Students’ Language Anxiety: What Teachers Can Do
Sunny Hyeyoung Song, sunnyhye@hotmail.com
Although some researchers such as Radnofsky and Spielmann (2001) have investigated the facilitative aspect of language anxiety, most studies conclude that it has “a negative effect on the language learning process” (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991, p. 112). In this article I therefore use MacIntyre’s (1999) definition of language anxiety as “the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused when learning or using a second language” (p. 27). If, as research suggests, language anxiety plays a significant affective role, then what are the effects of language anxiety in the process of language learning? And what can be done about it?
A number of studies have found debilitating effects of language anxiety on four areas of foreign or second language (FL/L2) learning: academic, cognitive, social, and personal effects (MacIntyre, 1999). Academic effects include low test scores, course grades, and “overstudying” (p. 34). Language anxiety also causes disruptions in cognitive processing stages, and social effects include a lack of motivation and an unwillingness to communicate. In the final category of personal effects, anxious language learners often engage in severe degrees of “self-deprecating cognition” (p. 39). Taking these findings into consideration, language teachers must be sensitive to this issue and provide help to minimize students’ language anxiety.
In order for instructors to be sensitive to it, they first should know what creates language anxiety among FL/L2 learners. Thus in this article I survey some research on the development of language anxiety focusing on personal issues and classroom issues. I address these two areas because I share the view of MacIntyre (1999), who argued that “language learning has more potential for students to embarrass themselves, to frustrate their self-expression, and to challenge their self-esteem and sense of identify than almost any other learning activity” (p. 33). Woodrow (2006) stated that language anxiety “recurs in language learning situations, namely classrooms” (p. 310). I agree. After evaluating sources of language anxiety, I briefly discuss how language teachers can reduce students’ anxiety. Finally, I conclude by incorporating the process of becoming a servant into the ways through which language teachers can help minimize students’ language anxiety.
Sources of Language Anxiety
Because anxiety concerns the emotional side of human behavior, its sources greatly vary. Several studies on the development of language anxiety have identified various origins, but potential sources generally fall into two broad areas: personal issues and classroom issues.
Personal Issues
Some personal issues causing language anxiety are competitiveness, a lack of willingness to take risks, low self-esteem, the fear of public speaking, and learner’s beliefs. By analyzing learners’ diary studies, Bailey (1983) found that learners often experienced anxiety when they saw themselves to be in competition with other students. In the study of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1991), one student reported: “I am afraid that my language teacher is ready to correct every mistake I make” (p. 34), suggesting that students who are afraid to make mistakes become anxious. Another factor that may cause language anxiety is learners’ beliefs about themselves. Price (1991) found that the majority of the anxious learners in her study believed that they weren’t doing well and that other students looked down on them. In addition, some subjects in her study mentioned that they were very anxious about public speaking. More specifically, MacIntyre (1999) identified “the fear of speaking in front of other people using a language with which one has limited proficiency” as a primary source of language anxiety (p. 33).
Learners’ beliefs about language learning may also generate language anxiety. Radnofsky and Spielmann (2001) found that students’ expectations and beliefs play a crucial role in determining how “tension” is generated. What mattered to students in this study was whether their beliefs and expectations about what was supposed to work were met by their teacher’s teaching methods.
Classroom Issues
Several sources of language anxiety in the classroom are summarized well in Price’s (1991) paper. The greatest source of anxiety she found among students was “having to speak the target language in front of their peers” (p. 105). They were concerned about being ridiculed by other students and making fools of themselves in public. Other sources include a concern about making errors in pronunciation, the frustration of not being able to communicate effectively, and the difficulty of their language classes.
In addition, Tsui (1996) discussed several more factors that contribute to language classroom anxiety. “The teachers’ intolerance of silence” may create a great deal of anxiety (p. 158). It is often the case that language learners fail to produce an immediate response to a teacher’s question because they are still learning the target language and it takes time for them to process the question and answer it. However, if the teacher has a low tolerance of this silence and shows signs of impatience, such as by repeating the same question or turning to another student for a response, the student may feel like a failure and the teacher may be damaging the student’s self-esteem. Another factor Tsui (1996) looked at was the teacher’s “uneven allocation of turns” (p. 159). Students who are rarely allocated turns at speaking may feel ignored by the teacher which may lead to undermining of the self-esteem of those students. The other source of anxiety is “incomprehensible input” (p. 159), and she pointed to the survey of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1991). In that study, 35 percent of the students endorsed the statement, “It frightens me when I don’t understand what the teacher is saying in the foreign language” (p. 34).
It is also important for teachers to understand that some researchers have investigated language anxiety in an out-of-class setting and noted that another important source of FL/L2 anxiety is interacting with native speakers (Clement, 1980; Woodrow, 2006).
The Role of the Language Teacher in Reducing Language Anxiety
A number of sources of language anxiety originating from personal issues or classroom issues have been outlined. One can easily see that each contributing factor is intricately intertwined in the construct of language anxiety. Moreover, it is apparent that the amount of anxiety learners experience highly depends on the way the language teacher manages his or her teaching and classroom. In dealing with anxious students, two general approaches are suggested for language instructors: (a) they can help them learn to cope with the existing anxiety-provoking situation or (b) they can make the learning context less stressful (see Horwitz & Young, 1991, p. 34). However, before any option is feasible it is essential for language teachers to acknowledge the existence of FL/L2 anxiety and to understand the underlying factors associated with it (Horwitz & Young, 1991; Phillips, 1999).
Helping Students Cope With Their Language Anxiety
Several studies have suggested that the teacher can help students cope with their language anxiety in three ways: (a) providing students with information about the role of language anxiety in language learning, (b) helping students recognize and talk about their fears and beliefs, and (c) providing students with strategies for managing their anxiety (Foss & Reitzel, 1991; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1991; Phillips, 1999).
According to Phillips (1999), in order to help anxious learners, teachers first need to start with much “concern and empathy for the negative affect students may experience” (p. 127). Then, teachers should talk openly with their students about how to set realistic goals for the course. They also should provide students with information about language anxiety: what it is and what its sources and effects are. Once students gain some understanding of language anxiety, Phillips (1999) suggests teachers should help them recognize their own fears and beliefs and admit them.
In helping students cope with anxiety, teachers can provide them with strategies for managing language anxiety. Possible strategies that Foss and Reitzel (1991) have recommended include rational emotive therapy to help students think in more realistic ways, using an anxiety graph to assist students in gaining an accurate understanding of the nature of their anxiety (to pinpoint when anxiety is highest and to perceive the situation realistically), role play, drama, and oral interpretation so students gain knowledge of and skills in the language and culture, case studies that guide students to become aware of a variety of viewpoints, and cultural artifact exercises to help students compare and contrast their native and target language cultural artifacts. In addition, giving advice on effective language learning strategies and keeping a teaching journal are some techniques that teachers might use (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1991).
Making the Learning Context Less Stressful
For alleviating language anxiety, Price (1991) has included some suggestions offered by the participants, who said smaller classes would help. Getting to know the other students helped them to feel more relaxed because it reduced their fear of being ridiculed and took away the feeling that the others are all smarter and more confident. The subjects also mentioned ways instructors can reduce anxiety by giving positive reinforcement, encouraging students to make mistakes, and helping them to learn as if a friend is helping them (Price, 1991).
Crookall and Oxford (1991) claimed that teachers can greatly help lessen the anxiety of the classroom “by making the classroom as friendly and relaxed as possible” (p. 142). They also suggest improving the classroom climate through “the use of pair work, small group work, games, simulations, and structured exercises” (Crookall & Oxford, 1991, p. 142).
On top of the practical suggestions given by Price (1991) and Crookall & Oxford (1991), Tsui (1996) offered several useful strategies that may alleviate students’ language anxiety:
• Accepting a variety of answers: Don’t give students the impression that there is always a “right answer” to every question, but be more flexible in accepting variations in learners’ answers.
• Peer support and group work: Letting students do peer correction before offering answers to the whole class may encourage students to speak up.
• Focus on content: Do activities that focus on content rather than form. Students are then not under the threat of having their mistakes corrected.
• Establishing good relationships: This creates trust between students and the teacher, enabling them to work together to deal with anxiety effectively. (Tsui, 1996, pp. 162-164)
When students seem to experience language anxiety outside the classroom by having contact with native speakers, as seen in Clement (1980) and Woodrow (2006), teachers should first consider students’ communicative competence and help them acquire the necessary skills for communicating in and outside the classroom in various situations. In ESL contexts, teachers can set “out-of-class tasks utilizing the rich linguistic resources available to learners” (Woodrow, 2006, p. 324). For instance, students might participate in the local community by joining a local library.
Conclusion
I have reviewed debilitating language anxiety, as well as what FL/L2 teachers might do about it. Research helps us better understand language anxiety and its effects on FL/L2 learning.
Among the effective strategies that Tsui (1996) recommended for creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere, she believes that establishing good relationships with students is particularly important in creating a favorable learning atmosphere in the classroom. Her perspective has led me to reflect upon the six steps that Elmer (2006) presented in becoming a servant, because as a Christian language teacher one of the action verbs that I would like to engrave in my mind and heart is “to serve.” According to Elmer (2006), the process of cross-cultural servanthood includes openness, acceptance, trust, learning, understanding, and serving. When teachers are willing to step out of their “comfort zone to initiate and sustain relationships,” students will “feel welcomed” and “find themselves feeling safe” (p. 151). When students feel that we accept, are open to, and value them, trust will be built more easily. Once we have trust in one another, students will share important information about themselves and their lives, and teachers will learn about their students (and themselves). Then students will hopefully feel comfortable sharing their fears and beliefs and teachers can effectively help students cope with language anxiety. Once we learn about and from our students, we can understand them and see better what kind of needs individual students have. And when we understand our students, we will finally be able to serve them in the way Jesus Christ served His disciples and so many others.
If I follow these steps carefully in my language teaching, I am confident that I will be more successful in helping my students cope with language anxiety and in making the learning context less stressful. Last, as a language teacher I need to remember that helping students to overcome their language anxiety takes time, just as does dealing with any other type of anxiety.
Sunny Hyeyoung Song has taught in China, Korea, and the United States, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. In her spare time she enjoys walking, watching movies, listening to Christian radio stations, and being with her family and friends. She is also completing her MA TESOL at Biola University.
References
Bailey, K. M. (1983). Competitiveness and anxiety in adult second language learning: Looking at and through the diary studies. In H. W. Seliger & M. H. Long (Eds.), Classroom-oriented research in second language acquisition (pp. 67-102). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Clement, R. (1980). Ethnicity, contact, and communicative competence in a second language. In H. Giles, W. P. Robinson, & P. M. Smith (Eds.), Language: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 147-154). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Crookall, D., & Oxford, R. (1991). Dealing with anxiety: Some practical activities for language learners and teacher trainees. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety (pp. 141-150). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Elmer, D. (2006). Cross-cultural servanthood: Serving the world in Christlike humility. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Foss, K. A., & Reitzel, A. C. (1991). A relational model for managing second language anxiety. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety (pp. 129-140). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. A. (1991). Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety (pp. 27-36). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Horwitz, E. K., & Young, D. J. (Eds.). (1991). Language anxiety. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
MacIntyre, P. D. (1999). Language anxiety: A review of the research for language teachers. In D. J. Young (Ed.), Affect in foreign language and second language learning: A practical guide to creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere (pp. 24-45). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
MacIntyre, P., & Gardner, R. (1991). Methods and results in the study of anxiety and language learning: A review of the literature. Language Learning, 41, 85-117.
Phillips, E. (1999). Decreasing language anxiety: A review of the research for language teachers. In D. J. Young (Ed.), Affect in foreign language and second language learning: A practical guide to creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere (pp. 124-143). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Price, M. L. (1991). The subjective experience of foreign language anxiety: Interviews with highly anxious students. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety (pp. 101-108). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Radnofsky, M. L., & Spielmann, G. (2001). Learning language under tension: New directions from a qualitative study. Modern Language Journal, 85, 259-278.
Tsui, A. (1996). Reticence and anxiety in second language learning. In K. Bailey & D. Nunan (Eds.), Voices from the language classroom (pp. 145-167). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Woodrow, L. (2006). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. RELC Journal, 37, 308-328.
