University of Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities MA in Language and Education (Linguistics)
Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety: A Study of Teacher Anxiety in Non-Native Foreign Language Teachers in the Netherlands
Student: Soufiane El Ouastani (11926201) Supervisor: Dr. Rose van der Zwaard
2018
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which foreign language teaching anxiety shaped the experiences of non-native foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. Specifically, this study aimed to: (1) determine the scope and the severity of foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native foreign language teachers; (2) investigate whether there is a correlation between the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety and different foreign languages; (3) identify the potential sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers; (4) identify the strategies that non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety and determine what possible classroom implications these strategies could have. 38 non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers participated in this study by completing a questionnaire and participating in follow-up in-depth, one-on-one, semi- structured interviews. The findings of this study demonstrated that non-native foreign language teachers in the Netherlands experience feelings of anxiety in relation to teaching a fore ign language. It was also found the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among the participants were dependent on their different target languages. In addition, this study found that there are multiple sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among the participants. Finally, this study found that the participants employed different coping mechanisms to deal with their anxiety, some of which might negatively impact the quality of their classroom instruction. Table of contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………….………….……1 1. 1. Contextualisation……………………………………………………………….….…..…1 1. 2. Background……………………………………………………….……...………………2 1. 2. 1. Anxiety as a psychological construct…………….……………………………………2 1. 2. 2. Anxiety in the context of foreign language learning………..…………………………2 1. 2. 3. Foreign Language Anxiety……………………………….……………………………4 1. 3. Study……………………………………………………..……………….………………6 1. 4. Outline……………………………………………………………………………………7 2. Literature Review…………………………………………………….……………………7 2. 1. Foreign language teaching anxiety……………………………….………………………7 2. 2. Potential effects of foreign language teaching anxiety…………..………………………9 2. 3. Alleviating foreign language teaching anxiety………………………………………….10 3. Research Questions…………………………………………………..…………………..11 4. Methodology…………………………………..………………….………………………12 4. 1. Participants…………………………………………………………...…………………12 4. 1. 1. Non-native pre-service language teachers sample………...…………………………12 4. 1. 2. Non-native beginning language teachers sample…………………………………….14 4. 2. Instruments……………………………..……………………….………………………15 4. 2. 1. Questionnaire ………………………………………..………………………………15 4. 2. 2. Interview…………………………..……………………….…………………………16 4. 4. Procedures …………………………...…………………………………………………17 4. 4. 1. Data collection…………………………….………………….………………………17 4. 4. 2. Data analysis…………………………………………………………………………19 5. Results……………….……………………………………………………………………20 5. 1. Research question 1……………………………..………………………………………21 5. 1. Research question 2…………………………………..…………………………………22 5. 1. Research question 3…………………………………..…………………………………23 5. 1. Research question 4…………………………………..…………………………………27 6. Discussion and Conclusions……………………………………...………………………29 6. 1. Implications.………………………………………….…………………………………35 6. 2. Limitations of the study…………………………………………………………………36 6. 3. Suggestions for further research……………………...…………………………………37 Appendices …………………………………….…………………………………………… 40 References ……………………………………...……………………………………………46
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1. Introduction
1. 1. Contextualisation
The process of learning a second or a foreign language is shaped by multiple, complex, acting and interacting dynamics. For example, variables such as attitude, aptitude and motivation, as well as the interrelationship between these variables, have long been established by a considerable volume of theoretical and empirical studies as having a vital, determining role in the learning of a foreign language (Gardner & Lambert, 1965, 1972; Carroll, 1981; Krashen, 1981). Learners’ individual learning styles, foreign language learning strategies and approaches, as well as the social context under which foreign languages are taught and learned, have all also been postulated as crucial predictors of foreign language learning success or failure (Oxford, 1990; Schuman, 1976). In recent years, researchers have identified anxiety as another major factor in the context of foreign language learning (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). In fact, anxiety has become one of the most important issues of concern among foreign language researchers and educators in their attempt to understand differences in foreign language learning achievement and performance.
Anxiety and its classroom implications has been the subject of an ever-growing number of studies that have investigated the disorder extensively in a multitude of social, cultural and instructional settings and with learners of different foreign languages and of different levels (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Horwitz, 1986, 1996, Maclntyre & Gardner 1994; Young, 1990, 1991a; Horwitz & Young, 1991; Aida, 1994; Yang, 2012; Al-Saraj, 2014, Woodrow, 2006). As a result, anxiety has become one of the most extensively investigated psychological variables in foreign language research. A review of the available literature on anxiety-related research in the field of foreign language learning demonstrates that the disorder has more often than not been found to stymies foreign language learning. Indeed, notwithstanding some of the early inconclusive findings (see Scovel, 1978 for an overview) and some of the noteworthy conflicting views regarding the correlation between anxiety and foreign language learning (see Sparks & Ganschow, 1991 for an example), anxiety has been largely shown to unequivocally cause problems for foreign language learners. According to Maclntyre and Gardner (1991), anxiety influences foreign language learning by interfering with “the acquisition, retention and production of the new language” (p.86).
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1. 2. Background
1. 2. 1. Anxiety as a psychological construct
Anxiety is generally defined as “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (Spielberger, 1983, p. 1). Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder (Kessler & Greenberg, 2002). It is a multidimensional and complex psychological state that encompasses a compound of cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions (Sarason, 1988). What makes anxiety a complex and a fiendishly difficult state to deal with lies in the fact that what triggers it could differ from one situation to another and from one individual to another (Ohata, 2005). In other words, the many sources of anxiety are dependent on context and on an individual’s own perception of what is a threat. Accordingly, psychologists have generally approached anxiety through three different perspectives.
Psychologists generally distinguish between three types of anxieties, namely trait anxiety, state anxiety and situation-specific anxiety. State anxiety refers to the fear and the psychological turmoil experienced by individuals under particular circumstances (Spielberger, 1983). This type of anxiety is often seen as a response to particular situations and is more likely to change from one situation to another. Trait anxiety refers to “differences between people in the tendency to perceive stressful situation as dangerous or threatening and to respond to such situations with elevations in the intensity of their state anxiety reactions” (Spielberger, 1983, p.1). Therefore, and unlike state anxiety, trait anxiety is permanent and consistent across a wide range of situations. Situation-specific anxiety refers to the predisposition to experience anxiety reactions in well-defined situations, such as public speaking or participating in class, for instance (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). In other words, situation-specific anxiety is a trait anxiety limited to a specific situation (MacIntyre, 1999). This perspective on anxiety emerged as an alternative to state anxiety, because of the view that certain specific situations are more likely to induce anxiety reactions than others, and that reactions to these situations may vary (Horwitz, 2001).
1. 2. 2. Anxiety in the context of foreign language learning
Anxiety in the context of foreign language learning is a relatively recent field of study. Interest in the relationship between anxiety and foreign language learning achievement and performance is a concomitant of the 1970s shift in educational research toward learner differences. This period was marked by researchers beginning to consider learner El Ouastani 3
characteristics as a possible explanation for differences in foreign language learning outcomes. Therefore, researchers began to examine the potential effects of affective variables, such as motivation, attitude and anxiety, on foreign language learning achievement and performance (e.g. Gardner & Lambert 1972; Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). Over the years, the amount of research conducted on the relationship between anxiety and foreign language learning achievement has grown substantially, and quite numerous and diverse are the findings and the suggestions that have been put forward regarding the nature of this relationship.
Early studies into the relationship between anxiety and foreign language learning achievement yielded inconsistent and conflicting results (see Scovel, 1978 for a review of these studies). On the one hand, contrary to what would be logically expected, some studies positively correlated anxiety to foreign language learning achievement and performance (e.g. Chastain, 1975; Kleinmann, 1977). These studies found that anxiety had facilitative effects on the acquisition of specific language skills and the achievement of specific language tasks. Other studies, on the other hand, underlined the negative correlation between anxiety and foreign language learning achievement and performance (e.g. Tucker, Hamayan & Genesee, 1976; Swain and Burnaby, 1976). They found that anxiety had debilitating effects on foreign language learning and viewed it as a true issue of concern in the area of foreign language learning and teaching. Scovel (1978), and after him, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986), explained these inconsistent findings in terms of the researchers’ failure to specify the type of anxiety being investigated, as not all anxieties influence foreign language learning, and the lack of proper anxiety measures specific to the context of foreign language learning.
Gardner (1985) also argued that not all types of anxieties influence foreign language learning. He hypothesized that “a construct of anxiety which is not general but instead is specific to the language acquisition context is related to second language achievement” (p.34). This led to the speculation that the anxieties examined in early studies were not specific to language learning, and that foreign language learning produced a unique type of anxiety which is distinct from the rest. This type of anxiety, according to Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1968), stems primarily from immature foreign language abilities:
Adults typically perceive themselves as reasonably intelligent, socially-adept individuals, sensitive to different socio-cultural mores. These assumptions are rarely challenged when communicating in a native language as it is not usually difficult to understand others or to make oneself understood. However, the situation when learning El Ouastani 4
a foreign language stands in marked contrast. As an individual s communication attempts will be evaluated according to uncertain or even unknown linguistic and socio- cultural standards, second language communication entails risk-taking and is necessarily problematic. Because complex and nonspontaneous mental operations are required in order to communicate at all, any performance in the L2 is likely to challenge an individual s self-concept as a competent communicator and lead to reticence, self- consciousness, fear, or even panic (p. 128).
In line with this new perspective on anxiety in the context of foreign language, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1968) proposed the unique-anxiety approach, which viewed anxiety in the context of foreign language learning as a situation-specific reaction. Additionally, they designed the Foreign Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to measure foreign language anxiety levels. Adopting this new approach and using the FLCAS, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) and many subsequent researchers, found significant negative correlations between anxiety and foreign language learning achievement and performance. Specifically, anxiety was found to have a negative influence on foreign language learners’ confidence, self-esteem and their level of participation inside the language classroom (Horwitz and Cope, 1968).
1. 2. 3. Foreign Language Anxiety
Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) defined foreign language anxiety as “a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” (p. 128). They conceptualized foreign language anxiety as a situation-specific anxiety which is independent of the other types of anxiety in that it results from the unique conditions under which foreign language learning takes place. However, despite its distinctiveness and independence from the other anxieties, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) argued that foreign language anxiety remains a performance-evaluation-related anxiety and should be viewed in parallel with three other types of performance-related anxieties. These are communication apprehension, or “shyness characterised by fear of or anxiety about communicating with people” (p.127); test anxiety, anxiety that stems from the fear of failure; and the fear of negative evaluation, which is defined as the “apprehension about other’s evaluation, avoidance of evaluative situations, and the expectation that others would evaluate oneself negative” (Watson & Friend, 1969, p. 449). While these three anxieties constitute essential “conceptual blocks” for understanding foreign language anxiety, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) emphasized that “foreign El Ouastani 5
language anxiety is not simply the combination of these fears transferred foreign language learning” (p.128).
Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s (1986) theoretical construct of foreign language anxiety has been taken up by many researchers who examined it under various foreign language learning contexts over the years. For example, the effects of foreign language anxiety on language skills have been researched extensively (Young, 1986, 1990; Saito, Garza, & Horwitz,1999, Argaman & Abu-Rabia, 2002; Elkhafaifi, 2005; Woodrow, 2006; Zhang, 2013). Foreign language anxiety has also been probed by multiple studies in learners of different target languages (Horwitz, 1986; Aida, 1994; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991; Sellers, 2000; Elkhafaifi, 2005; Al-saraj, 2014). In addition, the effects of foreign language anxiety on memory and vocabulary development have been analyzed by many studies (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994a, 1994b, 1989). Furthermore, some studies (Onwuegbuzie, Bailey & Daley, 1999; Gregerson & Horwitz, 2002; Ohata, 2005) investigated the factors impacting the levels of foreign language anxiety among foreign language learners. Finally, developing methods for alleviating the feeling of foreign language anxiety among learners of foreign languages has also been attempted by many researchers (Horwitz & Young, 1991, Young, 1991a, Burden, 2004). In short, foreign language anxiety has become the subject of numerous studies making it the most extensively investigated variable in the context of foreign language learning.
However, while attention to foreign language anxiety has been increasing in recent years, a review of the available literature shows that foreign language anxiety-related research has been focused almost entirely on the debilitating effects of foreign language anxiety on beginning and intermediate learners. Very limited are the studies that investigated foreign language anxiety in advanced foreign language learners. This is particularly the case regarding the number of attempts made to probe the phenomenon in non-native foreign language teachers, who, according to Horwitz (1996), merely happen to be the most advanced foreign language learners. The few studies which have been conducted on foreign language anxiety among non-native language teachers have all shown that this category of advanced language learners also experiences feelings of anxiety in relation to foreign language use, and that these feelings have a negative impact on the quality of foreign language classroom instruction as well as on the well-being of the teachers (Horwitz, 1996; Canessa, 2004; Tseng, 2005, Tum, 2010). It is therefore important to further investigate foreign language anxiety in non-native foreign language teachers and attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of El Ouastani 6
this phenomenon, its scope, and its influence on the quality of instructions inside the foreign language classroom.
1. 3. Study
The present study aims to further our understanding of foreign language anxiety by investigating the phenomenon in non-native foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. Using both quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments, specifically questionnaires and focused, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews, this study will attempt to, first, determine the extent to which non-native foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language anxiety in relation to teaching a foreign language. Second, this study will attempt to investigate whether there is any correlation between the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety and the participants’ target language. Third, this study will attempt to identify the causes of potential feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety among foreign language teachers. Fourth, this study will probe the strategies that non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with the potentially debilitating effects of foreign language teaching anxiety. Finally, this study will attempt to gain insights into the possible classroom implications of the strategies that non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety.
The main reason for the choice of the focus area for the current study is because I have been personally experiencing feelings of anxiety in relation to foreign language learning as long as I can remember. My first experience with foreign language anxiety goes back to my first years of primary education when I started to learn a second language for the first time. I had to learn five languages throughout my educational career. In fact, my feelings of foreign language anxiety have become acuter the more advanced I became in any of the languages I attempted to learn. Today, being a qualified non-native language teacher of English, I believe that I am still going through the same trials of language-related anxiety I went through as a learner. It took me a while to realize what I have been dealing with, and I am still trying to understand how this phenomenon shapes learning and teaching experiences inside the language classroom. With this study, I attempt to investigate foreign language anxiety in non-native language teachers.
This thesis is specifically geared towards non-native pre-service and beginning in- service foreign language teachers who are going the through the same trials I have experienced both as a foreign language learner and teacher. It is my hope that the findings of this study El Ouastani 7
render further insights into the underpinnings of this phenomena and how to best cope with it. In addition, I hope that this paper will draw the attention of the teacher educators and teacher training programme designers to the phenomena of foreign language teaching anxiety and to the importance of teaching their students about it as it is having a crucial impact on their performance.
1. 4. Outline
This paper will now proceed to review the available relevant literature on foreign language teaching anxiety. In addition to presenting the current dominant beliefs and speculation about foreign language teaching anxiety, this chapter will also present and critically analyze the few relevant empirical studies conducted on this construct of anxiety in terms of the theoretical approaches they adopted, and the methodological research designs they employed. Any possible limitations of the past research into foreign language teaching anxiety will be presented in this chapter. Next, the research questions of the current study will be presented. These will be followed by the methodology, which will include the participants, the instruments and the procedures for the data collection and analysis. Then, the findings of the study will be presented in relation to each research question. Next, the results will be summarised and discussed. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn, and will include the implications of this study, its limitations, and suggestions for further research.
2. Literature Review
2. 1. Foreign language teaching anxiety
Horwitz (1996) was the first to speculate that non-native foreign language teachers are also susceptible to foreign language anxiety. According to Horwitz (1996), foreign language anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers is the result of four main factors. Firstly, foreign language anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers results from the irrational analysis of one’s own abilities in the target language. According to Horwitz, contrary to what many studies have suggested, language anxious individuals do not always have foreign language deficiencies nor are they less proficient in the target language compared to their less anxious counterparts. For her, foreign language anxiety is more salient among perfectionist high achievers in language learning who have the tendency to recognize and magnify small “imperfections in the target language productions” (p. 367). Secondly, foreign language El Ouastani 8
anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers stems from the spontaneity of today’s language classroom, where it has become difficult for teachers to predict the course which their lesson could take and are more susceptible to language lapses. According to Horwitz, this becomes a major source of anxiety in non-native foreign language teachers for they are strongly motivated about their target language and have “invested considerable time, effort, and emotional energy in the target language” (p. 367). Thirdly, Horwitz believes that teachers who pursue an idealized and unrealistic proficiency level in the target language are “likely to experience anxiety over their own levels of competency no matter how accomplished they are as second language speakers” (p. 367). Finally, foreign language teachers, who are themselves language learners, have likely encountered numerous anxiety-inducing experiences while learning the target language. These experiences, according to Horwitz, may lead to foreign language anxiety. All in all, the factors outlined by Horwitz make it clear that non-native language teachers are not immune to anxiety in relation to foreign language and that it is plausible to conceive of a new foreign language anxiety construct – foreign language teaching anxiety.
A growing number of theoretical and empirical studies have produced evidence that lent further support for the existence of foreign language teaching anxiety in both pre-service and in-service non-native foreign language teachers. For instance, in a study of the relationship between foreign language anxiety and perfectionism, Gregerson and Horwitz (2002) identified the perfectionist tendencies, such as setting unrealistic language learning goals or overreacting to errors, as a prominent source of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native pre- service foreign language teachers. The researchers also identified the fear of negative evaluation from peers, which is also consistent with perfectionism, as a cause of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native pre-service language teachers. Moreover, Gregerson and Horwitz found that it is the individuals’ emotional reaction to their foreign language limitations which causes anxiety rather than the limitations themselves. Gregerson and Horwitz suggested that the procedures meant to help individuals overcome perfectionist tendencies may also be effective in alleviating the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers.
In a study of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native teachers and student teachers of English as a foreign language, Tum (2010) examined whether non-native teachers and student teachers of English as a foreign language experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. He also attempted to examine the extent to which foreign language teaching El Ouastani 9
anxiety affected classroom instruction. Tum found that the phenomenon is prevalent in both inexperienced as well as experienced non-native teachers of English as a foreign language. He also found that, contrary to findings from early studies (e.g. Horwitz, 1996), foreign language teaching anxiety did not have any effect on the teachers’ or the student teachers’ choice of foreign language teaching and learning activities inside the classroom. However, while Tum’s study has clearly further advanced our understanding of the phenomenon, its data was merely quantitative and relied entirely on a structured set of questions which did not yield in a robust data to explain the motives behind the participants’ answers.
In another study, Canessa (2004) investigated foreign language teaching anxiety in in- service language teachers and found that foreign language teaching anxiety correlated with a number of factors. In her study, Canessa examined foreign language teaching anxiety in relation to a number of factors, including the participants’ teaching experience in the target language, cultural background, years of formal education in the target language, and the time spent in a country of the target language. Among her findings, was that the levels of anxiety experienced by foreign language teachers correlated with their teaching experience in that language. Her findings indicated that as the participants’ gained more experience teaching the target language, their anxiety decreased. Additionally, Canessa found that the cultural background of the participants had a major influence on their anxiety levels. She noted that the role that is traditionally assigned to a teacher may be a crucial factor in elevating anxiety levels. She concluded that the cultural background of some teachers stigmatizes mistakes and put high expectations of teachers which all resulted in high affective responses including foreign language anxiety. However, Canessa found that there was no significant relationship between the anxiety levels and the years spent studying in the target language nor with time spent in target language speaking countries.
2. 2. Potential effects of foreign language teaching anxiety
Past studies have identified several undesirable potential effects of foreign language teaching anxiety. In her early studies of the phenomenon, Horwitz (1992; 1993) provided empirical evidence of the prevalence of foreign language teaching anxiety in her participants. She found that anxious teachers were more likely to avoid intensive language teaching approaches, such as total physical response, role-play activities and classroom discussions. In another study, Horwitz (1996) found that foreign language teaching anxiety negatively affects the quality of classroom input. Based on her study of anxiety in anxious pre-service language El Ouastani 10
teachers, Horwitz found that high-anxious participants reduced the amount and the quality of the input that they provided their learners with inside the classroom; hence, limiting their learners’ access to spontaneous foreign language in the classroom. This, according to Horwitz, is a result of the anxious teachers’ consciously limiting their target language production in the classroom and during activities in an attempt to hide their language deficiencies. Additionally, Horwitz speculated that foreign language teaching anxiety may result in the teachers transferring their uneasiness and discomfort in using the target language to their students. Finally, Horwitz noted that foreign language anxiety would definitely impact the teacher’s job satisfaction and hence have long-term impact om their well-being.
2. 3. Alleviating foreign language teaching anxiety
Several ways have been suggested by Horwitz (1996) for alleviating the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. One of the most important ways, according to Horwitz, is that teachers should come to terms with the fact that sometimes foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. For her, language teachers experience foreign language teaching anxiety and it is acceptable to do so. In addition, Horwitz suggests that teachers should be realistic in setting their aims for proficiency and performance in the target language and should be more appreciative of their actual achievement in the target language. Moreover, teachers should further familiarise themselves with the language learning process and ensure to set a language concrete and realistic proficiency improvement plan. Becoming familiar with the language learning process would allow teachers to perceive changes and differences in their target language proficiency which will help them notice some of the difficulties which could be mere natural fluctuations in language proficiency. Similarly, setting a proficiency plan would make the learning process less overwhelming. Recognizing the feelings of cultural shock is another way through which foreign language teaching anxiety can be reduced. According to Horwitz, teachers’ whose feelings of anxiety about the target culture, stemming primarily from negative target culture experiences, “may bring negative orientation toward target language use back into the classroom”. Horwitz also advised teachers to learn relaxation techniques which some of which constitute the most anti-anxiety treatments, such as imagining using the target language effectively and calmly inside the classroom. Finally, Horwitz believes that it is essential to provide support to colleagues and beginning teachers and assist them in building teaching confidence. El Ouastani 11
Despite strong evidence of the existence of foreign language teaching anxiety and its debilitating effects on non-native foreign language teachers, the current body of research into this phenomenon remains considerably small and lacking. Very limited indeed are the attempts which have been made to study foreign language teaching anxiety, and of the limited studies which investigated this phenomenon, hardly any one of them adopted a qualitative design in order to gain emic accounts of the scope and the severity of this phenomenon in non-native foreign language teachers. Indeed, further attempts are required to tap into the experiences of anxious foreign language teachers, their perspectives on the construct and what coping mechanisms they employ in order to deal with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. Moreover, while foreign language anxiety has been extensively researched in learners with different foreign languages, no study has probed foreign language teaching anxiety among teachers of different target languages. Taking the factor of different target languages into account in the study of foreign language teaching anxiety is crucial, especially because previous similar studies of foreign language anxiety established a correlation between the levels of foreign language anxiety and different foreign languages (Onwuegbuzie et al., 1997; Rodríguez & Abreu, 2003; Yan, 2010).
3. Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to investigate foreign language teaching anxiety in non- native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers. In addition to determining the scope the severity of this phenomenon, this study also aims to probe the possible sources and the classroom implications of the feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety experienced by non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers. To this end, this study will attempt to answer the following questions:
1. To what extent do non-native foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety?
2. Are the differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety dependent on the target language of the non-native foreign language teachers?
3. What are the causes of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers? El Ouastani 12
4. What are the strategies that non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety and what possible classroom effects could these strategies have on the quality of instruction?
4. Methodology
4. 1. Participants
A total of 38 non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers participated in the current study. Initially, the study was designed to probe foreign language teaching anxiety in a much higher number of research participants; a minimum of hundred participants, to be precise. It was however not possible to recruit this large number of participants, mainly due to difficulties obtaining access to pre-service language teachers enrolled in language teacher training programmes at research universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Only five out of the eight educational institutions contacted about this study replied to our request to conduct the study with the students enrolled in their teacher training programmes, and only four of these institutions granted us the necessary permission to conduct the study and assisted us in inviting the students and in distributing the questionnaires.
4. 1. 1. Non-native pre-service foreign language teachers sample:
27 non-native pre-service foreign language teachers participated in this study. They were recruited from four different institutions in the Netherlands. 9 of them were following one-year intensive first-grade language teacher training programmes offered by two research universities. The other 18 pre-service language-teacher participants were in their third and fourth year of a four-year-long bachelor’s degree programme of teacher education offered by two universities of applied sciences and which, upon completion, grants the students a Dutch grade two teaching qualification.
All the pre-service non-native language teachers who participated in this study were partaking in compulsory internship programmes as part of their training. With these internships, the students are placed under the supervision of a supervising teacher at secondary schools across the Netherlands and are required to carry out a number of assignments per semester, including classroom observations, teaching lessons, and other professional development projects. These internships are systematically evaluated by both the supervising El Ouastani 13
teacher and the programme assessors and constitute a central part of the teacher education programmes in the Netherlands.
The majority of the non-native pre-service language teachers who participated in this study were between the ages of 18 and 25 and were mostly females. They were almost all Dutch, although a few of them indicated that they have mixed Moroccan-Dutch or mixed Turkish-Dutch origins. Other countries represented among the participants were Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Romania and the United States of America. Dutch was the native language of the majority of the non-native pre-service language teacher-participants. This is logical since almost all of them were of Dutch origin. The other native languages which were represented in this sample of participants are Arabic, English, Estonian, Frisian, Kurdish, Greek, Romanian and Turkish.
Most of the non-native pre-service language teacher-participants indicated “other” as their previous degree. Some of them had obtained a master, and a few them a bachelor’s degree, before enrolling in their current programmes. None of the pre-service language teachers who were surveyed in this study had a post master’s degree or a Ph.D.
All of the three target languages investigated in this study were represented among the pre-service language teachers. 15 participants were enrolled in English as a Foreign Language teacher training programmes, 7 participants in French programmes and 5 in German programmes. The number of years of formal study of the target language varied among the pre- service non-native language teachers. 9 participants indicated that they had between 1-5 years of formal study of the target language. 13 participants indicated that they had between 6-11 years of formal study of the target language. The remaining 5 non-native pre-service language teacher-participants indicated to have had 12 to17 years of formal study of the target language. All the non-native pre-service language teachers who participated in this study indicated to have had between 1-5 years of experience of teaching their target language.
The questionnaire demonstrated that the majority of the participants indicated that they spent 0-1 years in a country of their target language. Some have indicated that they spent 2-3 years, and none of them spent more than 3 years in a country of their target languages. The questionnaire also demonstrated that the non-native pre-service language teachers had a varied amount of contact with the native speakers of their target languages. Most of the pre-service teacher participants indicated to have had some contact with the native speakers of their language. The rest indicated to have had very little contact with the natives while in the country El Ouastani 14
of their target language. However, none of the pre-service teacher participants said that they had a substantial contact with the natives of their target language.
One of the items in the questionnaire that the participants had to respond two was about their own assessment of their own command of the target language. The majority (17) of the non-native pre-service language teachers said that their command of the target language is adequate. 10 non-native pre-service language teacher participants indicated that their command of the target language was near native.
4. 1. 2. Non-native beginning in-service foreign language teachers sample:
The 11 non-native beginning in-service foreign language teachers who participated in this study were mostly full-time practitioners who were recruited from different secondary schools in the Netherlands. Some of them, however, were teaching part-time and simultaneously following teacher education programmes at a research university or a university of applied sciences in order to obtain a grade one teaching certificate, which will allow them to teach in Dutch upper secondary schools.
The non-native beginning in-service language teacher participants of the current study were between the ages of 26 and 33. Some were between the age range of 18-25 and only one participant indicated to be 40+. And like the sample of the pre-service teachers, the number of female non-native beginning in-service language teachers who participate in this study was much higher than the males. Additionally, they non-native beginning in-service teachers sample were predominantly from the Netherlands. The other countries represented in this sample of participants are Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
Most of the non-native beginning in-service language teacher participants had obtained a bachelor’s degree. A few of them had obtained a master’s degree and one indicated “other” as their previous degree. None of the pre-service language teachers who were probed in this study had a post master’s degree or a Ph.D.
The three languages investigated in this study were also all represented in this sample of non-native beginning in-service language teachers. 4 of them were teaching English as a Second Language, 5 were teaching French as a foreign language, and 2 were teachers of German as a foreign language. The results of the questionnaires also indicated that the number of years of formal study of the target language varied among this sample of participants. 7 participants indicated to have had between 14 to 17 years of formal study in the target language. El Ouastani 15
2 participants indicated to have spent 18+ years studying the target language and another 2 indicated to have spent 6-11 years formally studying the target language. The years of experience of teaching the target language was also varied among the non-native beginning in- service language teachers sample. 9 participants indicated to have had between 1-5 years of experience teaching their target language, and 2 said that they had between 6-11 years of experience teaching the target language.
Results of the questionnaire showed that 7 participants indicated that they spent 2-3 years in a country of their target language. 3 participants said that they spent between 4 to 5 years, and 1 participant said that they spent 6+ years in a country of their target language. The results of the questionnaire also demonstrated that the non-native beginning in-service language teachers had a varied amount of contact with the native speakers of their target languages. Most of the non-native beginning in-service teacher participants (8) indicated to have had some contact with the native speakers of their language. The rest (3) indicated that they had a great deal of contact with the natives while in the country of their target language. None of the participants from this sample of teachers said that they had very little contact with the natives of their target language.
A clear majority of the non-native beginning in-service foreign language teacher participants in this study said that their comment of the target language is near native. Only two of the participants from this sample indicated that their command of the target language was adequate to teach.
4. 2. Instruments
4. 2. 1. Questionnaire
All the participants in the current study filled out an online questionnaire which consisted of 35 questions. The questions were divided into three separate parts: the first two parts of the questionnaire had been previously used in past studies of foreign language anxiety (Horwitz 1996, Canessa, 2004, Tum, 2010). The questionnaire was administered in English, and three different versions were designed according to the target language of the participants; English, French and German.
The first part of the questionnaire ensured that the participants are eligible for participation in this study and aimed to collect their background information. In this part of the questionnaire, the participants were asked to indicate whether they are non-native (pre-service) El Ouastani 16
language teachers, and upon eligibility, they were invited to fill in the following information: country of origin, age, gender, native language(s), latest degree obtained, years of formal study of the target language, years of teaching experience of the target language, amount of time spent in a country of the target language, amount of contact with native speakers while in a country of the target language, and their opinions of their command of the target language. The (pre-service) teachers who did not meet the requirement to participate in this study, native (pre- service) language teachers, were thanked for their interest in the study and were directed to an end page where they could leave their contact information behind should they be interested in receiving a copy of the final report or a summary of the findings of this study.
The second part of the questionnaire aimed to measure the feelings and the degree of foreign language anxiety among the participants. This part of the questionnaire contained the Teacher Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (TFLAS), which was developed by Horwitz (2008) in order to provide language teachers with a tool to assess their anxiety in relation to language teaching. The scale consists of 18 items to which the participants were invited to respond according to the five-point Linkert scale of “strongly agree”, “agree”, neither agree nor disagree”, “disagree”, and “strongly disagree”.
The third part of the questionnaire was a request to the participants to give their consent to be contacted for a possible follow-up interview in the future. If they granted their consent, the students were directed to a page where they could leave their contact information behind. If they did not wish to further participate in the study, the students were thanked and taken to an end of the survey page.
4. 2. 2. Interview
Post-questionnaire, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to tap into the target language teaching experiences of the most anxious participants. These interviews were also used in order to learn about the possible causes of foreign language teaching anxiety among the participants and to learn about the coping mechanisms they use to cope with their feelings both inside and outside the classroom. The interviews were conducted in English and were audio-recorded with the consent of the interviewees.
Because the interview was semi-structured, no specific questions were asked to the interviewees. Instead, the interviews consisted of different questions and prompts which were dependent on the individual experiences of the interviewees. The interviews were nonetheless uniform in that all of the questions and the prompts fell under the following topic areas: El Ouastani 17
- The participants’ feelings while speaking the target language - The causes of the feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety - The effects of these feelings and the possible remedies or coping mechanisms - (target) Language learning and teaching history - Attitude towards mistakes and error correction - Attitude to target language and culture - Problem and difficult areas as a language learner and teacher - Likes and dislikes of the teaching profession - Panning of lessons - Teaching approaches - Face
4. 3. Procedures
4. 3. 1. Data collection
A period of 4 months, from February 1, 2018 through May 30, 2018, was allowed for data collection for this study, and the process consisted of three phases:
Phase 1: Invitations
Data collection process for this study was initiated with a request email to the research universities and the universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands that offer teacher training courses. The email contained details of the study, including all the phases for data collection and ethical considerations. Upon receiving a positive reply from the institutions, an email invitation was sent to the potential participants. The email included details of the study, explained to the participants what is needed from them, and included a link to the questionnaire. And as is the case with any research carried with participants, the invitation assured the participants of anonymity, informed them that their participation in the study is voluntary and that they reserve the right to withdraw at any stage of the study and have their contribution discarded. Alternatively, one institution invited the researchers to talk to the participants about the study face-to-face. These participants were provided with all the details of the project and were given the opportunity to ask questions and were given the link at the end.
A similar procedure was followed to recruit non-native beginning in-service language teachers. While some were contacted through schools, others, whose contact information was El Ouastani 18
obtained through acquaintances and colleagues with their consent, were approached through an invitation email similar to that which was sent to the non-native pre-service language teachers.
Phase 2: Online questionnaire:
The link provided to the participants in the invitation led to an online questionnaire which was designed using Qualtrics. Qualtrics is a premium online survey software into which access was granted by the University of Amsterdam. In addition to the simplicity and the efficacity of Qualtrics in helping the researchers build, distribute and conduct some preliminary analysis of the data, the tool allowed the researchers to monitor the engagement with the survey in real time, helping them learn when to send reminder emails to the participants when necessary in order to get the most participation rate possible for this study. This questionnaire was piloted twice with five master’s students at the University of Amsterdam. These students were either practicing language teachers or had experience teaching languages. Based on these two pilots, minor modification and improvement were introduced to the survey, specifically in the wording and layout.
Qualtrics collected a total of 63 responses in the period of two months which was allowed for the questionnaire to be filled by the participants. However, 25 responses were unfortunately incomplete or partially filled. These responses were manually removed by the researchers leaving us with a total of complete 38 valid responses. These were analyzed using Qualtrics’s reports option and gave us a clear view of the general levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among the respondents and the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety of each respondent.
Phase 3: Interviews
Respondents whose responses indicated that they were experiencing high levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, and who had given their consent to be contacted for the follow-up interviews, were invited to in-depth, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews. These interviews lasted for approximately one hour each and yielded in in-depth qualitative data.
One-on-one interviews were chosen for this study because the researchers wanted to account for three main factors which could have undermined the quality of the data collected. To start with, anxiety is a sensitive subject matter, and in the context of this study, it has become a personal and a potentially embarrassing matter. One-on-one interviews allowed the El Ouastani 19
researchers to build some personal rapport with the participants. This was necessary in order to avoid issues of face and allow the respondents to share their personal feelings, experiences and opinions in a much greater depth and detail. The researchers decided that this would be difficult to achieve in focused group interviews. Moreover, one-on-ones allowed the researchers the flexibility to be able to interview the participants at the time and the location that suited them best. This was needed because the interviews coincided with the examination period, which made the logistics of gathering all the 5 participants together at one time somewhat complex. Furthermore, anonymity was one of the assurances of the researchers to the participants. Through the interviews, the researchers were aiming to obtain honest responses which were in many ways personal responses. One-on-one interviews helped the researchers obtain such information while maintaining the strictest confidentiality, which would have been difficult to achieve otherwise. Finally, One-on-one this set up of the interviews provided each interviewee with the necessary time to thoroughly explore and explain their feelings and experiences; helping the researchers gain insights into the main sources and effects of foreign language anxiety on the participants.
4. 3. 2. Data analysis
The participants’ replies to the statements in the TFLAS were analyzed in order to measure the scope and the severity of their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. TFLAS consists of 18 questions which were scored from “1” (strongly agree) to “5” (strongly disagree). TFLAS questions 2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17 and 18 were reverse scored. Therefore, for these questions, participants’ responses of “5” were reversed to “1”, “4” to “2”, “1” to “5”, and “2” to “4”. “3” remained as it is. To determine individual participants’ levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, their total score (maximum 90) was divided by 18 (the number of items in the TFLAS). The participants were categorized using Horwitz (2008) measuring guidelines and descriptors. Therefore, participants with a score below 3 were considered as experiencing low levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, participants whose score was around 3 were considered as experiencing slight levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, and participants with an average score near or above 4 were considered as experiencing high levels of foreign language teaching anxiety.
Descriptive statistics were used to measure the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety for all of the participants in this study. Therefore, the mean scores and the standard deviations were calculated for all the participants. Participants whose anxiety score was higher El Ouastani 20
than the sum of the mean plus one standard deviation were categorized as “high-anxious”. Participants whose anxiety scores were lower than the sum of the mean plus one standard deviation were categorized as “low-anxious”. Finally, participants whose score fell between the values set for high-anxious and low-anxious were groups as “mid-anxious”.
In order to measure differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety between non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers, the groups’ scores were calculated separately. In other words, the mean scores and the standard deviations were calculated again for each group separately, and the same procedure was used in order to categorize the participants into the three categories of “high-anxious”, “mid- anxious” and “low anxious”.
Participants responses were also clustered according to their target languages. As was described earlier, three separate versions of the same questionnaire were distributed among the participants in this study, and each one was geared towards the teachers of a different language, specifically English, French and German. The mean and the standard deviations were also calculated for the scores of the participants in each of the target language clusters. The same procedure was again used in order to group the participants in each language; based on the score they exhibited they were categorized as “high anxious”, “mid-anxious”, and “low anxious”.
The participants’ interview responses were, for the most part, not transcribed verbatim. Their responses were listened to multiple times, studied and analyzed carefully in terms of keywords and frequency. In addition, important quotes from the interviews were noted down word for word. However, some of the quotes included herein are not verbatim quotes from the interviewees but notes from the analysis of the interviews.
5. Results
This study sought to investigate foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native pre- service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. Specifically, this study attempted to: determine: (1) the extent to which non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers experience feelings of anxiety in relation to foreign language teaching; (2) examine the extent to which foreign language teaching anxiety differed across English, French and German; (3) probe the causes of foreign language teaching anxiety; (4) learn about the strategies that non-native pre-service and beginning in-service language teachers employ to cope with the potentially debilitating effects of foreign language teaching El Ouastani 21
anxiety; and (5) gain insights into the possible classroom implications of the strategies that non-native preservice and beginning in-service foreign language teachers employ to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. Both quantitative and in-depth qualitative data was collected from 38 non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. In this section, the findings of this study will be presented in relation to each research question.
5. 1. To what extent do non-native foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety?
The findings of the current study indicate that the non-native foreign language teachers who participated in this study experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. They were all found to experience the phenomenon at varying levels. In other words, some participants were found to experience high levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, some were found to experience average levels of foreign language teaching anxiety, and some were found to experience low levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. Table 1 represents the number of participants, the mean anxiety score, the standard deviation, the number of low- anxious participants, the number mid-anxious participants, the number of high-anxious participants, and the minimum and maximum anxiety scores recorded by this study.
Number of Mean Standard Low- Mid- High- Min/max participants Deviation anxious anxious anxious 38 2.88 0.88 9 18 11 1.1/4.6
Table 1: Foreign language teaching anxiety levels in non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers
Taking into account the minimum average (1.1) and maximum average (4.6) of foreign language teaching anxiety recorded by the TFLAS, it becomes clear that the non-native pre- service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers who participated in this study experienced varying degrees of foreign language teaching anxiety. The data shows that the majority of the participants experienced average levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. However, a substantial number of the non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teacher participants were found to be highly anxious.
As was described earlier, the participants in this study were 27 non-native pre-service foreign language teachers and 11 non-native beginning in-service foreign language teachers. El Ouastani 22
In order to gain insights into potential differences in anxiety levels among these two groups, it was important to calculate their TFLAS scores separately. Therefore, the scores mean and the standard deviations were calculated for each group, and they were again categorized according to their levels of anxiety. Table 2 represents the two groups surveyed in this study, and for each group, the number of participants, the mean anxiety score, the standard deviation, number of low-anxious participants, number average-anxious participants, number of high-anxious participants.
Participants Number of Mean Standard Low Average High participants deviation anxiety anxiety anxiety Pre-service 27 3.04 0.91 6 16 5 teachers In-service 11 2.49 0.72 2 7 2 teachers Table 2: Differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers Comparing the final scores of the TFLAS, it becomes clear that there are considerable differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety experienced by the two groups surveyed in this study. The table shows that non-native pre-service language teachers who participated in this study were found to experience higher levels of foreign language teaching anxiety compared to the non-native pre-service beginning language teacher participants.
In conclusion, the findings of this study unequivocally demonstrate that both non-native pre-service and beginning in-service language teachers experience feeling of anxiety in relation to the teaching a foreign language. The results also demonstrated that the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety varied among all of the participants. In addition, the results of the current study suggest that non-native pre-service language teachers are inclined to experience more anxiousness with regards to foreign language teaching compared to the non-native beginning language teachers.
5. 2. Do difference in non-native foreign language teachers’ feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety correlate with different target languages?
The present study examined the extent to which the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety reported by the participants correlated with their different target languages. For this aim, the participants’ responses were clustered according to their target languages. Therefore, it was possible to calculate the differences in foreign language teaching anxiety levels across El Ouastani 23
the participants of three different target languages. Table 3 represents the different target language examined in this study, and for each target language, the number of participants, the mean anxiety score, the standard deviation, number of low-anxious participants, number average-anxious participants, number of high-anxious participants.
Target Number of Mean Standard Low Average High language participants deviation anxiety anxiety anxiety English 19 2.43 0.79 3 10 6 French 12 3.40 0.82 2 7 3 German 7 3.20 0.66 1 5 1 Table 2: Differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native pre-service and beginning in-service teachers of English, French and German The results of this study showed there were statistically significant differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety between the participants of this study based on their target language. Participants whose target language was English were found to be the least anxious among all of the participants with a mean score of 2.43. Participants whose target language was French were found to be the most anxious with a mean score of 3.40. Non-native German teacher participants were also found to be experiencing significant levels of foreign language teaching anxiety with a mean score f 3.20.
5. 3. What are the potential sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers?
Five highly anxious non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers have been interviewed in an attempt to learn about the possible causes of their feelings of anxiety related to foreign language teaching. The interviewees mentioned multiple sources of their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. The analysis of the data from the interviews demonstrates that while some sources of foreign language teaching anxiety might be common among all foreign language teachers, some sources appear to be unique to certain individuals. Since this study did not find any significant discrepancies between the causes of anxiety among non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers, the results are presented according to each source category and substantiated by quotes from the interviewees and notes from the analysis of the interviews.
Apprehension about making mistakes El Ouastani 24
All the five interviewees thought that their foreign language teaching anxiety stems primarily from their fear of making mistakes. They were unanimous in believing that a language teacher should strive to speak the target language accurately in the classroom. They mentioned fears of “speaking with mistakes”, “mispronouncing words” and “incorrect grammar”. Their apprehension about making mistakes in the target language is evidenced by these example responses.
“I’m stressed, like, super stressed. What if one of the students corrects my mistake or what if I confuse everybody?”
“Because you want to be competent and you do not want to say that you are not any good at it. What if I make a drastic mistake and blow everything? Especially immediate giveaways like articles. That will demonstrate that you are not as good as you should be.”
“When I teach children and also adolescents I am really afraid that I will make a mistake. It makes me feel nervous and I start talking very quickly and that is not really good.”
Perception of own competence in the target language
The participants’ interview responses showed that their own perception of their target language competence is a major source of their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. 4 out of the 5 respondents who were interviewed in this study expressed dissatisfaction with their current level of the target language proficiency. In particular, they talked about “difficulties” with the target language and expressed their concern about their inability to “speak fluently” and “with precision” and “native-like”, despite having spent a considerable amount of time learning the language.
“What I also have as a characteristic of mine is that I am a perfectionist…plus my low self-esteem with language. I never feel I am enough, in Dutch as well.”
“Other people tell me I am a competent speaker of German, they say your German is great. Native speakers, especially. I am still like…hmm…but how competent am I?”
“…I would love people to think like ooh… you know… like, you’re German! Or, like, if you have a German teacher she should sound like she is from Germany or she should speak perfect German. You should not be like: wow, what a terrible American accent when she speaks German. I don’t want to say that it is embarrassing, but I feel that that is El Ouastani 25
just the way it should be… like… I would like to be having people think I am a native speaker. Like, I would like as much success as possible as a German teacher. And I think that would be relating to the ultimate success. That would be native, nativeness”.
The nature of the language classroom
The “unexpected nature” of the language classroom has been identified by most of the interview respondents as another major source from where their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety stem. This is a factor which goes hand in hand with the other two major factors identified before, target language competence and fear of making mistakes.
Cultural and linguistic background
The cultural background of the participants was also identified as a possible source of foreign language teaching anxiety. One respondent spoke of never going to be able to feel “completely comfortable” teaching English, especially to “the Westerners”. She described her worry about her students’, Dutch students’ in particular, perceptions of her “effectiveness” as a non-native teacher of English. The respondent mentioned “negative attitudes” towards her identity and appearance as a Turkish-Dutch Muslim and the “stereotypes about immigrant communities” in the Netherlands as a main cause of concern. Additionally, the respondent also described her concern about her “inability to become an excellent English teacher in the Netherlands”, because, for her, that would entail a completely “renouncing” who she is.
“But I think people like me, people who come from a background like mine, from eastern countries or from an Arabic background. They might have more difficulties.”
The current study also identified the linguistic background of the non-native language teachers as a possible factor in foreign language teaching anxiety. This was especially the case among the respondents who had learned their target language as a foreign language (as opposed to the second language), and who viewed their target language as distant from their native language.
“…because their languages are also different from English, they might also have more difficulties.”
Fear of negative evaluation
The interview respondents mentioned being constantly monitored for their target language performance was a cause of their feelings foreign language teaching anxiety. This El Ouastani 26
was especially the case among non-native pre-service language teachers who were unanimous about this factor. They especially mentioned being observed by their supervisors or peers as a major source of their anxiety. Beginning language teachers also mentioned being conscious about their performance inside their classes.
“And when I feel nervous I forget words. Sometimes you forget very simple words. And when there are people who will evaluate you, it makes things much more difficult and even worse.”
Emotional Attachment
This study found that non-native foreign language teachers’ attachment with the target language and the individuals who somehow have come to embody the target language, especially native speakers of the language, is an important variable to consider in the context of foreign language teaching anxiety. One of the interviewees mentioned how the many years she spent studying the target language, as well as living in the country of the target language and developing relationships with the native speakers of the target language resulted in her developing an emotional attachment to the target language. Therefore, she views any inconsistencies with her target language performance as some sort of emotional betrayal and a major cause of anxiety. On the other hand, she mentioned how making mistakes in a newly learned language was rather less problematic, simply because this new language has little emotional value to her.
“It is a much bigger loss of face when I make mistakes in German than when I make mistakes in Dutch. Because I have way more emotional connection with German. And if I studied it for 12 years, I should not be making mistakes. I am much more critical of myself in German than I am in Dutch.”
“I am so happy that I can say a sentence in Dutch, I am like look how I did it! But I don’t care about the twenty mistakes I made. I pulled it off…that person understood me in Dutch! But in German, I am 100 times more anxious. How can I say I am a German speaker and I can’t speak it…German has more of an emotional value to me. Like living in Germany and spending time there and having a bunch of relationships with German people. I do not really have that with Dutch because…it is new, and it is so late in my life. But German is since I was a child. I have dedicated half of my life to German. It is part of me. I do not beat myself up when I make mistakes in Dutch.” El Ouastani 27
“Especially because German means so much to me. Probably the most valuable thing for me is that I can speak German. And that is why I get so upset and hurt when I get corrected. I am like I can’t do it. I'm sometimes telling myself…you do not even speak German.”
It discourages me from speaking German every time someone corrects my German. I feel like I do not wanna speak it. It happened the other day when I was speaking with my boyfriend. I said this, he said no, it is this. And I said I WILL NEVER SAY THAT WORD AGAIN! I was like I just do not wanna speak German with you if you wanna correct me. I will get really defensive. And avoid using that word with him again when he is around. I think, well I will just speak English with him if he is still going to correct me.
Previous learning and teaching experiences
Previous experiences with learning and teaching the target language have been identified as possible sources of foreign language teaching anxiety. For instance, some respondents mentioned how they had learned their target languages at institutions where receptive skills, grammar and vocabulary were the chief focus and where productive language skills were generally neglected. They, therefore, identified the disparity between the teaching practices under which they learned the target languages and their present situation as aspiring teachers of that target languages as a major source of concern. Additionally, some respondents identified their past experiences with teaching the target language as a possible source of their feelings of anxiety. Specifically, the amount of pressure exerted on the participants by their placement schools and placement supervisors has been found to have lasting effects on the self- esteem of the non-native language teachers. For example, one participant mentioned how her classroom supervisor “delighted” in correcting her mistakes, especially spelling mistakes on the whiteboard and “humiliated” her constantly in front of the students.
5. 4. Which strategies do non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with the potentially debilitating effects of foreign language teaching anxiety?
Another question this study attempted to investigate was how do non-native foreign language teachers cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. Specifically, the study attempted to learn about whether the anxious respondents attempted to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety and what are the coping mechanisms they employed. The analysis of the respondents’ answers from the interviews demonstrates that El Ouastani 28
there are a number of ways that the participants use in order to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety.
Nothing
Doing “Nothing” to deal with their foreign language teaching anxiety has been the initial response of almost all the interview participants when they were prompted with the question “what do you do to cope with your feelings of anxiety?”. Indeed, despite acknowledging its negative influence on their ability teach and enjoy the teaching profession, most of the participants spoke about the difficulty of overcoming their feelings of anxiety in relation to foreign language teaching and about having “given up” trying to do so.
Over-preparation of lessons
Over-preparing the lessons seems to be the underlying coping mechanism that most respondents use to help them contain their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. Almost all of the interview respondents acknowledged that the more time they invest in preparing their lessons, the more confident they become and the less anxiety they experience. One respondent mentioned spending weeks in order to plan one single target language lesson, especially when she knows that it is going to be an assessed lesson.
“I tried to plan all of my lessons 100% out. I always tried to be at a 100%.”
“In addition to filling in the lesson plan form which we have to hand to the assessors, I practice things like the intro of the lesson and other important instructions…you know out loud. I literally write them down and rehearse them out loud. Of course, I make sure I don’t sound like I am reading…you know, natural.”
However, two respondents acknowledge the unexpected nature of the language classroom and mentioned that over-preparation of lesson does not rid them of their angst about what is going to happen in their lesson.
“When it comes to the classroom there are more unpredictable situations. Surely you should be well prepared, but I know preparation alone won’t get me through.”
Avoidance
Almost all of the interviewees in this study were found to be, in one way or another, using avoidance strategies in order to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety, or to at least maneuver their way out of anxiety-provoking situations and scenarios El Ouastani 29
inside and outside the classroom. For example, when prompted with a question about their preferences of language teaching approaches and activities, most of the participants were found to avoid communicative language teaching and were less likely to make use of activities which were regarded as language-intensive. In addition, some of the participants expressed their dislike of teaching skills such as speaking and listening and certain grammatical structures, such as reported speech and the passives.
First language use
Moreover, instead of complete avoidance of language-intensive activities inside the classroom, some participants explained how they simply use their first language in order to overcome their target language proficiency concerns or better help instruct their students and avoid any confusions. Similarly, as well as remaining passive during meetings and with colleagues of the same target language, some of the participants explained how they consciously switch to Dutch, their mother tongue, in order to avoid worrying about their language production and performance.
6. Discussion and Conclusions
The first and main aim of this study was to determine the extent to which non-native foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. This aim was motivated by the limited number of attempts which have been made in the past to investigate this construct in spite of it being proven to have debilitating effects on language teachers and to negatively influence the quality of instruction inside the language classroom. According to the results of this study, non-native foreign language teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. The non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers who were recruited for this study were found to experience varying levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. The majority of the participants were found to experience average levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. However, an important number of participants were found to experience high levels of foreign language teaching anxiety.
The main finding of this study confirms the belief put forward by Horwitz and colleagues that foreign language anxiety is not limited to beginning and intermediate language learners alone, but it is also prevalent among advanced foreign language learners, including non-native foreign language teachers, who are first and foremost advanced learners of a foreign language (Horwitz, 1996). Results from past studies which were conducted on foreign language El Ouastani 30
teaching anxiety using the TFLAS found that large numbers of participants experienced debilitating foreign language teaching anxiety (Rodríguez et al., 2009; Tum, 2010; Mousavi, 2007; Kunt & Tum, 2010; Machida, 2016). In comparison with these past studies, the result of the present study also found foreign language teaching anxiety to be a pervasive phenomenon among non-native foreign language teachers. A considerable number of the participants were found to be mid to high-anxious regarding their level of proficiency in the target language.
Another aim of this study was to investigate the possible correlation between foreign language teaching anxiety and different target languages. This aim was motivated by similar studies which probed foreign language anxiety in different languages, and by the premise that certain languages are more difficult to learn than others; and hence, may be more anxiety- provoking. The results of the present study found that there were statistically significant differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety between the participants in this study based on their target language. Of the three different target language groups surveyed by this study, non-native pre-service and beginning in-service beginning English language teachers were found to be the least anxious. French language non-native pre-service and beginning in-service teachers, on the other hand, were found to be the most anxious among the participants. German non-native pre-service and beginning in-service teachers were also found to experience significant levels of foreign language teaching anxiety.
Research on foreign language anxiety has been conducted on many different languages. A review of the results of these studies suggests that there could be a correlation between foreign language anxiety and different foreign languages. However, some studies have found that there are no differences in the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety across different languages. For example, in a study of general foreign language anxiety, Satio et al. (1999) investigated the possibility of anxiety in response to foreign or second language reading among three different groups of American learners of Spanish, Russian and Japanese. The results suggested that the levels of the reading anxiety varied by target language mainly as a result of the specific writing systems. However, no significant differences were found in the levels of general foreign language anxiety among the participants. In another study which investigated the stability of foreign language classroom anxiety across university learners of English and French in Venezuela, Rodriguez and Abreu (2003) found that foreign language anxiety was stable across the investigated languages. The results of the present study indicate that the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety correlate with the target language of the participants. El Ouastani 31
Therefore, it is probable that different target languages instigate different levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers.
The present study also aimed to investigate the sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers. The results suggest that there are multiple sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers. Many of the sources identified in this study are similar to those identified by Horwitz (2001) and subsequent studies, namely the irrational analysis of one’s own abilities in the target language, the spontaneity of today’s language classroom, aiming for an unrealistic and idealised proficiency level, and unpleasant past experiences learning the target language. Therefore, the present study further confirms the findings of previous research regarding the possible sources of foreign language teaching anxiety.
However, this study identified further sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers. For example, the present study identified the cultural background of the participants as a possible source of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers. It was found that the participants’ cultural self-concept, as well as their unwillingness to assimilate into the target language culture, seem to elevate their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. In addition, the linguistic background of the participants, specifically the gap between the learners’ native language(s) and their target language seems to also increase the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among the participants. Finally, this study found that the level of attachment with or detachment from the target language, its people (native speakers) and culture may determine individual feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety.
Horwitz (2001) acknowledges cultural background as a major factor in the context of foreign language anxiety. She noted that foreign language anxiety may vary across different cultural groups and that it is of paramount importance to account for cultural differences in any study of language anxiety and classroom practices. This speculation has been further affirmed by results from many studies which found that there was an unequivocal link between culture and language learning anxiety. For instance, results from some research studies have shown that the difference between first language culture and targeted language culture significantly relates to language anxiety (Jones, 2004; Woodrow, 2006; Maclnyre, Baker, Clement, & Conrod, 2001; Dwaele 2010; Spielman & Radnofsky, 2001). Most of these studies concluded that the reason is that the cultural norms of the learners are usually violated in the process of El Ouastani 32
learning the target language. Other studies have approached the cultural variable in terms of subcultures, acculturation and assimilation (Yang, 2012). Based on this perspective, fear of cultural assimilation results in higher levels of language anxiety. This type of anxiety, which Rardin (cited in Young, 1991b) referred to as “existential anxiety”, and which touches the core of individuals’ self-identity and self-image, tends to be more salient among members of certain cultures (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1991). All in all, based on evidence from past studies into the relationship between anxiety and the cultural background of the learners, it is not surprising to find that the cultural background of the non-native language teacher-participants in this study as a determinant of their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety.
That the linguistic background of the learners shapes their foreign language acquisition experiences is far from debatable. Specifically, the gap between the native language of the learners, or any other language that they already master, and that which they are trying to acquire has been proven to determine the difficulty of the acquisition process (Walqui, 2000, Thomason, 2000). One way the linguistic background determines the experiences of foreign language learners, according to Sparks and Ganschow (1991) and Ganschow et al. (1994;), is through impacting learners’ individual affects when learning a foreign language, such as instigating or heightening the affect of anxiety. A study by Koba, Ogawa and Wilkinson (2000) found that one of the major causes of foreign language anxiety among the Japanese learners of English is the distance between their native language and the target language. Similarly, a cross-cultural study by Woodrow and Chapman (2005), in which they studied English language learners from different countries in Asia, Europe and South America, found that the levels of foreign language anxiety were dependent on how much different the native languages of the participants were from English. Their findings suggested that Asian learners experienced the highest levels of anxiety compared to their European and South American counterparts (Woodrow and Chapman 2005). Woodrow and Chapman (2005) concluded that the distance between most Asian languages and English is one of the reasons behind the high language anxiety levels of the Asian learners. In short, learners’ linguistic background has been proven to be a crucial variable in the context of foreign language anxiety; therefore, it is possible to assume that the linguistic background variable could also be a crucial factor to account for in any study of foreign language teaching anxiety. In other words, it is possible to hypothesize that some individuals may be pre-disposed to experience (heightened) feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety as a result of their linguistic background. El Ouastani 33
This study identified attachment as a potential source of foreign language teaching anxiety. Specifically, it was found that the extent to which an individual is attached to or detached from the target language has been found to be a potential determinant of the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety they experience. While this finding represents a new and a potentially crucial variable in the specific context of foreign language teaching anxiety and language anxiety research in general, it is, however, not new to the whole of (foreign) language learning context. Indeed, attachment has long been recognized as a crucial factor in the development of language abilities, both in children and adults.
Attachment theory, which was first developed by John Bowlby (1969) and Ainsworth and Bell (1970), is widely recognized as a foundation of developmental psychology. The main premise of the theory is that attachment determines how individuals, both children and adults, establish themselves psychologically in society and attempts to address how do they respond within relationships when they are hurt, separated, or when they perceived a certain threat (Waters et al., 2005). Psychologists generally recognize two principal attachment styles: secure attachment and insecure attachment, and they are both characterized by the interaction between avoidance and anxiety (Toffoli, 2016). On the one hand, secure attachment, also known as the secure base, results in low anxiety and low avoidance behavior. Insecure attachment, on the other hand, results in high anxiety and high avoidance tendencies. How does attachment relate to first and second language learning has been extensively researched across different age groups, and the theory’s pertinence for behavioural attitudes in both children and adult education has also been widely tested in order to gain insights into both student and teacher behaviour (Rholes & Simpson, 2006; Fleming, 2008; Geddes, 2006; Riley, 2011). A substantial number of studies have established that attachment is an important variable in the context of language learning, and that the prevalent attachment style in a given language learning context determines, to an important extent, the success or the failure of language learning (Connell, 1976; Day, 2007, Roseman, 2008; Huston, 2016; Toffoli, 2016).
Seen in light of the attachment theory, some of the responses of one of the participants in this study represent a clear evidence of an insecure attachment which might explain her heightened feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. The anxious German non-native language teacher interviewed in this study indicated that German has an important emotional value to her. From her responses, it appears that her attachment seems to be forged by two main relationships. First, a human relationship with her German teacher, whom she considers as the best teacher she has ever had, as well as with a “bunch of German boyfriends”. These people El Ouastani 34
seem to have had a profound influence on the participant’s attitude toward German and seem to have come to embody what the German language means to her. The other relationship seems to be that which she developed with the target language itself over the years, as a result of spending twelve years studying the language. From her responses, it appears that the fear of making mistake in German, as well as actually making mistakes or getting corrected, seems to frustrate the participant’s level of attachment she has developed with the language. This results in her becoming preoccupied, avoidant (“I WILL NEVER SAY THAT WORD AGAIN!”) and fearful, all of which are features of an insecure attachment style which is characterized by high levels of anxiety reactions. Indeed, attachment has been identified as a probable cause of foreign language teaching anxiety, and the theory of attachment seems to provide a framework for underpinning the link between attachment and foreign language teaching anxiety.
Foreign language teaching anxiety has been found to have negative effects on the well- being of the teachers as well as on the quality of instruction inside the foreign language classroom. In addition to learning about the various coping mechanisms which highly anxious non-native foreign language teachers employ in order to deal with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety, this study has attempted to identify the possible effects of these coping mechanisms on the quality of instruction inside the foreign language classroom. From the interviews, it turns out that all the coping strategies, which are employed by the participants, could be categorized as negative coping mechanisms with potentially negative effects on the well-being of teachers and the quality of instruction inside the foreign language classroom.
Most of the participant said that they “do nothing” to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety despite admitting the difficulty of their feelings and how their anxiety impedes their job satisfaction. Ignoring the feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety does not merely mean that these feelings will persist, but it is also probable that these feelings might span out of control and become even worse over time; making the teaching profession a daunting and an unpleasant experience for these teachers. Similarly, while over- preparing the lessons might indeed help the teachers become more confident in using the language inside their classrooms, it is nonetheless not enough to prepare the teachers for the spontaneous nature of today’s language classroom, which most of the participants identified as one of the major sources of their feelings of anxiety. Besides, teachers might not always have enough time to over-prepare all their language classrooms, risking taking away from their personal time and jeopardizing their work-life balance, which could have long-term negative consequences. El Ouastani 35
Avoidance and using of the first language are two other strategies that non-native foreign language teachers employ to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety, and which could potentially have a negative impact on the quality of instruction inside the foreign language classroom. The participants described how they tend to avoid language intensive classroom activities and other communicative language teaching classroom approaches, which they consider as linguistically demanding. Additionally, some of the participants indicated that they tend to resort to Dutch as a way for them to cope with their foreign language proficiency concerns, both inside the classroom and when speaking with other teachers of the same target language. These two strategies are unequivocally impacting the foreign language instructed learning in that they both deprive the students from valuable language learning opportunities, both in terms of exposure to quality language input and in terms of opportunity for spontaneous or “free” language output production. Ensuring exposure to extensive foreign language input and opportunities for output production have largely been proven to be essential and ultimate means for successful instructed language learning (Krashen, 1981; Swain, 1985, Ellis, 2005).
6. 1 Implications
The findings of the present study add to the body of evidence that foreign language teaching anxiety is prevalent in non-native foreign language teachers. And given the evidence of the possible negative effects of this phenomenon on the quality of classroom instruction and on the well-being of non-native foreign language teachers, it is clear that the phenomenon must be recognized and addressed.
Non-native foreign language teachers must be aware of the construct of foreign language teaching as an affective factor. As has been proven by this study, if not dealt with, foreign language teaching anxiety could have a long-term negative impact on both teaching and learning. They should be ready to acknowledge any feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety they might be experiencing and should be willing to seek support. However, as was discussed earlier in this paper, anxiety is a sensitive issue and many individuals might find it difficult to talk about it. This is especially the case for in-service foreign language teachers, who might see it as a loss of face given. Therefore, teacher training programmes should also recognize the phenomenon of foreign language teaching anxiety and should ensure that they sensitize their student-teachers to the potential ways it could impact them. This could be done by simply incorporating discussions on why non-native foreign language teachers are El Ouastani 36
susceptible to the phenomenon and what coping mechanisms are there to help them deal with it. As was discussed above, Horwitz (1996) presented a number of strategies which could be used to help anxious foreign language teachers to cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety. Teacher training programmes should familiarise themselves with these strategies and incorporate them as guidelines in helping their anxious non-native student- teachers address their anxiety.
In short, this study further evidenced the claim that non-native foreign language teachers are susceptible to foreign language teaching anxiety, and given the potentially negative effects of this construct on both foreign language classroom and the teachers’ overall well- being, it is of paramount import that teacher training programmes recognise this phenomenon and help their student cope with any foreign language teaching anxiety-related feeling they may be experiencing.
6. 2. Limitations of the study
The findings of the present study helped further our understanding of the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety. However, there are a few limitations that this study encountered, and which should be kept in mind when working with its findings and should also be addressed in future research on foreign language teaching anxiety.
To begin with, the present study aimed to investigate the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native foreign language teachers by investigating the phenomenon in non-native pre-service and beginning in service foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. While this study helped further current understandings of foreign language teaching anxiety construct, it remains however limited in terms of data. As was mentioned earlier, the present study was designed to survey as many non-native pre-service and beginning in-service foreign language teachers as possible in the Netherlands. However, recruiting the participants was more challenging than had been expected. As a result, the study failed to collect the amount of data it was intended to collect. This has certainly underpowered the results of this study. Therefore, a limited amount of data is the first limitation of the present study.
Next, one of the sub-objectives of the present study was to examine whether foreign language teaching anxiety levels correlated with the different target language of the participants. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate and compare both ingroup and intergroup TFLAS scores of the participants according to their target languages. However, it was not possible to examine this particular aspect in an even number of participants from each El Ouastani 37
target language, again because of difficulty experienced in the recruitment phase. This resulted in difficulties while interpreting the results of this study and led to reservations in terms of drawing sound and solid statistical conclusions regarding the correlation between foreign language teaching anxiety levels and different target languages. Thus, another limitation of this study which must be also be accounted for is the statistical limitation.
Finally, in order to collect quality data, the present study employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools. However, both these tools come with inherent constraints in that they both relied entirely on the participants’ beliefs about their fluency and their personal accounts of their experiences of foreign language teaching anxiety. Some have regarded the excessive reliance of the participants self-reports for the data collection as one of the major design flaws of foreign language anxiety research (Oller, 1981; Oller & Perkins, 1978). Therefore, this aspect of the present study has resulted in limitations in terms of the design and procedures.
In short, this study was an attempt to investigate the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety in non-native foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. The findings of this study have certainly expanded on the limited literature currently available on this particular construct of anxiety and identified some factors which invite further exploration in order to deepen our understanding of the phenomenon. However, it is recommended that the limitations outlined above should be taken into account when considering the results of the present study or should this study be replicated.
6. 3. Suggestions for further research
That foreign language teaching anxiety is shaping the experiences of non-native foreign language teachers and that of their learners is far from debatable. Yet, despite increasing evidence of the phenomenon having a negative influence on the quality of classroom instruction and on the well-being of the teachers, the attempts to understand its underpinnings, scope and influence remain relatively meager. The findings of the present study have further expanded the scope of foreign language teaching anxiety. In doing so, this study has identified possible perspectives through which the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety could be further approached and investigated.
Future research probing the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety could expand on the results of the present study through a further collection of qualitative data which could help expand our current understanding of the phenomenon. In addition to the interviews, El Ouastani 38
another way qualitative data could be collected is through classroom observations and lesson recordings which could help researchers learn about the possible classroom causes of fore ign language teaching anxiety and the ways teachers try to overcome the phenomenon inside the classroom. Moreover, stimulated recall interviews, which could be conducted post-classroom observations, and which could help tap into the teachers’ concurrent emotional and cognitive processes during different phases of the lessons, could be used in order to help underpin and supplement the data from the classroom observations.
This study has identified emotional attachment as a probable source of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers. This finding represents a new and a potentially crucial variable which, according to my knowledge, has never been identified in any past studies into foreign language anxiety. The attachment theory has been found to provide a solid framework for exploring the factor of attachment in the context of foreign language teaching anxiety. However, this study has limited itself to the case of one non-native foreign language teacher. Future studies into the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety, as well as foreign language anxiety in general, might consider exploring the variable of emotional attachment with the target language as it might provide new insights into the construct of language anxiety.
One of the aims of this study was to examine foreign language teaching anxiety in non- native teachers of different target languages and attempt to determine whether there exists any correlation between differences in the levels of anxiety among non-native foreign language teachers and different target languages. The results of this study indicated that the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety might indeed be dependent on the non-native foreign language teachers’ target language. However, the study remains inconclusive regarding this correlation, specifically because it was limited to collecting data from an uneven number of participants from each target language. Therefore, future studies could focus primarily on this correlation and ensure to collect data from an even number of participants from different target languages. Examining languages which are normally perceived as difficult for certain individuals could also be a way to further explore this aspect of foreign language teaching anxiety.
In conclusion, this study has added to foreign language anxiety research by investigating the phenomenon in the context of non-native foreign language teachers in the Netherlands. The findings of this study provided further insights into the construct of foreign El Ouastani 39
language teaching anxiety, which has not been sufficiently explored in the past. The main finding of this study indicates that foreign language teaching anxiety is prevalent among non- native foreign language teachers. It was found that there are multiple sources of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native language teachers, including some of which are new and or have barely been considered in the context of foreign language anxiety, such as the emotional attachment to the target language as well as the cultural and the linguistic backgrounds. These two sources invite further useful exploration as they have the protentional to provide new and valuable insights into the construct of foreign language teaching anxiety and language anxiety in general. The study has also found that the levels of foreign language teaching anxiety among non-native language teachers might be dependent on their target language. This finding could also be further explored, as it seems to confirm past speculation that certain languages instigate more anxiety than others. Finally, this study found that non- native foreign language teachers employ different mechanisms in order to help them cope with their feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety, and it has been speculated that most of these mechanisms might have a negative impact on the quality of instruction inside the language classroom.
El Ouastani 40
Appendix 1: Invitation MA Language and Education (Linguistics) Faculty of Humanities University of Amsterdam
Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety: “A Study of Teacher Anxiety in Non-Native Pre-Service and Beginning In- Service Foreign Language Teachers in the Netherlands”
Dear fellow teachers,
My name is Soufiane El Ouastani, I am a HvA graduate (International Degree in English and Education) and currently following a Master's degree in Language and Education at the University of Amsterdam. I am busy conducting a study on foreign language anxiety, and I am emailing you to request your participation in this study.
Why this study?
I have personally experienced foreign language anxiety since primary school, when I started learning a second language for the first time. Today, being a qualified non-native language teacher, I am still going through the same trials of language related anxiety I went through as a learner. In fact, I believe that my feelings of foreign language anxiety as a teacher have become more acute.
It took me a while to realise what I have been dealing with, and I am still trying to understand how this phenomenon shapes learning and teaching experiences inside the language classroom. With this study, I am attempting to investigate foreign language anxiety in the most advanced foreign language learners: non-native language teachers.
Aims of the study:
Your valuable input will help me determine and gain insights into:
1. the extent to which non-native language teachers experience foreign language anxiety. 2. the possible causes of foreign language anxiety among non-native language teachers. 3. how do non-native language teachers cope with their feelings of foreign language anxiety. 4. the possible implications of foreign language anxiety for language teaching.
Your participation:
If you are a beginning or a pre-service non-native language teacher, and you agree to participate in this study, you will:
• Complete a 3-5-minute questionnaire. • Give consent to be contacted for a possible brief follow-up interview.
Confidentiality:
The highest possible ethical standards will be observed while carrying out this study. It is my promise to you that your inpu t will be treated with total confidentiality. Your responses will only be used statistically and will be reported in aggregates. Besides, please note that you attain the right to opt out of this study at any stage.
Link to the questionnaire:
To participate in this study, please click on the following link: https://nlpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2sMrgJtKj6OEy57
Should you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at: [email protected] or +31634092423
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Soufiane El Ouastani
El Ouastani 41
Appendix 2: Questionnaire (English as a foreign language)
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for agreeing to take part in this study! This questionnaire should only take 5 minutes to complete. Be assured that your answers will be kept in the strictest confidentiality.
Please click 'Next' to begin.
Are you a non-native (pre-service) teacher of English?
• Yes • No
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This section of the questionnaire is intended to collect some background about you. This information is being gathered in order to account for any possible correlations between the findings of this study and differences in the background of the participants.
Please choose 'Next' to proceed.
Q1 Country of origin: ______
Q2 Age: • 18-25 • 26-33 • 34-40 • 40+
Q3 Gender: • Male • Female
Q4 Native language(s): ______
Q5 Latest degree obtained: • Bachelors • Masters • Doctoral (Ph.D.) • Other
Q6 Years of formal study of English: • 1-5 • 6-11 • 12-17 • 18+
El Ouastani 42
Q7 Years of EFL teaching experience: • 1-5 • 6-11 • 12-17 • 18+
Q8 Amount of time spent in an English-speaking country or countries: • 0-1 yrs • 2-3 yrs • 4-5 yrs • 6+ yrs
Q9 Amount of contact spent with native speakers in the English-speaking country or countries: • great deal of contact • some contact • very little to no contact
Q10 How would you describe your command of English? • near-native • adequate • adequate most of the times
LEARNING AND TEACHING EXPERIENCES
The following section of the questionnaire is meant to learn about your experiences as a learner and as a teacher of your target language. You will be given a number of statements that refer to how you feel about your proficiency in English. For each statement, please indicate whether you: 'strongly agree', 'agree', 'neither agree nor disagree', 'disagree', or 'strongly disagree'.
Choose 'Next' to begin.
It frightens me when I don’t understand what someone is saying in English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q2 I would not worry about taking a training course conducted entirely in English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q3 I am afraid that native speakers will notice every mistake I make. • Strongly agree • Agree El Ouastani 43
• Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q4 I am pleased with the level of English proficiency I have achieved. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q5 I feel self-conscious about speaking English in front of teachers of English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q6 When speaking English, I can get so nervous I forget things I know. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q7 I feel overwhelmed by the number of rules I have to learn in order to speak English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q8 I feel comfortable around native speakers of English. • Strongly Agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q9 I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking English in front of native speakers. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q10 I am NOT nervous about speaking English with students. • Strongly agree El Ouastani 44
• Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q11 I DON'T worry about making mistakes in English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q12 I speak English well enough to be a good English teacher. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q13 I get nervous when I don’t understand every word a native speaker says. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q14 I feel confident when I speak English. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q15 I always feel that other teachers speak English better than I do. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q16 I don’t understand why some people think learning English is so hard. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q17 I try to speak English with native speakers whenever I can. El Ouastani 45
• Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
Q18 I feel that my English preparation was adequate for becoming an English teacher. • Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree or disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree
INTERVIEW CONSENT Will you allow me to contact you for a possible brief interview? Your consent does not mean an obligation to participate in the interview or in this study. You have the right to opt-out at any time. • Yes • No
Please provide your contact information: • Name: ______• Email: ______• Phone: ______• Other: ______
El Ouastani 46
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