Anxiety about Foreign Language Learning among High School Women

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between anxiety and native language skill and foreign language aptitude measures among 154 high school foreign language learners. Three levels of anxiety were identified using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale or FLCAS (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Low Anxiety (LO‐ANX) students were expected to have significantly stronger native language skills and foreign language aptitude than High Anxiety (HI‐ANX) students and significantly higher foreign language grades. Average Anxiety (AVE‐ANX) students were expected to score somewhere in‐between. Findings showed overall significant differences among the groups on nine variables, including measures of native language phonology/orthography, semantics, and verbal memory; foreign language aptitude; eighth‐grade English grade; and end‐of‐year foreign language grade. On measures of phonology/orthography, eighth‐grade English, and foreign language grade, LO‐ANX and AVE‐ANX students outperformed HI‐ANX students. On a foreign language aptitude measure and foreign language grade, LO‐ANX students outperformed both AVE‐ and HI‐ANX students. On measures of verbal memory and reading comprehension, LO‐ANX students outperformed HI‐ANX students. Discriminant analysis results showed that all test measures but one were significant in distinguishing the three groups. Among others, implications include the suggestion that skill in one's native language and aptitude for learning a foreign language may affect anxiety level and that the FLCAS may provide an early indicator of basic language problems.