The Role of Speaking Anxiety on L2 English Speaking Fluency, Accuracy and Complexity

Abstract

Many L2 learners find speaking-oriented activities to be highly anxiety-evoking. Speaking to a native interlocutor or perceiving negative attitudes from them has been shown to generate speaking anxiety. However, the influence of speaking anxiety on L2 speaking performance is still under-researched. This study examined the effects of speaking anxiety on L2 speaking fluency (time-based speed and breakdown fluency measures), phonological, lexical and grammatical accuracy (error rates), and grammatical complexity (Guiraud's index and clauses per AS-Unit) under two interlocutor-related speaking conditions: nativeness and collaborativeness. L2-English speech was elicited from L1-Spanish/Catalan learners (n=34) through two film scene retelling tasks. Nativeness was manipulated by having participants interact in an oral task with different interlocutors, a native English speaker (native) and a Spanish accented L2 English speaker (non-native). Half of the learners were assigned to a collaborative (helpful and kind) interlocutor and half to a non-collaborative (unhelpful and unkind) interlocutor. Speaking anxiety levels were assessed through Likert-scale-based questionnaires immediately after task performance and physiological measures of emotional arousal (heart rate and electrodermal activity). Results showed that interacting with non-native speakers produced higher anxiety and more complex language. Speaking to a collaborative native interlocutor resulted in less accurate language compared to the collaborative non-native interlocutor.