Methods and Results in the Study of Anxiety and Language Learning: A Review of the Literature*

Abstract

Since Scovel's review of the literature in 1978, several studies have been conducted that consider the role of anxiety in language learning. This paper examines the perspectives from which foreign language anxiety research has been conducted, the instruments that have been used, and the results that have been reported. Three approaches to the study of anxiety are identified as the trait, state, and situation specific perspectives. The instruments chosen to measure anxiety have been quite varied, with several scales specifically intended to assess foreign language anxiety. The literature to be reviewed comes from studies of children, studies that have included anxiety in models of language learning, and finally, studies that are focused directly on the role of anxiety in language learning. With the advances in theory and measurement that have been made in the past decade or so, it is anticipated that foreign language anxiety will receive much more research consideration.