Anxiety in Foreign Language Learning

320 Words2 Pages
Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) is different from other academic anxieties, it is a unique metacognitive element, which manifests itself in learners’ awareness that “deprived” of their normal means of communication (i.e., the L1) they are to communicate via a language in which they do not have full competence. Language learning Anxiety has been classified as a situation-specific anxiety. Anxiety Affect in language learning involves various aspects of emotions, feelings, attitude of the learner. Affective sides of language learners may influence the learners’ language learning process, positively or negatively. Thus, a right understanding of affect in foreign language learning can lead to more effective language learning and teaching. This phenomenon itself has been widely recognized as some kind of mental block against language learning by language teachers and researchers as well as learners themselves. Researches of foreign language are well aware that learning and using a foreign tongue can be an anxiety provoking experience. I.e. FLA is the feeling of uneasiness and nervousness experienced by non-native speakers when learning and using a foreign language. This feeling may disturb the desire to improve any FL context whether associated with the receptive skills of reading and listening, or the productive skills of writing and speaking; it makes language learners nervous and afraid. Many learners have their own experience in anxiety especially in FLL, they confront pressure and obstacles in this field, despite they are proficient and motivated in other learning situations. So, anxiety can hinder success in FLL Andrade and Williams (2008). Empirical research shows that anxious foreign language students are less willing to participate in learning activities, and have lower performance than non-anxious students (Aida 1994, Macintyre and Gardner 1991).
Open Document