Abstract

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Foreign language learners experience a unique type of anxiety during the language learning process: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA). This situation-specific anxiety is frequently examined alongside academic achievement in foreign language courses. The present meta-analysis examined the relationship between FLCA measured through the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and five forms of academic achievement: general academic achievement and four competency-specific outcome scores (reading-, writing-, listening-, and speaking academic achievement). A total of k = 99 effect sizes were analysed with an overall sample size of N = 14128 in a random-effects model with Pearson correlation coefficients. A moderate negative correlation was found between FLCA and all categories of academic achievement (e.g., general academic achievement: r = -.39; k = 59; N = 12585). The results of this meta-analysis confirm the negative association between FLCA and academic achievement in foreign language courses.

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Keywords: foreign language classroom anxiety, language learning anxiety, academic achievement, individual differences in language learning

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Research on affective variables in the language learning context has been a consistently popular topic in applied linguistics over the past four decades (see Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993; Gkonou, Daubney & Dewaele, 2017). One variable that has unfailingly garnered attention is that of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), which has been defined as a “distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings and behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from a uniqueness of the language learning process” (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986, p. 128).

FLCA is thus seen as a unique form of state anxiety that learners experience when they participate in learning and/or using a language (Horwitz, 2017), where the language learner is limited in their communicative ability in the language being learned (Horwitz, 2001; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). As the construct of FLCA is intrinsically tied to classroom learning, the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement is an oft-researched topic (Teimouri, Goetze, & Plonsky, 2019). Research findings on this relationship between FLCA and academic achievement have been somewhat consistent - with Horwitz (2001) attributing this relative consistency to the uniform measure used to conceptualise FLCA. Indeed, before the introduction of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) in 1986, cross-comparisons of research on anxiety and its effect in the foreign language classroom was nearly impossible due to the divergent measures and definitions used – a period labelled the “Confounded Approach” by MacIntyre (2017). The publication of the FLCAS heralded of the start of the “Specialised Approach” where the use of the same instrument allowed comparability across studies (MacIntyre, 2017). Horwitz (2001) noted that consistent moderate negative correlations were found between FLCA and academic achievement. This may be a prevalent trend, however large negative correlations (Vo, Samoilova, & Wilang, 2017), non-significant results (Alidoost, Mirchenari, & Mehr, 2013), and positive correlations (Jee, 2014) have also been reported in recent years. In addition, even though a uniform measure of FLCA has been used across the majority of research in the field, inconsistency still occurs in the use of achievement measures. General academic achievement measures popularly used in the literature include grade point average scores (Aida, 1994) and test or exam scores (Dordinejad & Ahmadabad, 2014). In addition, several studies use achievement measures pertaining to a specific competence in language learning, such as reading (Jee, 2016), writing (Abu‐Rabia, 2004; Khodadady & Khajavy, 2013), listening (Elkhafaifi, 2005; Legac, 2007), and speaking (Phillips, 1992; Satar & Özdener, 2008).

A meta-analysis assesses the strength of the evidence in regards to the relationship between two variables and identifies a common effect across all studies. Thus, in order to fully investigate the strength of the evidence of a moderate negative relationship between FLCA and academic achievement, a meta-analysis on the topic will be conducted in this paper. In addition, in order to provide clarity on the achievement measures used, analyses will distinguish between each achievement measure and its subsequent composite effect size with FLCA.

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Literature Review

FLCA can be seen as a distinct form of anxiety in the language learning process that may affect the outcome of language learning itself, as the “propensity to reach one’s full potential as a language learner is partially determined by affective variables such as anxiety” (MacIntyre, 1995a, p. 96). FLCA refers to the specific construct designed and developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) and measured through the FLCAS, although the construct has also been referred to throughout the literature by the shortened “foreign language anxiety” or just “language anxiety”. Throughout this study, these terms will be used interchangeably although still referring to the specific conceptualisation of the construct as determined by Horwitz et al. (1986).

FLCA has been dubbed a situation-specific anxiety and can be discriminated from trait or other state forms of anxiety. Trait anxiety has been compared to a ‘personality style’ or a habitual anxiety, whereas state anxiety is a psychological and/or physiological reaction to a specific adverse situation and is momentary (Roos et al., 2015). FLCA in turn is both a habitual anxiety that occurs whenever the learner is confronted with language learning, yet momentary as it only pertains to specific instances. Indeed, in a series of studies, MacIntyre and Gardner (1991, 1989) distinguished general forms of anxiety from a language anxiety factor, commenting that “situation-specific constructs can be seen as trait anxiety measures limited to a given context” (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991, p. 90).

FLCA can additionally be likened to other forms of situation-specific anxieties, such as social anxiety, communicative apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety. Indeed, MacIntyre and Gardner (1989) argue that language anxiety may be seen as a form of social anxiety as it specifically focuses on socialising in the language being learned. In addition, Horwitz et al. (1986) further describe communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation as “useful conceptual building blocks” (p. 128) for the development of FLCA. Horwitz (2017) warns that reducing FLCA to these three building blocks is a misreading of the original paper and a “false premise” (p. 38). Indeed, “the emotions evoked by Language Anxiety go much deeper than a simple combination of anxieties” (p. 41). The main cause is the distress people experience at being unable “to be themselves and to connect authentically with other people through the limitation of the new language” (p. 41).

Measurement of FLCA

FLCA is measured by the 33-item, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire introduced by Horwitz et al. (1986). Since its induction in 1986, the scale has gained traction and remains extremely popular with peer-reviewed research published regularly utilising it. The FLCAS has been adapted or shortened in several studies (see Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Liu & Huang, 2011) and translated into numerous languages, including Hungarian (Tóth, 2008), Persian (Alidoost et al., 2013), Arabic (Dewaele & Al-Saraj, 2015) and Thai (Tanielian, 2014). The scale measures the conceptualisation of language anxiety specific to FLCA, with 20 of the items focusing on speaking and listening in the target language in particular (Rodríguez & Abreu, 2003). The items of the FLCAS are not without criticism, as Sparks and Ganschow (2007) noted that, “items seem to be tapping students’ perceptions and attitudes about language as well as their feelings about anxiety” (p. 261).

The psychometric evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the FLCAS point to the validity of the measure – although not without flaw. Horwitz et al. (1986) reported an internal consistency of α = .93, with numerous studies also reporting high internal consistencies of α > .90 (Aida, 1994; Elkhafaifi, 2005; Gocer, 2014). In addition, Horwitz et al. (1986) reported an acceptable test-retest reliability (rtt = .83). Tóth (2008) found evidence of response validity in think-aloud exercises of the Hungarian translation of the FLCAS. In addition, construct validity of the scale has received considerable research attention.

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Differing factor structures underlying FLCA have been found in validation studies, with some shorter measures proposing a unidimensional structure (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014) and other a multidimensional structure (Aida, 1994; Liu & Jackson, 2008; Tóth, 2008). A possible reason for the variation in factor analysis results of the FLCAS is offered by Park and French (2013), who noted that the factor structure may differ across sample groups depending on proficiency levels and learning contexts. Another possible reason for the variation in factors may lie in the statistical methods used, as the factors garnered in exploratory factor analyses can be an artefact of the estimation and rotation methods used by the researchers (Field, 2005).

Although the FLCAS is a highly popular measure, several other attempts have been made to define and design measures of language anxiety. Other measures include, but are not limited to: French Class Anxiety Scale (Gardner & Smythe, 1975); French Use Anxiety Scale (Gardner et al., 1997); English Use Anxiety Scale (Clément, Gardner, & Smythe, 1977); Second Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (Woodrow, 2006). In addition, several scales have been developed to measure specific language competencies’ anxiety, such as the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (Elkhafaifi, 2005), Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (Saito, Garza, & Horwitz, 1999), and the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (Cheng, 2004). These scales tend to measure a similarly broad construct of language anxiety, although they are often targeted towards a specific language learning domain or skill. In order to avoid confusion linked to different operationalisations of language anxiety and in the hope of deriving a definitive answer regarding effect size in the meta-analysis, a decision was made to only include studies utilising the FLCAS, whether in its original, shortened, or translated form. This limitation does not restrict the amount of studies included in the meta-analysis unduly, as the FLCAS has been widely accepted by the research community and as such is used in the majority of self-reported language anxiety studies.

Academic achievement and FLCA

Since the inception of FLCA, its relations to achievement in language learning has been under scrutiny (Horwitz, 1986). A research trend has emerged with the majority of studies reporting significant moderate negative correlations (Horwitz, 2000); however—as previously noted—deviations to the status quo still occur.

The debate regarding the directionality of the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement has been contentious. A strand of research led by the work of Sparks and Ganschow (see Sparks & Ganschow, 1995, 2007; Sparks, Patton, Ganschow, & Humbach, 2009) question the existence of FLCA as a construct independent of aptitude and contends that anxiety in language learning is the natural result of learning difficulties – particularly arising out of first language deficits. In a series of response papers (see Horwitz, 2000; MacIntyre, 1995a, 1995b) FLCA is defended, with the argument made that FLCA is an independent construct, distinct from aptitude, but which may influence or be influenced by the performance of the language learner. FLCA is therefore likened to other domain-specific forms of learning anxiety, such as mathematics anxiety (see Frenzel, Pekrun, & Goetz, 2007; Zan, Brown, Evans, & Hannula, 2006), which may have a detrimental effect on learning above and beyond the natural ability of the student (MacIntyre, 1995b). In addition, FLCA is argued to be a separate construct from first language learning deficits and subtle language learning disabilities, as several studies on the topic has found students who experience high levels of anxiety but are still successful language learners (MacIntyre, 1995a, 1995b). However, it should be noted that as this meta-analysis will utilise correlation coefficients in order to examine effect sizes across studies, no conclusion regarding the directionality can be made. Nevertheless, in this study, the construct of FLCA is seen as a variable distinct from achievement and aptitude, with the strength of the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement being under scrutiny.  

Beyond the directionality debate, research in the field has also examined the relationship of FLCA and specific language competencies. Particular attention has been paid to the relationship of FLCA and oral classroom activities, which may indicate that listening to and speaking in the target foreign language may be specific anxiety-filled activities for foreign language learners. In particular, academic achievement in speaking activities and FLCA have been of interest (Phillips, 1992; Satar & Özdener, 2008). Horwitz (personal communication) included an item on the paralysing effects of anxiety in the FLCAS after students told her about them “freezing up” during speaking activities. This association between FLCA and oral achievement may be attributable to the fact that anxiety has been found to interfere with the grammatical precision and interpretive ability of the language learner (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1991). In addition, language anxiety not only interferes with speaking activities, but also affects the ability of the language learner to receive and decipher messages in listening activities (Kim, 2000). Indeed, several studies have found significant correlations between FLCA and listening academic achievement (Legac, 2007; Tóth, 2007). In particular, highly anxious students may have difficulties in discriminating sounds in listening activities (Horwitz, 1986), with Kim (2000) pointing out that the delivery speed of the activity and the level of vocabulary in particular being a source of contention for anxious students. In addition to speaking and listening, FLCA has also been found to be significantly related to reading- and writing academic achievement (Jee, 2016; Khodadady & Khajavy, 2013). Saito et al. (1999) postulated that anxiety intervenes in the decoding and processing of text, with Sellers (2000) finding that students with higher levels of language anxiety recalling significantly fewer details from a reading text.

Thus, FLCA has been associated with general academic achievement in the target language, as well as academic achievement in the language competencies of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. In order to do justice to the prevalent research, within this meta-analysis academic achievement as an outcome measure will therefore be examined and coded into five categories (general-, reading-, writing-, listening-, and speaking academic achievement), with effect sizes calculated separately for each category of academic achievement.

It should be noted that a meta-analysis was recently conducted by Teimouri, Goetze, and Plonsky (2019) on second language anxiety and achievement, which found an overall effect size of r = -.36 (k = 105; N = 19 933) between FLCA and academic achievement. Although the results of the previous meta-analysis could be compared and contrasted with the current study, it is important to note the differing methodology and data base in comparison between the two studies. Teimouri et al. (2019) included studies utilising numerous different scales measuring language anxiety, including the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (Saito et al., 1999), the French Class Anxiety Scale (Gardner, 1985), and the FLCAS. In contrast, the current meta-analysis specifically limits the inclusion criteria to studies utilising the FLCAS as designed and developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). This decision was made for two reasons: Firstly, the FLCAS is the only scale – to the authors’ knowledge – to be validated across numerous contexts. More specifically, the FLCAS has been utilised in studies across different countries, differing educational contexts, age groups, and language groups. Secondly, the comparability between studies is ensured in that variables labelled as ‘Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety’ were indeed defined and captured in the same way in order to ensure an ‘apples to apples’ comparison. Measures such as the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale were for example excluded, as the scope and definition of the language anxiety measured cannot be said to be synonymous with FLCA.

Thus, the results presented by Teimouri et al. (2019) can to a certain extent be compared and contrasted with the current study, whilst remaining cognizant of the narrower scope and stringent definitions utilised within the current article. Furthermore, additional insight may be provided by this current meta-analysis, as it may verify some findings made by Teimouri et al. (2019) and raise yet more questions regarding the relationship between language anxiety and academic achievement.

Possible moderators

Research regarding moderators possibly influencing the direction or strength of the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement seems few and far in between. Several mean-level differences have been found in regards to FLCAS scores and/or academic achievement scores on the basis of demographic factors, cultural differences and learning contexts. However, it should be noted that mean-level differences across groups does not necessarily imply a moderator effect, which occurs when the relationship between two variables are entirely dependent on a third variable (Field, 2005).

Gender has been researched in FLCA and academic achievement studies, however results vary from study to study. Females have been found to have higher levels of FLCA in some research papers (Abu-Rabia, 2004; Dordinejad & Ahmadabad, 2014; Park & French, 2013), with others reporting no significant difference (Aida, 1994), and others still yet finding males to have higher levels of FLCA (Alidoost et al., 2013). However, no study could be found where the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement was moderated by gender in the sense that the size of the relation between FLCA and academic achievement differed between boys and girls. Thus, an exploratory stance will be taken within this meta-analysis with gender by examining the female proportion of participants as a possible moderator in the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement.

Some studies have found a significant relationship between FLCA and age, with older participants reporting higher levels of language anxiety in Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999) (Mean age = 22, range 18-71). A non-linear negative relationship emerged in Dewaele and MacIntyre (2014) (Mean age = 24, range 11-75) with pre-teens reporting lower FLCA than teenagers, after which FLCA went down before stabilising for participants in their thirties. No significant results were found in other research papers (Dewaele, Petrides, & Furnham, 2008; MacIntyre, Baker, Clément, & Donovan, 2002). However, Dewaele (2007) found additional complexity in the relationship between age and FLCA, depending on the conversation partner and number of languages known. Younger learners indicated less anxiety when communicating with strangers in their second and third languages, as compared to older language learners (Dewaele, 2007).

Further complicating matters is the possible interaction effect between age and gender, with Samimy and Tabuse (1992) finding that gender plays a more important role in FLCA scores at a younger age. Although it should be noted that no studies could be found specifically examining the moderating effect of age in the relationship between FLCA and academic achievement, the mean differences reported by previous studies does provide justification as to examining the moderating effect of age on an exploratory basis. Therefore, as with gender, the average age of participants will thus be included as a possible moderator in this meta-analysis in an exploratory fashion.

The variability of language learning courses has been found to affect FLCA and academic achievement (Kim, 2009; Onwuegbuzie et al., 1999). More intensive language learning courses have been found to lower mean anxiety levels of students learning a foreign language (Baker & MacIntyre, 2000; MacIntyre et al., 2003). Increased grade levels have also been associated with strengthening language anxiety as a predictor of achievement (Gardner, Smythe, Clément, & Gliksman, 1976), however non-significant results have also been found in grade levels predicting the level of language anxiety in foreign language students (MacIntyre et al., 2002). In their meta-analysis on second language anxiety and academic achievement, Teimouri et al. (2019) found effect size differences between educational levels as well as study contexts. Research results in terms of language learning experiences are therefore highly contradictory and nearly impossible to compare from study to study – as descriptions of grade levels, intensity levels, and language learning experiences differ across educational settings, countries and cultures. As such, it was not possible to consider or code classroom context moderators beyond the educational setting of secondary school classes, university language courses and private language institute courses, which will be examined in an exploratory manner.

Due to the limitations of cross-comparisons and coding, only a handful of possible moderators could therefore be included in the meta-analysis of FLCA and academic achievement: average age of participants, the female proportion of the sample, and the type of language institution at which the language is being learned.

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A comprehensive literature search was conducted in September 2018, using four online databases: PsychINFO, PsychARTICLES, ERIC and Google Scholar. An additional hand-search of three relevant peer-reviewed journals[1] was carried out in January 2019. Articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and dissertations submitted for doctoral degrees were examined. A two by four search grid was used in this study, with two keywords aimed at finding Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) measures (“Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety” OR “Language Anxiety”) and four keywords aimed at finding a measure of the language learner’s academic achievement in the language being learned (“Achievement” OR “Performance ” OR ”Grades” OR “Scores”). The search and review strategy of all literature followed the PRISMA guidelines to ensure transparent and consistent reporting of search methods and results (see Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, Altman, & the PRISMA Group, 2009).