Foreign Language Pronunciation and Listening Anxiety: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Numerous studies conducted throughout several decades on language anxiety have proven its detrimental effect on foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) learning and performance. One of the skills, along with speaking, that has been found “highly anxiety provoking” (Krashen, cf. Young 1992) is listening. So as to be able to reduce the worry accompanying FL listening, it is necessary to identify and understand its causes. The main aim of this chapter is to report on a preliminary study carried out among 43 Polish high school students, which examined the relationship between listening anxiety and the actual and perceived levels of FL pronunciation. To estimate the participants’ level of listening anxiety the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (Elkhafaifi 2005) was used. The measures of the perceived and actual levels of pronunciation were designed for the purpose of this study. A correlation analysis indicated a significant negative relationship of moderate strength between both pronunciation levels and listening anxiety (ListA), with the perceived level of pronunciation showing a higher correlation with ListA than the actual pronunciation level. The quantitative data are complemented with the beliefs and feelings concerning listening anxiety provided by a few subjects, revealing either high or low listening anxiety during semi-structured interviews. The opinions of the participants support the important link between the learners’ perceptions about their pronunciation and listening anxiety. More specifically, the subjects believe it is mainly the high level of accentedness that hinders successful FL listening. This belief, in turn, might raise their listening anxiety.KeywordsForeign LanguageSpeech PerceptionWord ReadingPassage ReadingListening SkillThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.