Analysis of "Methods and Results in the Study of Anxiety and Language Learning: A Review of Literature"
“Methods and Results” reveals foreign language anxiety as situation-specific anxiety, which is important in understanding the effects of this anxiety upon second language achievement. The authors argue that foreign language anxiety’s effect on second language achievement is defined as situation-specific anxiety, because it is “limited to a certain context” (90) when compared to trait and state anxiety. Stating that foreign language anxiety is a form of anxiety that only occurs within a certain environment, such as the classroom, demonstrates that the symptoms and behavioral responses of foreign language anxiety are unique to learning a foreign language.
The project characterizes students who experience foreign language anxiety as recognizing “the second language as an uncomfortable experience”, not participating in class activities, feeling pressured not to make oral communicative mistakes, and less likely to attempt new forms of communicating in the target language (113). This description of the student seems to suggest that they have a low self-confidence in their abilities to effectively communicate in their second language. The project also found that in most second language studies, foreign language anxiety has the most impact upon “public speaking” and “writing examinations” (90).
Zhou’s narrative confirms MacIntyre and Gardner’s claim that foreign language anxiety occurs “consistently overtime in a given situation” (87). In Zhou’s narrative, she exhibits the behavioral responses of foreign language anxiety, such as being afraid to communicate in English by anticipating negative judgment from her teacher in the classroom setting. Zhou also experiences foreign language anxiety while she is speaking in English. Zhou experiencing these effects of foreign language anxiety while in the classroom and while speaking a second language illustrates that foreign language anxiety is in fact a form of situation-specific anxiety. The authors conclude from the studies that foreign language anxiety can be reduced through “favorable experiences and increased achievement” (111).
However, MacIntyre and Gardner do not consider the positive effects teachers may have on a student’s ability to overcome foreign language anxiety, which is documented in Zhou’s narrative. Michael recognized that Paris was fearful in orally communicating in English and helped facilitate her self-confidence by engaging in daily conversations with her in her target language. Zhou notes that the conversations that she had with Michael helped her “take the first step” in learning English, enabling her to proliferate her language achievement in English. Zhou’s narrative suggests that teachers have the ability to create “favorable experiences” in language learning for an anxious student and help the student “increase achievement” in their target language. Moreover, this point emphasizes the need for foreign language anxiety studies to be completed on the link between teacher involvement in the classroom and a student’s decrease in foreign language anxiety in those classrooms.