A review on the psychology of foreign language learning and teaching

Zhao Kai Yang

Anxiety is an unease emotion in which an individual is frustrated with self-esteem. When it refers to second language （L2） learning， this feeling is perceived as language anxiety——“the negative emotion when learning a L2.” More specifically， there are three conceptual foundations： （1）communication apprehension， embodied by learners fear about expected foreign language communication. （2）Test anxiety “refers to a type of performance anxiety stemming from a fear of failure.”（3）Fear of negative evaluation， namely， learners interpretation about others evaluation， is a frustrating psychological feeling that learners have when they are trying to assess what other people may think of them.

1. Anxiety Dichotomies

1.1 Facilitating and Debilitating Anxiety

In L2 learning， it is generally assumed that anxiety may be a mental obstacle in language performance， the empirical literature， however does not claim a clear-cut relationship， until anxiety was classified into two categories according to its impact on learners. The former one is facilitating anxiety， which is seen as a motive to stimulate learners alertness in learning. The latter one is called debilitating anxiety， a strong negative impact on learners， which may impede learners level of achievement.

1.2 Trait and State Anxiety

Trait and state anxiety are commonly accepted as another anxiety dichotomy. Trait anxiety is more like an inherent disposition. People with this character can feel anxiety in most situations； while state anxiety is more transitory， which arises in particular situations. The differences between these two can be seen as follow， “whereas state anxiety reflects an ‘unpleasant emotional state or condition trait anxiety is regarded as a ‘relatively stable individual difference in anxiety-proneness as a personality trait”.

2. Empirical Investigations of Learner Anxiety

Through the discussion about the types of learner anxiety above， it is clear that this subjective feeling does have impact on L2 learning. Thus， the investigation of this subject is meaningful for better language teaching and learning. There are three commonly used methods to analyze learner anxiety： observation， to observe learners behaviors； learners self-reports； and psychological tests.

2.1 Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale （FLCAS）

Based on self-reports and a series of related data analysis， Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale was compiled by Horwitz and his colleagues in 1986. FLCAS consists of 33 items， purposively designed according to the three conceptual foundations of language anxiety.

As Horwitz pointed in Preliminary Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of a Foreign Language Anxiety Scale， based on criterion-related studies from Spielberger （1983） and Sarason （1978）， this new scale has showed a high degree of internal consistency withα=.93 and r=.83 （p<.001）， which contributes it to be the most influential and credible foreign language anxiety scale nowadays.

2.2 Idiodynamic Method

Apart from FLCAS， Larsen-Freeman first proposed using a dynamic approach to study learner anxiety. What is a dynamic system？ According to de Bot et al.， there are four main characteristics： （1）dynamic system changes over time， and the current state is a transformation of the previous state. （2） It is an interrelated system. （3）The dynamic system has both attractor and repeller states at various levels. （4）The system is nonlinear， like the butterfly effect slight changes can have a huge impact on the entire system.

In the empirical literature， there are studies of dynamic system in second language acquisition， among which， The Motion of Emotion is of the great significance. The Motion of Emotion has involved idiodynamic interview and self-report survey data of three high and three low anxiety language learners to examine their language anxiety and its triggers within the analysis of changing affective reactions over time. “This research helps observe the moment-by-moment changes in anxiety”； “The idiodynamic method gives us the ability to track learners rapidly changing affect in context on a per-second basis.”

3. Conclusion

This essay has discussed about two anxiety dichotomies and empirical investigations of language anxiety. “Results to date suggest that foreign language anxiety can be reliably and validly measured and that it plays an important role in language learning.” Either FLCAS or idiodynamic studies could improve our understanding of learner anxiety on language learning.

References：

[1]Gregersen，T.，MacIntyre，P.D.and Meza，M.The motion of the emotion：Idiodynamic case studies of learnersforeign language anxiety[J].The Modern Language Journal，2014，98（2）：574-588.

[2]Horwitz，E.K.，Horwitz，M.B.，&Cope;，J.Foreign language classroom anxiety[J].The Modern Language Journal，1986，70（2）：125-132.

【作者簡介】Zhao Kai Yang， Northwest University.