Stammering, Stuttering, and Slips of the Tongue:  The Impact of Foreign Language Anxiety on L2 Fluency of Dutch L2 English Learners

Foreign language anxiety is a type of anxiety that is tied to foreign language learning settings. In the literature, there are mixed findings about the debilitative effect of foreign language anxiety on L2 performance and L2 fluency. Moreover, it is unclear how foreign language anxiety affects L2 speech processing. The following study investigates the effect of foreign language anxiety on L1 Dutch L2 English learners’ fluency. By means of an experiment, the L2 learners performed two speaking tasks in both a high and a low-anxiety condition. Their L2 utterance fluency was explored quantitatively by means of temporal measures, whereas their cognitive fluency was explored qualitatively with stimulated recalls. In the high-anxiety condition, the L2 learners reported that they felt more anxious and judged their performance as lower. However, there was no difference in L2 utterance fluency between the conditions. The stimulated recalls did reveal a difference in the number and quality of...Show moreForeign language anxiety is a type of anxiety that is tied to foreign language learning settings. In the literature, there are mixed findings about the debilitative effect of foreign language anxiety on L2 performance and L2 fluency. Moreover, it is unclear how foreign language anxiety affects L2 speech processing. The following study investigates the effect of foreign language anxiety on L1 Dutch L2 English learners’ fluency. By means of an experiment, the L2 learners performed two speaking tasks in both a high and a low-anxiety condition. Their L2 utterance fluency was explored quantitatively by means of temporal measures, whereas their cognitive fluency was explored qualitatively with stimulated recalls. In the high-anxiety condition, the L2 learners reported that they felt more anxious and judged their performance as lower. However, there was no difference in L2 utterance fluency between the conditions. The stimulated recalls did reveal a difference in the number and quality of processing issues between the anxiety conditions. Therefore, the exact target of foreign language anxiety in L2 learners remains obscure and it is fruitful to further explore its effect in L2 performance and L2 learners and find successful implementations to reduce foreign language anxiety in the classroom.Show less

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Stammering, Stuttering, and Slips of the Tongue: The Impact of Foreign Language Anxiety on L2 Fluency of Dutch L2 English Learners