Cover not available
Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 41:3 (2018) ► pp.328–348

Foreign language anxiety in relation to affective variables

Learners of Korean as a foreign language in Australia

| The University of Queensland

This study investigated Korean-as-a-foreign-language (KFL) students’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) in relation to five affective variables (i.e., unwillingness to communicate, classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation, and self-efficacy) as well as to self-rated Korean proficiency. One hundred and fifty-two KFL students who were enrolled in Korean classes in a large public university in Australia completed survey items for the study. Overall, KFL students in Australia showed moderate levels of anxiety (M = 2.79) and unwillingness to communicate (M = 2.58). Additionally, their levels of motivation (M = 3.92) and self-efficacy (M = 3.41) were high. Five affective variables were proven to be significantly related with FLA: a positive correlation between FLA and unwillingness to communicate; and negative correlations between FLA and classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation and self-efficacy. Among the variables, self-efficacy and self-rated overall Korean proficiency were found to be the best predictors of FLA.

Keywords: foreign language anxiety, Korean as a foreign language, affective variables, individual differences, second language acquisition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments
      • 3.2.1Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)
      • 3.2.2Unwillingness to Communicate Scale (UCS)
      • 3.2.3Classroom Risk-Taking Scale (CRS)
      • 3.2.4Classroom Sociability Scale (CSS)
      • 3.2.5Motivation
      • 3.2.6Self-efficacy
    • 3.3Procedures
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 March 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.17068.jee
References
ACTFL Proficiency Guideline
(2012) American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Retrieved from [URL]
Aida, Y.
(1994) Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 155–168. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Amiri, M., & Ghonsoonly, B.
(2015) The relationship between English learning anxiety and the students’ achievement on examinations. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6(4), 855–865. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anyadubalu, C. C.
(2010) Self-efficacy, anxiety, and performance in the English language among middle-school students in English language program in Satri Si Suriyothai School, Bangkok. International Journal of Human and Social Sciences, 5(3), 193–198.Google Scholar
Australian Psychological Society
(2015) APS Stress and wellbeing in Australia survey 2015. Retrieved from [URL]
(2016) Understanding and managing anxiety. Retrieved from [URL]
Aydin, S.
(2013) Factors affecting the level of test anxiety among EFL learners at elementary schools. E-international Journal of Educational Research, 4(1), 63–81.Google Scholar
Burgoon, J. K.
(1976) The unwillingness-to-communicate scale: Development and validation. Communication Monographs, 431, 60–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burgoon, J. K., & Koper, R. J.
(1984) Nonverbal and relational communication associated with reticence. Human Communication Research, 101, 601–626. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cakici, D.
(2016) The correlation among EFL learners’ test anxiety, foreign language anxiety and language achievement. English Language Teaching, 9(8), 190–203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crook, T. H.
(1979) Psychometric assessment in the elderly. In A. Raskin & L. F. Jarvik (Eds.), Psychiatric symptoms and cognitive loss (pp. 207–220). New York: Halstead.Google Scholar
Ely, C. M.
(1986) An analysis of discomfort, risk-taking, sociability, and motivation in the L2 classroom. Language Learning, 361, 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ewald, J. D.
(2007) Foreign language learning anxiety in upper-level classes: Involving students as researchers. Foreign Language Annals, 401, 122–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eysenck, M. W.
(1979) Anxiety, learning and memory: A reconceptualization. Journal of Research in Personality, 131, 363–385. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frantzen, D., & Magnan, S. S.
(2005) Anxiety and the true beginner-false beginner dynamic in beginning French and Spanish classes. Foreign Language Annals, 381, 171–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, R. C., & MacIntyre, P. D.
(1993) On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning. Language Learning, 43(2), 157–194. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gerencheal, B., & Horwitz, E.
(2016) Gender differences in foreign language anxiety at an Ethiopian university: Mizan-Tepi University third year English major students in focus. African Journal of Education and Practice, 1(1), 1–16.Google Scholar
Gülmez, R.
(2012) Foreign language anxiety on the learner of French as a third language in Turkey. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(5), 887–894. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hasan, D. C., & Fatimah, S.
(2014) Foreign language anxiety in relation to gender equity in foreign language learning: A comparative study between Australia and Indonesia. In H. Zhang, P. W. K. Chan, & C. Boyle (Eds.), Equality in education: Fairness and inclusion (pp. 183–193). Rotterdam: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hewitt, E., & Stephenson, J.
(2011) Foreign language anxiety and oral exam performance: A replication of Phillips’s MLJ study. The Modern Language Journal, 96(2), 170–189. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Horwitz, E. K.
(2001) Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 211, 112–126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J.
(1986) Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 701, 125–132. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hunt, E.
(1989) Introduction: Historical perspective and current considerations. In T. Hunt & C. J. Lindley (Eds.), Testing older adults (pp. 1–17). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Jackson, J.
(2002) Reticence in second language case discussions: Anxiety and aspirations. System, 30(1), 65–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jain, Y., & Sidhu, G. K.
(2013) Relationship between anxiety, attitude and motivation of tertiary students in learning English as a second language. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 901, 114–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jee, M.
(2016) Exploring Korean heritage language learners’ anxiety: ‘We are not afraid of Korean!’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(1), 56–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, Y. J., & Damron, J.
(2015) Foreign language reading anxiety: Korean as a foreign language in the United States. Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 171, 23–55.Google Scholar
Kim, Y., Lee, S., Baik, J., Lee, S., & Kim, A.
(2012) American learners’ Korean language acquisition and their cognitive and psychological constraints. Bilingual Research, 491, 59–86.Google Scholar
Kitano, K.
(2001) Anxiety in the college Japanese language classroom. Modern Language Journal, 851, 549–566. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kwon, Y. J., & Kim, Y. J.
(2011) The influence of foreign language anxiety and risk-taking on the achievement in Korean language learners. Bilingual Research, 451, 27–49.Google Scholar
Kwon, Y. J., Nam, S. E., & Kim, Y. J.
(2010) The effect of foreign language anxiety and classroom climate on learning achievement: Focusing on Korean language learners. The Academy for Korean Language Education, 851, 381–402.Google Scholar
Lawrence, D., Johnson, S., Hafekost, J., Boterhoven De Haan, K., Sawyer, M., Ainley, J., & Zubrick, S. R.
(2015) The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. Report on the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Department of Health, Canberra.Google Scholar
Lee, D.
(2014) Motivations of learning Korean and their influence on cultural content: Korean (popular/K-pop) culture for beginner Korean learners. Korean Language Education Research, 49(4), 191–218. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, H., & Chen, C.
(2015) A comparative study of foreign language anxiety and motivation of academic- and vocational-track high school students. English Language Teaching, 8(3), 193–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, M.
(2006) Reticence, anxiety and performance of Chinese university students in oral English lessons and tests. Ann Arbor: ProQuest Information and Learning Company, University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Liu, M., & Huang, W.
(2011) An exploration of foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation. Education Research International 2011, 1–8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, M., & Jackson, J.
(2008) An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 921, 71–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, M., & Zhang, X.
(2013) An investigation of Chinese university students’ foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation. English Linguistics Research, 2(1), 1–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lu, Z., & Liu, M.
(2011) Foreign language anxiety and strategy use: A study with Chinese undergraduate EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(6), 1298–1305. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Luo, H.
(2013) Foreign language anxiety: Past and future. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 36(4), 442–464. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Noels, K. A., & Clément, R.
(1997) Biases in self-ratings of second language proficiency: The role of language anxiety. Language Learning, 471, 265–287. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, S., & Gobel, P.
(2004) Anxiety and predictors of performance in the foreign language classroom. System, 321, 21–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Na, Z.
(2007) A study of high school students’ English learning anxiety. The Asian EFL Journal, 9(3), 22–34.Google Scholar
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Bailey, P., & Daley, C. E.
(1999) Factors associated with foreign language anxiety. Applied Psycholinguistics, 201, 217–239. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Park, G., & French, B. F.
(2013) Gender differences in the foreign language classroom anxiety scale. System, 41(2), 462–471. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phillips, E. M.
(1992) The effects of language anxiety on students’ oral test performance and attitudes. Modern Language Journal, 761, 14–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pyun, D. O., Kim, J., Cho, H., & Lee, J.
(2014) Impact of affective variables on Korean as a foreign language learners’ oral achievement. System, 471, 53–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raoofi, S., Tan, B. H., & Chan, S. H.
(2012) Self-efficacy in second/foreign language learning contexts. English Language Teaching, 5(11), 60–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, Y., & Samimy, K.
(1996) Foreign language anxiety and language performance: A study of learner anxiety in beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level college students of Japanese. Foreign Language Annals, 29(2), 239–249. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shin, S.
(2010) The current state of Korean language education in Australian schools. Education Services Australia, Melbourne, Vic, Australia. Retrieved from [URL]
Spielmann, G., & Radnofsky, M.
(2001) Learning language under tension: New directions from a qualitative study. Modern Language Journal, 81, 259–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Szyszka, M.
(2011) Foreign language anxiety and self-perceived English pronunciation competence. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 1(2), 283–300. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tallon, M.
(2011) Heritage speakers of Spanish and foreign language anxiety: A pilot study. Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, 151, 70–82.Google Scholar
Thompson, A. S., & Khawaja, A. J.
(2016) Foreign language anxiety in Turkey: The role of multilingualism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(2), 115–130. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, A. S., & Lee, J.
(2014) The impact of experience abroad and language proficiency on language learning anxiety. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 252–274. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Torres, K. M., & Turner, J. E.
(2016) Students’ foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs across different levels of university foreign language coursework. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 3(1), 57–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tsai, C. C.
(2013) The impact of foreign language anxiety, test anxiety, and self-efficacy among senior high school students in Taiwan. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 1(3), 1–17.Google Scholar
Xiao, Y., & Wong, K.
(2014) Exploring heritage language anxiety: A study of Chinese heritage language learners. Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 589–611. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Young, D. J.
(1991) Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does the language anxiety research suggest? Modern Language Journal, 751, 426–437. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhao, A., & Whitchurch, A.
(2011) Anxiety and its associated factors in college-level Chinese classrooms in the U.S. Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association, 46(3), 21–47.Google Scholar
Zheng, Y.
(2010) Chinese university students’ motivation, anxiety, global awareness, linguistic confidence, and English test performance. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Queen’s University, Canada.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

Jee, Min Jung
2019. Foreign Language Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: Intermediate Korean as a Foreign Language Learners. Lanaguage Research 55:2 ► pp. 431 ff. DOI logo
Jee, Min Jung
2023. Communicative anxiety among Korean immigrants in Australia. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 46:3 ► pp. 293 ff. DOI logo
Jin, Yinxing, Jean-Marc Dewaele & Peter D. MacIntyre
2021. Reducing anxiety in the foreign language classroom: A positive psychology approach. System 101 ► pp. 102604 ff. DOI logo
Toyama, Michiko & Yoshitaka Yamazaki
2022. Foreign Language Anxiety and Individualism-Collectivism Culture: A Top-Down Approach for a Country/Regional-Level Analysis. SAGE Open 12:1 ► pp. 215824402110691 ff. DOI logo
Zhou, Shuqi, Ming Ming Chiu, Zehua Dong & Wenye Zhou
2023. Foreign language anxiety and foreign language self-efficacy: a meta-analysis. Current Psychology 42:35 ► pp. 31536 ff. DOI logo
Zhou, Shuqi, Ming Ming Chiu & Zehua Dong
2023. Second language pupils’ anxiety and motivation: a meta-analysis. Current Psychology DOI logo
ÖZER, Ömer & Duygu İŞPINAR AKÇAYOĞLU
2021. Examining the Roles of Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Self-Regulated Learning and Foreign Language Anxiety in the Academic Achievement of Tertiary EFL Learners. Participatory Educational Research 8:2 ► pp. 357 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.