Modeling the relationships between anxieties and performance in second/foreign language speaking assessment

Abstract

Second/foreign language (L2) research exploring the role of anxiety in learning and test performance has been considered to take three different perspectives on the nature of anxiety, viz., trait, state, and situation-specific perspectives. This research examined the interactions among four different anxieties, i.e., trait anxiety, state anxiety, language anxiety, and test anxiety, under these three perspectives, their respective and collective impact on L2 speaking test performance, and the presence of gender effects on such an impact. The researcher administered two sets of a large-scale standardized English speaking test and four anxiety scales adopted or adapted from relevant research to 251 Taiwanese EFL learners. Capitalizing on the path-analytical technique, the researcher constructed and evaluated several path models resulting in three primary findings. First, trait anxiety and language anxiety constituted the direct sources of state anxiety, whereas test anxiety affected state anxiety mainly indirectly. Second, trait anxiety and language anxiety impacted the speaking test performance in a statistically significant manner. Third, the impact of anxiety on performance did not vary with respect to gender. These findings substantiated the theoretical frameworks of L2 use and speaking performance and highlighted the importance of developing anxiety-coping strategies applicable to the L2 testing context.