAGE ANXIETY?

 Language anxiety may be a result as well as a cause of insufficient

command of the target language due to linguistic difficulties learners
face.
 Communication apprehension.
 Test anxiety.
 Fear of negative evaluation.
 Different social and cultural environments.
 The target language is a representation of another cultural community,
so there is a predisposition among some people to experience anxiety
because of their own concerns about ethnicity, foreignness, and social
status and relations.
 A sense of power relations between the speaker and the interlocutor.
Exponents* Horwitz (1986) Sparks and Ganschow (1993)
Young (1990) Horwitz (2002)
Koch and Terrell (1991) Jones (2004)
Price (1991) Tanveer (2007)
 PRODUCING FACTORS

A strict and formal classroom environment, a major source of stress and anxiety
because of its demand to be more correct and clearer in using the target language.
Traditional learning systems where the learners have to constantly drill or repeat
some tiresome tasks like machines (e.g. audio-lingual language teaching method).
Oral presentation as the most anxiety-provoking activity in the class.
Learners feel afraid because of “a fear of appearing awkward, foolish and
incompetent in the eyes of learners‟ peers or others”.
“Perfectionism”, fear of making mistakes.
Learner beliefs about language learning.
Instructor beliefs about language teaching.
Instructor-learner interactions.
Classroom procedures.
Language testing and evaluation.

Exponents* Horwitz (1986) Sparks and Ganschow (1993)

Young (1990) Horwitz (2002)
Koch and Terrell (1991) Jones (2004)
Price (1991) Tanveer (2007)
PLAN YOUR STEPS , METHODS AND GOALS
 OVERCOMING LANGUAGE ANXIETY

Tips:
Understand your fear
Practice your listening
The desire for perfection maybe
holding you back
Smile
Control the speed of the
conversation
Spend meaningful time
HOW TEACHERS CAN HELP STUDENTS
OVERCOME LANGUAGE ANXIETY

Well prepared teachers

Check the way you correct students
Expose students to the foreign language to
allow them to practice their speaking skills
Create a supportive environment
Free to make mistakes
Begin by using simple step by step lessons
Friendly and cooperative with the
students
Know how to deal with stress and anxiety
in classrooms
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Guess, A. (2007). Overcoming Language Anxiety. Retrieved april 18th, 2017, from
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/29/language

Hashemi, M. (2011). Language Stress And Anxiety Among The English Language Learners. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1811 – 1816. Retrieved april 18th, 2017, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042811021744

Zheng, Y. (2008, July). Anxiety and Second/Foreign Language Learning. (R. c. education, Ed.) Canadian Journal
for New Scholars in Education, 1(1), 1 - 12. Retrieved april 18th, 2017, from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506736.pdf

https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/learners/03/index.php