article for l&s assignment

8/13/2019 Article for L&S assignment

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Helping Students Overcome Foreign Language Speaking

Anxiety in the English Classroom: Theoretical ssues and

!ractical "ecommendationsakovos Tsiplakides #Corresponding author$ %ikisStreet& oannina& 'reece Tel: ()*+,-*.)/*01-( E*mail

address: tsiplakides2hotmail3com

Areti 4eramida 5Ed in TESOL&

'reek Open 6niversity

Iakovos Tsiplakides receives a scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation

in GreeceAbstract

7espite the 8act that 8oreign language speaking anxiety is a common phenomenon in the

teaching o8 English as a 8oreign language in 'reece& teachers do not al9ays identi8y anxiousstudents& and o8ten attriute their un9illingness to participate in speaking tasks to 8actors suchas lack o8 motivation& or lo9 per8ormance3 This article aims to contriute to the literature onlanguage anxiety and to provide teachers 9ith strategies 8or reducing 8oreign languagespeaking anxiety stemming 8rom students; 8ear o8 negative evaluation 8rom their peers andperception o8 lo9 aility3 6sing Aida& .00/> 5acntyre and 'ardner& .00.$3

Empirical research sho9s that anxious 8oreign language students are less 9illing to participatein learning activities& and have lo9er per8ormance than non*anxious students #Aida .00/&5acntyre and 'ardner .00.$3Foreign language anxiety consists o8 ?sel8*perceptions& elie8s& 8eelings and ehaviors related toclassroom language learning arising 8rom the uni


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Dhat are the characteristics o8 students9ho su88er 8rom 8oreign language speakinganxiety&Dhat are the sources o8 8oreign languagespeaking anxietyCan the incorporation o8 proect 9ork and asupportive classroom atmosphere helpthese students overcome

Apart 8rom general 8oreign language classroom anxiety& many learners are highly anxious 9ithrespect to participation in speaking activities3 ndeed& it is o8ten suggested that speaking is themost ?anxiety*provoking aspect in a second language learning situation@ #Cheng& Hor9it=& andSchallert& .000: /+)$3 An examination o8 sources o8 8oreign language speaking anxiety sho9ed acorrelation et9een a$ anxiety and 8ear o8 negative evaluation& and $ anxiety and perception o8lo9 aility in relation to peers and native speakers #4itano& +)).$3 4itano suggests that teachersshould 8ind 9ays to support students 9ith 8ear o8 negative evaluation& 9hich may involveproviding these students 9ith positive rein8orcement& such as positive comments3 n relation tolearners; perception o8 lo9 aility& teachers should make interventions in the classroomenvironment and practices and create a ?sense o8 community in the classroom@& so thatstudents do not perceive it a competitive& 9hile pair and group 9ork can e incorporated#4itano& +)).$3

Dhile 8oreign language speaking anxiety is a common phenomenon in the teaching o8 Englishas a 8oreign language& it seems that teachers do not al9ays identi8y anxious students& andattriute their un9illingness to engage in speaking tasks to 8actors such as lack o8 motivation&or ?poor attitude@ #'regersen& +))(: ()$3 An additional prolem concerns the 8act that althoughthere is an aundance o8 theoretical articles on general language anxiety& there seems to e arelative paucity o8 empirical studies 8ocusing speci8ically on the sources o8 8oreign languagespeaking anxiety and providing practical recommendations and strategies to address it3Conse


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and students 9ere encouraged to ask 8or help 9ithout running the risk o8 emarrassment#7ornyei& +)).$3 n addition& teaching practices communicated expectations o8 success 8or allstudents3 For example& as 8ar as grouping practices 9ere concerned& groups 9ere 8ormed 8rommixed aility students& students 9ere given e


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disappeared almost completely3 nstead& they tried to express themselves in English& usinggestures 9hen necessary& and they developed the strategy o8 asking the teacher 8or help3

De attriute the greater part o8 the improvement in speaking accuracy and 8luency to proect9ork& 9hich provided them 9ith ample opportunities to practice language in a ?natural@ setting&negotiate 8or meaning& and helped them to develop strategies on getting their message acrossdespite language di88iculties3 n accordance 9ith 'regersen and Hor9it=& 9e 8ound that their

suggestion that ?anxious students could e taught to 8ocus on continuing a conversation as agoal in itsel8 9henever they make mistakes@& can e 8acilitated y proect 9ork #'regersen andHor9it=& +))+: -1)$3At this point& t9o points need to e clari8ied3 First& the aove interventions do not constitute?ideal@ interventions to reduce 8oreign language speaking anxiety3 They are simply an attemptto move 8rom theory to practice& 8ocusing on a speci8ic learning situation3 n addition& it is notsuggested that interventions 9ere necessarily success8ul3 For example& t9o students sho9edminimal improvement in 9illingness to engage in speaking activities and their speakingper8ormance increased slightly3 t seems that more individuali=ed measures 9ere needed& since9hat is e88ective 8or an anxious student may not e necessarily e88ective 8or another3). *onclusion and pedagogicalimplicationsTeachers should realise that language learning& and particularly oral production& is a potentiallystress8ul situation 8or some students& and that the ?tension and discom8ort related to languagelearning call 8or the attention o8 the language teaching pro8ession@ #Hor9it=& +)).: .++$3 Therecommendations 9e make are congruent 9ith previous studies suggesting that teachers should

not e consider 9ithdra9n students as la=y& lacking in motivation& or having ?poor attitude@#'regersen& +))(: ()$& 9hen in 8act they su88er 8rom anxiety3 nstead& they should identi8yanxious learners and make interventions to help them overcome 8oreign language anxiety #Aida&.00/$3ecause 8oreign language speaking anxiety in the English classroom may stem 8rom 8ear o8making mistakes and the conse


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-odern an'ua'e /ournal& 1-& /+,*/(13

Frymier& A3 #.00($3 The impact o8 teacher immediacy on students; motivation: s it the same 8or all

students30ommunication Education* /.& /-/*/,/3 'ardner& "3 C3& I3 3 7ay& J !3 73 5acntyre3 #.00+$3

ntegrative motivation& induced anxiety& and language learning in a controlled environment3

Studies in Second an'ua'e +cquisition& ./: .01*+./3

'regersen& T3 S3 #+))($3 To Err s Human: A "eminder to Teachers o8 Language*Anxious Students3

Forei'nan'ua'e +nnals*(,& .& +-*(+3 'regersen& T3& J E3 43 Hor9it=3 +))+3 Language Learning and

!er8ectionism: Anxious and %on*Anxious Language Learners; "eactions to Their O9n Oral

!er8ormance3 The -odern an'ua'e /ournal*,& /& -,+*-1)3

Hor9it=& E3 43 #.0,$3 !reliminary evidence 8or the reliaility and validity o8 a Foreign LanguageAnxiety Scale3 TES4 uarterl(* +)& (& --0M-,+3

Hor9it=& E3 43 #+)).$3 Language anxiety and achievement3+nnual Revie% of +pplied in'uistics*

+.& ..+*.+,3 Hor9it=& E3& 53 Hor9it=& J I3 A3 Cope3 #.0,$3 Foreign language classroom anxiety3

-odern an'ua'e /ournal*1)& .+-*.(+3

4itano& 43 #+)).$3 Anxiety in the College Iapanese Language Classroom3 The -odern an'ua'e

/ournal* -& -/0*-,,3 Lee& 3 #+))+$3 !roect 9ork made easy in the English classroom3 0anadian

-odern an'ua'e Revie%& -0& ++*+0)3 Lighto9n& !3& J %3 Spada3 #.000$3 o% an'ua'es are

earned. 5+nd ed3$3 Ox8ord: Ox8ord 6niversity !ress3 5acntyre& !3 73& J "3 C3 'ardner3 #.00.$3

Language anxiety: ts relation to other anxieties and to processing in nativeand second languages3 an'ua'e earnin'*/.& -.(*

-(/35acntyre& !3 73& 43 A3 %oels& J "3 Clement3 #.001$3 iases in Sel8*"atings o8 Second language

!ro8iciency: The "ole o8 Language Anxiety3 an'ua'e earnin'*/1& +,-*+13 !atton& 53 G3

#+))+$3 ualitative Research and Evaluation -ethods3 #(rd ed3$3 6nited States o8 America: Sage3

"ichards& I3 C3& I3 !latt& J H3 Deer3 #.0-$3 on'man dictionar( of applied lin'uistics3 London:

Longman3 Thompson& T3 #.001$3 7o 9e need to train teachers ho9 to administer praise Sel8*

9orth theory says 9e do3 earnin'and Instruction*1& /0*,(3

Boung& 73 I3 #.00)$3 An investigation o8 Students; !erspectives on Anxiety and Speaking3

Forei'n an'ua'e +nnals* +(& -(0*--(3 Boung& 73 I3 #.00.$3 Creating a lo9*anxiety classroom

environment: Dhat does language anxiety research suggest3

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