Foreign Language Anxiety:Understanding Its Status and Insiders’ Awareness and Attitudes
TRAN THI THU TRANG
Hue University
Hue, Vietnam
RICHARD B. BALDAUF JR. AND KAREN MONI
University of Queensland
St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been found to exist in all of the cultures where it has been studied, yet the literature provides limited empirical evidence to indicate whether foreign language students and teachers, as the direct stakeholders in the phenomenon, are aware of it. This study investigated the extent to which foreign language students and teachers are aware of the existence of the phenomenon of FLA and their attitudes towards it. Some 419 non-English-major students, who were undertaking various majors in a university in Vietnam, and eight teachers of English as a foreign language participated in the study. Methodological triangulation, which involved collecting data using questionnaires, interviews, and student autobiographies, was adopted. The findings indicate that approximately two thirds of the students suffered from FLA to some degree, yet the teachers did not attribute adequate importance to it. The study suggests that FLA has an impact on the majority of students and that teachers should take this into account in their teaching.
doi: 10.1002/tesq.85
Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is defined as “a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986, p. 128). In their theory of FLA, which has been widely used in FLA research, Horwitz et al. (1986) have conceptualised FLA as a unique type of anxiety specific to foreign language learning(see review by Tran, 2012).
FLA research has been conducted in different learning environments, including traditional classroom settings (e.g., Casado & Dereshiwsky, 2001; Kostic-Bobanovic, 2009; Liu, 2006; Liu & Jackson, 2008; Tallon, 2009; Von W?orde, 2003) and online/distance learning environments (e.g., Coryell & Clark, 2009; Donahoe, 2010; Hauck & Hurd, 2005; Hurd, 2007; Hurd & Xiao, 2010; Pichette, 2009). Research has also been conducted among different types of learners, including heritage students and nonheritage students (e.g., Tallon, 2006, 2009), mainstream students (e.g., Pappamihiel, 2002), and second or foreign language students. The findings have consistently indicated the existence of anxiety in students learning languages.