Language anxiety is a problem that many English learners and non-native English speakers face every day!
Today, I want to talk in depth about language anxiety. We’ll discuss the causes and consequences of anxiety while using a foreign language, and I’ll give you a few different tips and strategies on how to improve your confidence and reduce your anxiety while speaking in English!
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Vocabulary
- Anxiety (Noun): A feeling of unease, nervousness, or worry.
- The upcoming exam caused her a great deal of anxiety, making it difficult to focus on studying.
- Fear (Noun): An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
- His fear of heights prevented him from enjoying the breathtaking view from the top of the mountain.
- Stress (Noun): Mental or emotional strain resulting from challenging situations, circumstances, or pressures.
- Work-related stress can negatively impact both physical and mental well-being.
- Predisposition (Noun): A tendency or inclination to a particular condition, behaviour, or outcome.
- Some individuals have a genetic predisposition to certain medical conditions.
- Apprehension (Noun): Anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
- The students felt a sense of apprehension before the announcement of the exam results.
- Evaluation (Noun): The act of assessing or judging the quality, value, or performance of someone or something.
- The teacher’s evaluation of the students’ projects was very harsh.
- Self-Awareness (Noun): Conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.
- Developing self-awareness is crucial for personal growth and effective communication.
What is Language Anxiety?
Today I want to talk about an issue that will affect almost every single foreign language learner, especially all of you English learners, in the world.
Language anxiety.
Everyone listening to this episode of Thinking in English has learned, is studying, or is interested in improving their skills in, a foreign language.
For most of you that foreign language, or one of those languages will be English. For me, the foreign language is Japanese.
The process of studying and learning is full of challenges, obstacles, and ups and downs.
Sometimes you feel incredibly motivated to spend hours each week studying. Other times you would rather give up and forget about your goals.
Sometimes you procrastinate for days. Other times you work efficiently and quickly.
You may be burnt out from all the studying. You could form bad habits. You may struggle with pronunciation.
On the other hand, there will be times when you are brimming with confidence, proud of your achievements, and amazed at how far you have come in your language learning journey.
One thing that can really challenge all of us, take away our motivation, make us question our ability to speak in English or any language, is anxiety.
Foreign language anxiety, as it is known in academic research, is that feeling of nervousness, worry, or fear that you may experience with using, or even thinking about using, a foreign language.
It can affect everyone.
Earlier this week I had a 20-minute conversation in Japanese on the phone with my bank, using technical vocabulary, and felt no anxiety whatsoever. Yet, just a few days before I completely froze while buying something in a coffee shop.
It was a conversation I have had hundreds of times before in Japanese, but for some reason I couldn’t find the words this time. My throat went dry, my heart started to pound, and I was beginning to panic.
I was suffering from language anxiety.
Anxiety
I think it would be useful to talk a little about anxiety in general, before looking specifically at foreign language anxiety.
Anxiety can be defined as “an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future.”
Traditionally, psychologists have split anxiety into 3 general categories: trait anxiety, state anxiety, and situation-specific anxiety.
Trait anxiety refers to when anxiety is your normal condition. Anxiety is the basic predisposition or characteristic of a person’s personality. Whatever happens, you have a consistent and constant anxiety.
State anxiety is a temporary anxiety. It is influenced by factors, such as environmental stresses or the context of your life. If you suffer from state anxiety your anxiety is general and can be caused by a number of different factors, but it is temporary.
And finally, situation specific anxiety is anxiety that is closely tied to specific situations or events. If you are anxious about a job interview, and nothing else in your life, that is an example of a situation-specific anxiety.
Foreign Language Anxiety
Foreign language anxiety is a form of situation-specific, or situational, anxiety.
This means it is triggered by the specific situation of you using a foreign or second language. It also means it can happen to anyone, even people not usually affected by anxiety.
One academic defintion I found of language anxiety comes from MacIntyre and Gregersen who wrote that language anxiety “encompasses the feelings of worry and negative, fear-related emotions associated with learning or using a language that is not an individual’s mother tongue.”
Imagine you are taking an English class at school. You might fear making grammatical errors or mispronouncing words during class discussions. When the teacher asks a question or requests you to speak in front of the class, a wave of anxiety might hit you. You might feel anxious about being judged by your peers and the teacher.
Or at work, you could be required to give a presentation in English. Despite your deep knowledge of the topic, it is common to experience language anxiety. You may fear forgetting words or struggling with fluency during the presentation. The anticipation of speaking in front of others can add to the anxiety.
I’ve noticed in the past people who are part of language exchange groups often suffer from language anxiety. They regularly compare their own language skills to those of their peers. And, they feel inadequate when they perceive others as more fluent or proficient, leading to increased anxiety about their own language abilities.
An example of my own language anxiety comes in bilingual conversation. When in bilingual conversations, I constantly fall back on my first language (English) because I am anxious about expressing myself accurately in Japanese. This overreliance on English is a coping mechanism to avoid language-related challenges.
Importantly, language anxiety can appear when facing all English skills. It is often associated with speaking, but it can happen whenever you need to read, write, or listen to English!
What Causes Language Anxiety?
Why do we get anxious when speaking in foreign languages like English? According to the research papers I read in preparation for this episode, there is not a straightforward answer.
In an article published in the 1980s, a group of researchers led by Horowitz identified three different components of foreign language anxiety.
First, there is communication apprehension. This is the fear of speaking with other people in English (or whatever foreign language) and can often come across as a sort of shyness. With communication apprehension, it can become difficult to clearly or accurately express your thoughts, and it causes a high level of stress while communicating,
Second, there is the fear of negative evaluation. I saw this a lot when I was working in Japanese elementary schools and junior high schools. Anxiety can be caused when people are nervous that others may judge them negatively or they may let others down.
And third is test anxiety. This perhaps the most straightforward component of anxiety to understand, as I’m sure we have all been anxious for tests. With language learning, taking tests, exams, and quizzes can be very common, and it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety.
While these three components, communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety, have been identified as important factors, it should also be emphasised that language anxiety can also result from beliefs, other forms of stress, and factors away from study.
There are a few common triggers of these different forms of language anxiety. For example, negative experiences while using a foreign language.
If someone laughs at you while speaking English. If someone criticises your pronunciation. If a teacher tells you that your English is bad. These things can cause people to lose confidence and develop anxiety.
Having unrealistic expectations is another common trigger. If your goal is to be perfect, not being perfect will cause you anxiety. Have achievable goals is very important.
What are the Effects of Language Anxiety?
What are the consequences of language anxiety?
I’m sure we can all think of anecdotal examples of anxiety while using English. Struggling in a test because you were so nervous or confusing a shop employee while suffering from anxiety.
However, this is Thinking in English. I wanted something more academic and research based. I wanted to know the effect of language anxiety in the words of experts.
I found a review paper in an academic journal, written by Oteir and Al-Otaibi in 2019, which identified different categories of ways in which language anxiety can affect language learners and language learning.
Language anxiety can affect us academically. When suffering from anxiety, it can cause us to fail English tests and underperform in the classrooms.
Language anxiety can affect us socially. The research paper showed that language learners struggling with anxiety are less likely to want to use, or try to use, their language socially. People with language anxiety have significantly fewer social interactions in English than learners without anxiety.
From a psychological perspective, research has shown that language anxiety can affect us cognitively. In simple terms, high levels of anxiety stop our brains processing information as efficiently. This means anxiety can make language acquisition more difficult.
Language anxiety can also affect people’s personalities. Experiencing foreign language anxiety can make people more forgetful, more miserable, and have an impact of attitudes and self-confidence.
How to Overcome Language Anxiety?
So far we’ve defined language anxiety, taken a look at what causes this issue, and talked about its consequences.
Now, let’s think about how to overcome and deal with anxiety.
We are all language learners. Any single one of you listening could, and probably has, experienced some level of anxiety while using English. This anxiety causes you problems academically, socially, personally, and cognitively. What strategies can we use to defeat language anxiety?
One strategy I’ve seen commonly suggested across my research is increasing your own self-awareness. You should be able to recognise when you are struggling with anxiety and acknowledge this fact.
In fact, recognising specific language activities that induce anxiety can help you take control of your anxiety. For example, if speaking in front of a group of people triggers your anxiety, you can start to work on this.
There is nothing wrong with reaching out for help and support. English teachers and tutors can help you address your weaknesses and build confidence. Communicate with teachers about anxiety and language challenges, and they will be able to help!
If you want to book a class, I can recommend the Thinking in English classes team (Nathan, Peter, and Thomas) who offer classes to my audience.
Or you could employ some different personal strategies, such as joining language clubs, engaging in journal writing, positive self-talk, and actively utilizing opportunities to use the language.
If you are going to join a language club (I offer conversation clubs over on Patreon) or a language exchange, make sure you find something at a suitable level to reduce your stress.
You should be willing to embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning. Correct yourself to prevent errors from becoming fixed in memory and focus on understanding others in unfamiliar environments rather than perfection.
Avoid passive strategies such as giving up or distancing yourself. And be aware of overusing your native language and balance it with English in appropriate contexts.
You could also utilize relaxation techniques such as contemplative practices, progressive muscle relaxation, and breathing exercises.
And finally, you should regularly reflect on your language learning journey and often reassess your coping strategies. Focus on continuous improvement rather than achieving perfection.
Final Thought
Language anxiety is a common challenge faced by English learners worldwide, impacting academic performance, social interactions, cognitive functions, and personal well-being. Understanding its roots in communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety provides a foundation for overcoming this obstacle.
The effects of language anxiety are far-reaching, affecting language learners academically, socially, psychologically, and even shaping their personalities.
Overcoming language anxiety requires self-awareness, seeking support from teachers or language clubs, engaging in personal strategies like positive self-talk and active language use, embracing mistakes as opportunities for learning, and incorporating relaxation techniques.
Remember, English learning is a journey with its challenges, but by facing language anxiety head-on and adopting effective strategies, you can build confidence, resilience, and achieve your goals!
What do you think?
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Tom, anxiety is a very common and important problem that many of people suffer. Thank you for sharing this issue in that detail, regarding our language learning challenge. I think it is necessary to understand the nature of anxiety before accepting and taking action to manage it.
In my case, I developed an anxious pattern while preparing for proficiency test. Now, after your conceptualization, I turn back and depick the image of my behaviors or feelings which were a kind of anxiety-situational anxiety! I reckon my language skills being scored by just an exam wasn`t that acceptable fact for me, that`s why I developed it 🙂
However, interestingly, I didn`t feel any anxious moments in the job interview I had made recently. I am fairly confident that my frequent participation in the conversation clubs provided me that comfort and confidence in my speech. Before CC, I was quite shy and stressful in conversations 🙂
I believe that consistency in speaking is the key to develop a cure to overcome the language anxiety. In fact, this consistency requires a sort of self-compassion, patience and trust. Ultimately, these 3 pillars support the idea that even little practice can enhance your progress and work as a motivation for consistency.