Language anxiety and achievement

TL;DR: A review of the literature on language learning anxiety can be found in this paper, which concludes that anxiety is indeed a cause of poor second language learning in some individuals and discusses po ssible source s of this anxiety, including difficulty in authentic self-presentatio n and various langu age teaching pra ctices.

Abstract: This chapter considers the literature on language learning anxiety in an effort to clarify the relationship between anxiety and second language learning. It will first argue that langua ge anxiety is a specific anxietyrather than a tra it anxietyand discuss how this conceptualization has helped clarify the research literature. After Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) proposed that a specific anxiety construct which they called Fore ign Langu age An xiety was r espo nsible fo r stud entsunco mfor table experiences in langua ge classes and o ffered an instrum ent, the Foreign Langu age Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), to measu re this anxiety, findings concerning anxiety and language achieve ment have be en relatively uniform, indicating a consistent moderate negative relationship between anxiety and achievement. However, some rese archers (Sp arks and Gans chow and the ir colleagues) have suggested that poor langu age learning is a cause r ather than a resu lt of language anxiety. This review conclud es that anxiety is indeed a cau se of poo r language learning in some individuals and discusses po ssible source s of this anxiety, including difficulty in authentic self-presentatio n and various langu age teaching pra ctices. In addition, it reports on new trends in language anxiety research that attempt to identify aspects of language learning (e.g., reading anxiety or writing anxiety) which provoke anxiety for some individuals.