Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Author(s): Elaine K. Horwitz, Michael B. Horwitz and Joann Cope Source: The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 125-132 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/327317 Accessed: 02-01-2019 19:30 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/327317?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations, Wiley are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Modern Language Journal This content downloaded from 140.254.87.149 on Wed, 02 Jan 2019 19:30:28 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ELAINE K. HORWITZ, MICHAEL B. HORWITZ, AND JOANN COPE "IJUST KNOW I HAVE SOME KIND OF DISABILITY: I CAN'T students generally feel strongly that anxiety is learn a foreign language no matter how hard I try." a major obstacle to be overcome in learning to "When I'm in my Spanish class I just freeze! I can't think speak another language, and several recent ap- of a thing when my teacher calls on me. My mind goes blank. proaches " to foreign language teaching, such as "Ifeel like my French teacher is some kind of Martian death community language learning and suggesto- ray. I never know when he'll point at me!" pedia, are explicitly directed at reducing learner "It's about time someone studied why some people can't learn anxiety. However, second language research languages. "I has neither adequately defined foreign language Such statements are all too familiar to anxiety nor described its specific effects on for- teachers of foreign languages. Many eignpeople language learning. This paper attempts to claim to have a mental block against learning fill this gap by identifying foreign language a foreign language, although these same anxiety people as a conceptually distinct variable in may be good learners in other situations, foreign language learning and interpreting it strongly motivated, and have a sincere withinliking the context of existing theoretical and for speakers of the target language. What, empirical then, work on specific anxiety reactions. prevents them from achieving their Thedesired symptoms and consequences of foreign goal? In many cases, they may have an languageanxiety anxiety should thus become readily reaction which impedes their ability to performidentifiable to those concerned with language successfully in a foreign language class. Anxietylearning and teaching. is the subjective feeling of tension, apprehen- sion, nervousness, and worry associated EFFECTS with OF ANXIETY ON LANGUAGE LEARNING an arousal of the autonomic nervous system.2 Second Language Studies. For many years, Just as anxiety prevents some people from scholars per- have considered the anxiety-provoking forming successfully in science or mathematics, potential of learning a foreign language. many people find foreign language learning, Curran and Stevick discuss in detail the defen- especially in classroom situations, particularly sive position imposed on the learner by most stressful. language teaching methods; Guiora argues that When anxiety is limited to the language language learning itself is "a profoundly un- learning situation, it falls into the category settling of psychological proposition" because it specific anxiety reactions. Psychologists directlyuse the threatens an individual's self-concept term specific anxiety reaction to differentiate and worldview.4 More recently researchers people who are generally anxious in a variety have attempted to quantify the effects of anxiety of situations from those who are anxious only on foreign language learning, but these efforts in specific situations. Researchers have identi- have met with mixed results. While the perti- fied several specific anxieties associated nent with studies have differed in the measures em- school tasks such as test-taking and with aca- ployed, they can generally be characterized by demic subjects such as mathematics or science.3 their comparison of students' self-reports of Second language researchers and theorists anxiety with their language proficiency ratings, have long been aware that anxiety is often obtained asso- through a discrete skills task or a ciated with language learning. Teachers global and measure such as final course grade. In his 1978 review of research, Scovel argues that scholars have been unable to establish a clear- The Modern Language Journal, 70, ii (1986) cut relationship between anxiety and overall 0026-7902/86/0002/125 $1.50/0 foreign language achievement; he attributes the ?1986 The Modern Language Journal discrepant findings at least in part to the in- This content downloaded from 140.254.87.149 on Wed, 02 Jan 2019 19:30:28 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 126 Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope consistency of anxiety Clinical Experience. measures The subjective feelings, used and con- cludes: "It is perhaps psycho-physiological premature symptoms, and be- to relate it [anxiety] to the globalhavioral responses and of the anxious comprehensive foreign lan- task of language acquisition.'"5 guage learner are essentially the same as for any Studies seeking more specific anxiety. specific They experience apprehen-effects of anx- iety on language sion,learning worry, even dread. Theyhave have difficulty been more re- vealing. Kleinmann concentrating, found become forgetful, that sweat, andESL students with high levels have of palpitations. debilitating They exhibit avoidance be- anxiety at- tempted different havior typessuch as missing of class andgrammatical postponing con- structions than did homework. less Clinical anxiousexperience with foreign ESL students; and Steinberg and language Horwitz students in university found classes and atthat students experiencing an theanxiety-producing Learning Skills Center (LSC) at the Uni- condition attempted less interpretive versity of Texas also suggests several (more discrete concrete) messages than those problems caused experiencing by anxiety and illustrates a relaxed condition.6 These poignantly studies how these problemsindicate can interfere that anxiety can affect the communication with language learning. Principally, counselorsstrategies stu- dents employ in find languagethat anxiety centers on theclass. two basic task That is, the more anxious student requirements oftends foreign language to learning: avoid lis- attempt- ing difficult or personal tening and speaking. Difficultymessages in speaking in in the target language. These classfindings is probably the most frequentlyare citedalso con- consistent with research on cern other of the anxious types foreign language of students specific com- munication anxiety. seeking help Reseachers at the LSC. Students often reportstudying writ- ing in a native language that they feel fairly comfortablehave respondingfound to that stu- dents with higher a drilllevels or delivering of prepared writing speeches in their anxiety write shorter compositions foreign language and class butqualify tend to "freeze" intheir writing less than their calmer a role-play situation. counterparts A female student speaks do.7 A review of the ofliterature the evenings in her dorm roomfound spent rehears- only one in- strument specifically ing what she designedshould have said in class to the day measure for- eign language anxiety. before. Anxious language Gardner, learners also com- Clement, Smythe, and Smythe plain of difficulties developed discriminating the soundsfive items to measure French classand structures anxiety of a target language as message. part of their test battery on One attitudes male student claims to hearand only a loudmotivation.8 Gardner, Smythe, buzz whenever Clement, his teacher speaks the foreignand Gliksman found small negative language. Anxiouscorrelations students may also have dif-(ranging from r = -.13 to r = -.43) ficulty graspingbetween the content of athis target language scale and four measures of achievement message. Many LSC clients (auralclaim that they comprehen- sion, speaking, final have little orgrade, no idea of what theand teacher isa say- composite of three sub-scales of the Canadian Achievement ing in extended target language utterances. Test in French).9 Foreign language anxiety frequently shows This brief review suggests two reasons for the up in testing situations. Students commonly re- dearth of conclusions concerning anxiety and port to counselors that they "know" a certain second language achievement. First, the anx- grammar point but "forget" it during a test or iety measures typically have not been specific an oral exercise when many grammar points to foreign language learning. Only the research must be remembered and coordinated simul- by Gardner utilized a measure relevant to lan- taneously. The problem can also be isolated in guage anxiety, and it was restricted