Students' voices on foreign language anxiety.

Abstract

This paper discusses two anxious learners' perceptions of themselves in Japanese class: fear of miscommunication, fear of failure, and ideal learners vs. themselves, which often led them to feel inferior. This paper suggests the importance to consider learners holistically.

Introduction

The Japanese language has become the fifth most commonly taught language since 1990 (Survey of Foreign Language Registrations in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education, cited in Samimy 1994, Samimy and Tabuse 1992). However, the attrition rate of students who take Japanese classes has become "as much as eighty percent" (Mills, Samuels, & Sherwood, 1987, cited in Samimy 1994). Samimy maintains that one of the reasons contributing to a high attrition rate would be the "degree of difficulty of the Japanese language itself" (ibid: 29). According to the United States Foreign Service Institute, Japanese is categorized in Group IV, the most difficult languages to master. Because of its level of difficulty, the Japanese language can be expected to trigger learners' FL anxiety (Samimy 1994: 29). Some researchers claim that this FL anxiety hinders students' success in class (Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope 1986, MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991, 1995). MacIntyre and Gardner (1995) assert that FL anxiety interferes with learners' short-term and long-term memories (P.93). Although previous research considered all of the participants as one entity without capturing individual characteristics, few studies have tuned into the students' actual voices on FL anxiety issues. It is important to explore these issues from the learners' perceptions of their social identity: how they view and categorize themselves and others based on their linguistic and cultural characteristics.

Literature on Foreign Language Anxiety

In their study of FL anxiety, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) find that students who have FL anxiety are ubiquitous. The authors identify three contributing factors to FL anxiety: 1) communication apprehension, which indicates when a person has difficulty listening or speaking a FL in front of people; 2) test anxiety, which is a level of nervousness during test-taking that causes students to answer wrongly even though they know the correct answer; and 3) fear of negative evaluation, which is worry about how others, peers and teachers, assess one's performance. My question concerns where these fears originate. Horwitz et al. suggest that adult learners' FL anxiety derives from "the disparity between the language learner's 'true-self and his/her 'more limited self' as reflected in linguistic competence in FL class (1986: 128). McIntyre and Gardner's (1991, 1995) research also suggests that anxiety interferes with the learners' cognitive processing of the second language (L2). But does this dichotomization fully explain the fear of all FL anxious students?

Literature on Social Identity Theory

Instead of dichotomization, there is a need to consider learners as a whole and situate their social identity within how they perceive themselves. A key source of fear could be the students' perceptions of their social identity as learners as well as those of the target culture group. Tajfel (1974) defines social identity as how people categorize themselves and others in "the given social context," through linguistic and behavioral characteristics (cited in McNamara 1997: 562). McNamara further explains social identity as not "fixed but dependent on (among many things) the particular intergroup setting in which one finds oneself' (ibid: 564). Whether language students identify themselves with the target culture group affects their motivation for learning. Whether the students categorize themselves as successful learners also influences their self-esteem, which relates to their level of confidence and FL anxiety. In this current research/current study, I consider three issues of learners' anxiety problems relating to their perceptions of their social identities: 1) if FL anxiety is related to social identity, how do the anxious students view themselves and the target culture group? 2) If anxiety is related to the learning environment, what sources in the environment make the students anxious? 3) How is each of these factors related to FL anxiety?

Two Students

Two undergraduate students, Ji-young, a native Korean speaker, and John, a native English speaker, were enrolled in the second-year Japanese class (1). They shared their stories with me after I observed their drill classes. The second-year Japanese course met five days a week for 50 minutes a day. An American professor lectured about grammar and reading twice a week, occasionally using English. In the drill sessions three days a week, associate instructors, using only Japanese, taught usage of the previously introduced grammar, emphasizing communication skills. Students were assigned to memorize core conversations from the textbook and performed them in front of the class in most drill sessions. Students' oral performances of core conversations and drill exercises were graded on a scale of zero to four on a daily basis.

Ji-young's story

Ji-young and her family moved from Korea to Chicago six years ago. She was in her sophomore year, studying accounting and Japanese. Ji-young had studied Japanese for two semesters at a university in the U.S. She wanted to learn about Japanese culture as well as the language because she hoped to work in Japan. Ji-young's main goal in learning Japanese was to be able to speak fluently while earning a good grade (B or above).

Ji-young's perception as a learner (social identity) Ji-young often told me that she was a bad learner although she earned a grade of B at mid-term. She said she studied hard every day; but, whenever she studied, she was scared and unhappy because "Japanese [language] is kind of difficult." She perceived herself as inferior to all her other classmates, believing that "everybody was doing well. They picked up grammar patterns easily, but I was not a fast learner." Though Ji-young liked learning a foreign language, and seemed to be intrinsically interested in learning Japanese, she felt she still did not spend enough time studying. Although she felt like a 'member of the group' in relation to her Japanese friends, Ji-young insisted that she belonged to the American and Korean group. She took an observer's position when she viewed Japanese people and culture.

Ji-young's feelings toward learning in Japanese class (learning environment) Due to the nature of the practice section, Ji-young always had to speak Japanese in front of others. Before an oral performance, Ji-young worried, "what if I don't do well." During the performance she became nervous, but afterwards she felt good. She described her problems of performing memorized core conversations as follows: "Even though I memorized everything, when I performed, I forgot them because I became nervous performing in front of people. When no one is there, I can do it." Uncertainty also made Ji-young nervous and confused when she spoke in Japanese class. She mentioned that "I don't know how to speak [the language] and whether I speak it correctly." When she was called on in class, her face turned red and her heart pounded.

She skipped words and forgot how to answer questions. Ji-young told me that exams and oral performances made her nervous because of her grade concerns. She repeatedly made such comments as "what if I forget the sentence" and "what if I don't do well." She felt that her teachers were caring and kind, but Ji-young felt nervous in class because other students were watching her, and her teachers were grading her oral performances on the spot. She mentioned that "if they (teachers) didn't grade, I probably wouldn't become nervous in speaking."

John's story

John was in his junior year at a university in the U.S., majoring in East Asian Languages and Cultures. While he was living on the military base in Okinawa for three years, he had taken one semester of a Japanese course offered by an American university. Although he did not seriously learn the language in Okinawa, his living experience there motivated him to master the language so that he could carry on a conversation and understand others.

John' perception as a learner (social identity) He thought he could learn; however, he believed that the harder he studied, the worse he became, which he described as a "chain reaction." For instance, when he tried to memorize one Chinese character, he forgot other characters. During the second semester of his Japanese class, he started having difficulty understanding his Japanese teacher's instruction. John reflected that the problem was the "mismatch between her level of Japanese and my proficiency level. My energy level went down." John felt distant from Japanese people and the culture because most of his Japanese friends left the campus. Even though he had difficulty learning the Japanese language, John had a strong will to overcome his learning problems. John told me that: "No matter what happens, my will power of learning Japanese will not go down because I have a will, Samurai spirit. I believe in yamato damashii (2), so I will not quit. I spent time in Japan. My major is East Asian Languages and Cultures, concentrating on Japan. I have pride and fighting spirit. If I am fighting, I can't quit."

John's feelings toward learning in Japanese class (learning environment) For John, the most intimidating exercise in class was translating sentences out loud during the lecture class. He recalled that "when I'm not prepared for it, and the professor suddenly calls on me, I am scared and nervous." Despite his claim to a strong fighting spirit, he expressed fear of possible miscommunication in Japanese: fear of incomprehension of what the professor said. Although John thought he was well-prepared for his oral exam (skit and questions), he still felt anxious because he was uncertain about his teacher's questions after the skit. He believed that the harder he studied the better he should become. However, the result was opposite of his wishes.

Common Themes

Based on the conversations with Ji-young and John, some themes emerged. In social identity, the emerging themes were sense of belonging and comparisons. In learning environment, the prominent themes were fear of miscommunication and fear created by image of failure. Ji-young identified herself with the American and Korean groups, not with the Japanese group. John also felt distant from the Japanese group because his Japanese friends left the campus. Neither of them had direct access to the Japanese group. This disconnection from the target culture group could have triggered their fear of possible miscommunication in Japanese. Ji-young expressed her concern about other students' oral performances. "I always compare myself with other students. I want to do [well] like them, but I can't do as well as they do." In John's case, "my problem is a mismatch between the teacher's level of Japanese and my proficiency level. My energy level goes down." In comparing their Japanese proficiency to other classmates' or the teacher's level which could be incomprehensible for John, they perceived themselves as inferior. Such hierarchical perception of others as superior and self as inferior contributes to the lowering of their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Ji-young and John also struggled with the gap between their ideal learner image and themselves. Ji-young reflected that "I feel I have to do well, but I can't produce perfect sentences." John said, "the harder I study, the worse I become. The harder I try to memorize one kanji (Chinese character), the more I forget other kanji. That's a chain reaction to me." In reality, their beliefs sabotaged their wishes.

Learning environment--Fear of miscommunication

Ji-young and John clearly expressed their fear of possible miscommunication in Japanese. Ji-young said, "A.Is (associate instructors) ask us suddenly and pick someone to answer the questions. I didn't prepare myself. What should I do?" "I don't know how to speak it or if I speak correctly or not." John also shared the same fear if the teacher suddenly called on him when he was unprepared for sentence translation. John expressed his fear as follows: "I have a fear of what I might not understand. I don't feel confident when I speak in Japanese class because I might not understand what the A.I. might say or ask." He said, "If you are in the group, [but] they are not talking to you, that builds up fear. I don't like being left out." John viewed this situation as alienation, which increased his fear of isolation.

John's experience with oral exams illustrated possible miscommunication. He said, "I knew the skit without looking at the paper. Half way through the skit, I became nervous. There was no reason to feel that. [Probably] I became aware of her (the teacher) watching me and grading me. Next, she is going to ask some questions." When he realized that the skit was half done, his attention started shifting from certainty to uncertainty. This uncertainty of his teacher's questions made him nervous. After the skit, he misunderstood the teacher's question. John thought that "the situation was for my grade. If I didn't try to fix the situation, it would go against me. I became nervous. Maybe because of my nervousness, I couldn't process her questions at that speed." Both Ji-young and John showed strong concern about their grades. This attitude seemed to compound their images as unsuccessful learners.

Learning Environment--Fear created by their image of failure

Ji-young and John seemed to be haunted by their image of failure. Both of them often began with the words, "what if ..." or "if I don't do...." Ji-young said, "What if I don't do well? My GPA will go down." John also expressed his concern about his grade on the oral exam. He mentioned that "I have a fear of not doing well on the test if I don't study hard." When Ji-young and John described their feelings about learning Japanese, their usage of "what if" and "if ..." multiplied their fear of being unsuccessful learners. Their self-image as an unsuccessful learner had already defeated them before their oral performances or tests, leading them to anxiety and less successful performances.

Insights from the conversations with Ji-young and John

Based on our conversations and the themes that emerged, I realized that their concerns about their grades were an underlying factor. Reactions to being graded seemed to elicit fear of possible miscommunication, fear of failure, and their perceptions of ideal learners vs. themselves. Teachers as grading authorities seemed to be one source of FL anxiety for Ji-young and John, as was any situation involving evaluation. Then their "what if" questions haunted them. Thus, the mutually reinforcing fear of evaluation and image of being an unsuccessful learner interfered with their learning process.

Both Ji-young's and John's strong motivation for achieving high grades could have contributed to their FL anxiety. The more they wanted to excel in Japanese class, the more their daily graded oral performances became less successful because of nervousness, which derived from fear of negative evaluations by other classmates and teachers. Since they categorized themselves as unsuccessful learners, their low-self esteem also seemed to accelerate their FL anxiety. Greenberg and his colleagues' study (1992) about terror management theory suggests that people who have high self-esteem tend not to be anxious. One suggestion would be for the language educators to raise anxious learners' confidence and self-esteem levels by providing positive comments on their performances. When Ji-young and John were afraid of oral-performance grading situations, they were aware of the friendly teachers as authorities with "power on my grades." Their linguistic limitation relates to these learners' perceptions of their social identity as inferior, feeling powerless. Such power relationship and negative self-perception were obstacles to high self-esteem.

Conclusions

Ji-young and John's FL anxiety derived from their perception of their social identity as inferior. Their grade concerns and fear of negative evaluations followed from their self-perception in regards to their learning environment, their teachers and classmates, and their oral performances. It is significant to consider learners as a whole, not judge them based only on their oral performances, especially in which the course is structured based on strong emphasis on enhancement of oral communication skills. Their self-perception deeply relates to their self-esteem and anxiety, especially when spontaneous communication is required.

Endnotes

(1.) These names are pseudonyms.

(2.) Japanese samurai warriors' beliefs in bravery and never give-up, while enduring harsh trials and pursuing the goals until they could achieve.

References

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Junko Dosaka, Indiana University 

Dosaka is a Ph. D candidate of language education, working on her dissertation about anxious learners' social identities and teaching at a high school. She has a teaching license in Japanese for secondary level.