Tendencies for Future Research on English Speaking Anxiety in Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) Students and Teachers

Allan Cordeiro

doi:10.34019/1808-9461.2020.v19.27682

Abstract

This paper examines the causes and consequences of Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Speaking was the skill that contributed most to a high FLA level and that approximately one-third of students presented a moderate FLA level. Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHCs) students’ experiences were chosen as the focus of our research because they have higher FLA rates of all ethnic groups. The aim of this work is to shed light on English Speaking Anxiety and observe the tendencies to enable future research in this field. The research is based on a series of papers collected from journals. The findings are related to the influence of emotional factors that contribute to anxiety in the classroom and teachers’ attitudes. A high anxiety rate may be related not only to a natural propensity to anxiety, but also to factors related to teachers’ activities and attributes. The studies showed that the tone of voice, gender and the teacher's dress code had an effect on students’ levels of anxiety.

Highlights

This paper examines the causes and consequences of Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) in Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
The situations experienced by Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC) students were chosen as the focus of our research because they have higher FLA rates of all ethnic groups
The Interaction Hypothesis states that interaction facilitates Second Language Acquisition (SLA) since learners who engage in interactional situations have more opportunities to communicate and develop their language skills by receiving comprehensible input

Summary

INPUT AND INTERACTION IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

The Interaction Hypothesis states that interaction facilitates Second Language Acquisition (SLA) since learners who engage in interactional situations have more opportunities to communicate and develop their language skills by receiving comprehensible input. Long (1996) linked two approaches in SLA: Hatch’s (1978) theory which postulated the role of conversation in the development of grammar and Krashen’s (1985) Input Hypothesis, which affirmed that linguistic input must be (i+1), in other words, it has to be a level above the learner’s knowledge, but still comprehensible (PICA, 2003). The Interaction Hypothesis states that interaction facilitates Second Language Acquisition (SLA) since learners who engage in interactional situations have more opportunities to communicate and develop their language skills by receiving comprehensible input. Feedback (recasts, comprehension checks, clarification requests, selfrepetition or paraphrase, restatement and expansion of NNS statements, and topic switches) has often been an explored topic in the interaction approach (ALJAAFREH; LANTOLF, 1994; LIGHTBOWN; SPADA; RANTA; RAND, 1993; LONG; INAGAKI; LYSTER; RANTA, 1997; ORTEGA, 1998; WESCHE, 1994). Given that it does not constitute the focus of this paper, we will not analyse aspects of feedback in detail. Some of these processes will be discussed in addition to some other trends

THREE MAIN CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY

THE ANALYSES

Findings

CONCLUSION