Foreign Language

Reading Anxiety:
GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LAGUAGE

UZRT 2016, 3.6.2016, Zagreb

Ivana Matić (Poslijediplomski studij Glotodidaktike)
 Content

 Affectiveness in SLA
Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA)
Foreign Language Reading Anxiety
 Methodology (Aim, Participants, Instrument)
 Results
 Conclusion / Discussion
 Affectivness in SLA
„minds have thoughts as well as emotions and the study of either without the other will never be
fully satisfying” (LeDoux, 1998)
“tide is changing” (Dewaele, 2011)
„purely cognitive theories of learning will be rejected unless a role is assigned to affectivity.”
(Ernest Hilgard, 1963)
Feelings and emotions are acknowledged as being a crucial source of information and acting as
a vital link between cognition, understanding, memory, motivation and learning (Damasio, 1994;
Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007; LeDoux, 1998; Reeve, 2005).
 Foreign language anxiety (FLA)
the feeling of tension and apprehension specifically associated with second language
contexts, including speaking, listening, and learning (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994)

a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to

classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning
process (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986)

 complex and multidimensional: It is partly related to an individual’s personality, partly

to situational factors and partly to more general socioeducational and political factors
(Dörnyei, 2005; You ng , 1991).
 Researches of FLA
1970s – started researches on FLA (Curran, 1976; Gardner, Smythe, Clément & Gliksman,
1976; Kleinmann, 1977; Scovel, 1978).
“speaking in the target language seems to be the most threatening aspect of foreign
language learning” (Horwitz et al., 1986)
High levels of FLA negative affective reactions, induce negative attitudes and
discourage students from their language study and cause lower success (Philipps, 1992).

Language anxiety is attributable to different causes:

 fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, difficulty level of FL classes, personal perception
of language apttitude, personality variables, stressful classroom, (inter)personal anxiety,
learner beliefs about language learning, instructor beliefs about teaching, instructor-learner
interactions, … (Horwitz et al., 1986, Price, 1999, Young, 1991)
 Anxiety
 the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension,
nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the
autonomic nervous system. (Speilberger, 1983)
FL Anxiety
FOREIGN

?
 “the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused when
LANGUAGE learning or using a second language” (MacIntyre, 1998)
READING
ANXIETY Reading
 cognitively demanding process, involving coordination of
attention, memory, perception, and comprehension
 there are additional factors to consider such as language
ability, cultural backgrounds, and learner motivations,
among others (Sellers, 2000)
Foreign Language Reading Anxiety
(FLRA)
1990s – researches on the relationships between anxiety and other language competences,
for example, reading anxiety (Saito, Horwitz and Garza, 1999; Sellers, 2000…)
Zbornik and Wallbrown (1991) first introduced the concept of Reading Anxiety (RA)

Saito, Y., E. K. Horwitz & T. J. Garza (1999). Foreign language reading anxiety.
This study hypothesized the existence of L2 reading anxiety (FLRA) and offered a scale for its
assessment (Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale, FLRAS).
 Saito, Horwitz & Garza (1999):
a. FLA / FLRA - distinguishable in American university students of French, Russian and Japanies;
b. There was no significant differences in FLA among the groups;
c. Differences between L2 and levels of FLRA (French and Japanies learners significantly higher levels)

Researches of FLRA
 existence of FLRA as distinguishable type of anxiety, relationships among FLA, FLRA, individual
factors, achievement, years of language learning (Saito et al., 1999, Matsuda & Gobel, 2004;
Zhao,2004; Capan, 2012; Rajab et al., 2012; Subasi, 2014; Zhang and Kim, 2014; …)
 different languages (English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French as L2)
 experience in L2, better grades, years of language learning less anxiety level

Sources?
 Researches of FLRA
Unfamiliar: cultural material, topics,
Text features vocabulary
Sources of FLRA

Competitiveness, previous
experience, learner’s beliefs,
negative attitude toward reading,
Personal factors fear of negative evaluation, test
anxiety, teacher’s comment,
teaching procedures
(Saito et al., 1999,
Language Unfamiliar script, writing system, Zhao,2004, 2009; Capan,
2012; Rajab et al., 2012;
characteristics language form Subasi, 2014; Zhang and
Kim, 2014)
 Pilot study:
Reading anxiety in German as L2
Aim of the study:
 investigate the presence of reading anxiety (RA)
among Croatian learners of German language
 explore the possible causes of RA
 establishe possible correlations of RA with success
in learning German

 why German?
 Research Questions (RQ)

1. Does the FLRA also exist among Croatian learners of German language?
2. Is there any correlation or difference between FLRA level and years of
language learning?
3. Is there any correlation between FLRA level and success in learning German
as L2?
4. If the Croatian learners of German as L2 feel the FLRA – what are the possible
causes?
 Participants and Instrumentation
Pupils of the 5th and 8th grade of a primary school in Croatia (N=37)

  N M SD
Male 18
1,49 ,507
Female 19
5th grade 19
6,46 1,520
8th grade 18

Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS), Saito et al. (1999)

 20 items with five point Likert scale: from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree"
 Cronbach’s alfa .64 - FLRAS showed adequate internal reliability
 Results
(RQ1, RQ2, RQ3)
RQ 1 Level of FLRA among Croatian RQ2 FLRA level and years of studying
Learners of German as L2 German as L2
Anxiety Participants M SD Grade N M SD t p
Level
Low 8 5 19 55,26 7,467
Medium 24 54,32 9,187 FLRA ,633 ,074
High 8 18 53,33 10,847
5

RQ3 Correlation between FLRA level and success in German as L2

  FLRA
Success in German -,358*
* p < od ,05; ** p < od ,01
 RQ4 Possible sources of FLRA in German
(L2)
 Analysis of 20 items of FLRAS
 Categorized into 5 categories

1. Personal attitude toward reading in German

2. Text features
3. Ways of reading text
4. Interference of other language skills (writing
system etc.)
5. Cultural dimension of reading
RQ4 Possible sources of FLRA in German
(L2)
„Once you get used
to it, reading ist not n ot the
i ng ist aring
1. Personal attitude toward reading in German so diffiult.”
h e
d
rea t of le
„ T t p ar
e s
2. Text features hard an.”
„ I am e rm
G
leve satisfi
3. Ways of reading text l
in G of read d with
e „I’m not
e i t worried about
achi rman i ng abil he
4. Interference of other language skills eved
so fa
have ity all the new
r.” symbols you
5. Cultural dimension of reading have to learn
e t o kn o w much in order to
’t hav ulture
„You don n h is to r y a n d c read.”
rm a
about Ge ad i n G e rman.”
o re
in order t
 RQ4 Possible sources of FLRA in German
(L2)
Percent Percent
Items of FLRAS Items of FLRAS
5th grade 8th grade
„When reading in German, I „When reading in German, I
Text often understand the words often understand the words
features but still can't quite
52,7 % but still can't quite understand 55,5 %
understand what the author what the author is saying.“
is saying.“
„I usually end up translating
„I usually end up translating word by word when I'm 50 %
Ways of
word by word when I'm reading in German.“
reading 42,1 %
reading in German.“ „When reading in German, i get
text nervous and confused when I 44,5 %
don't understand every word.“
 Conclusion
 FLRA exists among students in 5th and 8th grade
 no statistically significant difference between 5 and 8 years of studying German as L2
 students with better success in German as L2 feel lower level of anxiety
 more then 50% of stundents are satisfied with the level of reading ability.
 text features and ways of reading text are anxiety provoking
 students end up translationg word by word when reading and they understand the words
but still can't understand what the author is saying
 More participants
 Reading comprehension
Thank you for your
attention!