Foreign Language Anxiety in e-Tandem Learners: Is it Predictable?

Abstract

Learning a foreign language (FL) is a challenging path, and speaking interaction with native speakers of the target language (TL) is perceived as a threatening event for many students. Nevertheless, the use of telecollaborative practices, such as e-Tandem, is considered to have an anxiety-reducing effect on learners over time (Appel and Gilabert, 2002). The present study investigates foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the context of e-Tandem language learning.

The aim of our research is to understand to what extent e-Tandem learners’ innate tendency to experience FLA (trait anxiety, Spielberger, 1966) is related to the FLA they experience while completing speaking activities in pairs. The sample of the study is composed by 50 students (23 native speakers of English; 27 native speakers of Spanish) enrolled in a free and open online conversation course based on e-Tandem language learning tasks. Once the subjects start the course, they complete a demographic questionnaire and answer to 23 items extracted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS; Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). Then, after each speaking task, they self-rate their FLA using an Anxometer (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991).

By conducting Pearson correlation and one-way ANOVA analysis, we expect to identify the relationship between learners’ FLCAS scores and their FLA while participating in e-Tandem tasks considering, as well, their age and gender. Our results will provide the Language Learning Community with more information on this emotion in e-Tandem contexts.

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Author Information
Blanca Cristofol Garcia, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Spain
Christine Appel, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain
Daniel Liviano Solís, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain

• Category: Psychology of the learner

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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