Gender-dependent language anxiety in Polish communication apprehensives

This paper analyzes the relationship between communication apprehension and language anxiety from the perspective of gender. As virtually no empirical studies have addressed the explicit influence of gender on language anxiety in communication apprehensives, this paper proposes that females are generally more sensitive to anxiety, as reflected in various spheres of communication. For this reason, language anxiety levels in communication apprehensive females should be higher, unlike those of communication apprehensive males. Comparisons between them were made using a student t test, two-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey test. The results revealed that Polish communication apprehensive secondary grammar school males and females do not differ in their levels of language anxiety, although nonapprehensive males experience significantly lower language anxiety than their female peers. It is argued that the finding can be attributed to developmental patterns, gender socialization processes, classroom practices, and the uniqueness of the FL learning process, which is a stereotypically female domain

Economic strain and foreign language attainment: A Polish perspective

Foreign language learning is not only a personal endeavor, but also an activity that takes place within a social support system. In times of economic crisis adverse economic conditions handicap parents’ educational investments. For this reason a student’s development of foreign language skills, limited to the school context, may suffer. This study sheds more light on the experience and effect of economic strain in Polish secondary grammar school students who learn English as a foreign language. The results corroborate studies in the field and demonstrate that high achievers have low perceptions of economic strain

Editorial

With this volume, we propose to join the discussion on the role of affect in the process of second/foreign language learning. We hope to make a contribution to academic, and especially linguistic, research which has previously focused mostly on cognitive aspects of language acquisition but also, at its best, on the strategies (many of them affective ones) necessary for developing language competence. In our view, emotional factors do not deserve the role of “the Cinderella of mental functions” (Arnold & Brown, 1999, p. 1), because the complex processes taking place in the brain originate in the interplay of affect and cognition (e.g., Duncan & Barrett, 2007; Panksepp, 2003; Paradis, 2004). Consequently we cannot be fully understood without attending to our emotional profiles. Like Scovel (2000), we also believe that “the great irony is that they (i.e., emotions) could very well end up being the most influential force in language acquisition, but SLA researchers have not even come close to demonstrating such a claim” (p. 140)

Phonetics Learning Anxiety – Results of a Preliminary Study

The Phonetics Learning Anxiety Scale, a 44-item questionnaire based on a 6-point Likert scale, designed for the purpose of the research sheds light on the nature of this peculiar type of apprehension experienced by advanced FL learners in a specific educational context (i.e. a traditional classroom, rather than a language or computer laboratory), in which the major focus is on pronunciation practice. The obtained quantitative data imply that such factors as fear of negative evaluation (represented by general oral performance apprehension and concern over pronunciation mistakes, pronunciation self-image, pronunciation self-efficacy and self-assessment) and beliefs about the nature of FL pronunciation learning are significant sources of PhLA. Anxiety about the transcription test (IPA Test Anxiety) - one of the other hypothetical determinants of PhLA - did not prove to be correlated with the general level of Phonetics Learning Anxiet

The Role of Social Support Systems in Adolescent Foreign Language Learning

Ewa Piechurska-KucielInstitute of EnglishOpole University Abstract In adolescents the main groups of social support are their family, peers and teachers with whom they interact most frequently. They play a buffering role between stress and psychological well-being by helping to cope with adverse challenges, and by providing social integration. Consequently, it is believed that in the situation of stress caused by the necessity to learn a foreign language (FL) as a compulsory subject, social support can be viewed as an important factor that may positively influence learners’ academic achievement, exposing the role of the perceived availability of significant others’ help in achieving FL success. To date, in spite of the call for research on the general functioning of the language learner as a member of the society, the study on the role of social support in the process of foreign language learning is still scarce. The existing research has tough proved that perceived social support significantly predicts resilience in foreign language learning. The feelings of closeness and support the learners receive from the support network protect them from stressors, and they validate the feelings of self-esteem, competence, and personal control in the face of stressful situations. The three main support groups (parents, teachers and peers) help learners develop their social competence, problem-solving skills, autonomy, and sense of purpose. Keywords: social support, parental support, teacher support, peer suppor

Money talks: financial worries as shapers of foreign language learning outcomes

This study is prompted by the recent economic situation in Europe, calling for special attention to the relationship between family economic problems and the well-being of adolescents. It seeks to shed more light on the experiencing of fi nancial concerns in adolescents who face the challenge of the foreign language learning process in the context of formal education. The participants of the empirical research were 609 students from 23 randomly selected classes of the six secondary grammar schools in Opole, southwest Poland. The results prove that financial strain and worries are negatively related to achievement in the field of foreign language learning. However, the social nature of language learning, as well as the students’ personality profi les, attachment patterns or perception of social support in adolescence also play a role

Perceived teacher support and language anxiety in Polish secondary school EFL learners

The teacher’s role is vital, both in respect to achieving academic goals, and with regard to the regulation of emotional and social processes. Positive per-ceptions of teacher support can endorse psychological wellness, and help maintain students’ academic interests, higher academic achievement and more positive peer relationships. The teacher who shows understanding, empathy and consistency in their behavior helps students start forming an identity, which will assist them in coping with stress and anxiety directly connected with the foreign language learning process (language anxiety). The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between teacher support and language anxiety levels. It is speculated that teacher support functions as a buffer from the effects of negative emotions, such as language anxiety experienced in the foreign language learning process. The participants of the study were 621 secondary grammar school students whose responses to a questionnaire were the main data source. The results of the study demonstrate that students with higher levels of teacher support experience lower language anxiety levels in comparison to their peers with lower levels of teacher support. Students who have a feeling that they can count on the instructor’s help, advice, assistance, or backing manage the learning process more successfully. They evaluate their language abilities highly and receive better final grades. Nevertheless, gender and residential location do not moderate teacher support and language anxiety due to the specificity of the sample consisting of novice secondary grammar school students

Proximal Predictors of L2 Willingness to Communicate in Polish Adolescents

Abstract and full text of the articles are freely available on www.degruyter.com (De Gruyter Open)

Reading anxiety and writing anxiety in dyslexia: Symptomatic and asymptomatic adolescents

Abstract The main purpose of this study is to investigate levels of reading and writing anxieties in Polish secondary grammar school students with and without symptoms of developmental dyslexia. The participants were 105 students (63 girls and 42 boys) with symptoms of developmental dyslexia and 142 students (103 girls and 39 boys) without symptoms of developmental dyslexia. The results show that students with developmental dyslexia symptoms suffer from significantly higher levels of skill-specific anxieties. Apart from that, their self-perceived assessment of FL skills, as well as final FL grades, are significantly lower. These results are attributed to the interaction of anxiety generated by the acquisition of FL skills, and consequences of this learning deficit, of cognitive and affective nature

Task difficulty and the use of coping strategies in the FL classroom

Learning a foreign language in the context of formal education often imposes on students the management of difficult tasks. This demands an adoption of adequate coping behaviour (achievement vs. avoidance). Easy tasks reduce learning opportunities, while too difficult ones lead to escape-motivated problem behavior. For the purpose of the present research it is proposed that the level of FL task difficulty is related to coping behaviour. The empirical results demonstrate that students who perceive FL tasks as difficult apply more avoidance strategies. Apart from that, students with higher and lower levels of task difficulty use similar amounts of achievement strategies. It follows that the implementation of achievement coping is independent from the level of task difficulty