This book traces and summarises theoretical insights and empirical findings on the topic of whether or not anxiety for language learning could be a causal variable for individual differences in language learning. The author brings together three decades of research to show that first language (L1) skills and second language (L2) aptitude are confounding variables in studies of language anxiety and that learners’ levels of anxiety for L2 learning are strongly related to their levels of language achievement. These findings have suggested that language anxiety instruments reflect students’ (accurate) self-perceptions of their language skills and their levels of L1 achievement and L2 aptitude, but don’t reflect their anxiety. The research presented in this book holds the potential to change the ways in which L2 educators and researchers think about language anxiety, how language anxiety is assessed, how investigations into language anxiety are conducted and how L2 teachers respond to anxiety in the classroom.
This book brings together three decades of research to show that L1 skills and L2 aptitude are confounding variables in studies of language anxiety and that learners’ levels of anxiety for L2 learning are strongly related to their levels of language achievement. It holds the potential to change the ways in which we think about language anxiety.
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This book sheds new light on anxiety as an independent, dependent, or intervening variable in interaction with many others, predicting both learning and communication processes. It is a welcome addition to the individual differences literature that tends to focus on aptitude and motivation. * Robert M. DeKeyser, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, USA * A comprehensive exploration of 33 years of research into the L2 anxiety hypothesis, examining the relationship between L1 skills, L2 aptitude, and language achievement. This volume critically evaluates anxiety measurement tools and offers new insights, making a valuable contribution to the study of individual differences in second language acquisition. * Adriana Biedro, Pomeranian University in Supsk, Poland * Drawing on his wealth of expertise and experience as a researcher and practitioner, Sparks makes a compelling case explaining why the theoretical conceptualisation of L2 anxiety and the most popular measure associated with it are problematic, and why, as a consequence, anxiety cannot be regarded as a direct cause of language learning outcomes. Essential and highly thought-provoking reading for all L2 researchers interested in individual learner differences, this truly is a landmark contribution to our field. * Karen Roehr-Brackin, University of Essex, UK *
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The first book-length work to examine the relationship between language anxiety, language aptitude and language achievement
Acknowledgments
Prelude: A Cautionary Tale about Causal Explanations
Richard L. Sparks: Introduction and Overview
Part 1: Theoretical Insights into Language Anxiety: Is Language Anxiety
Related to Students Levels of L1 Achievement, L2 Aptitude and L2
Achievement?
Chapter
1. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: Foreign Language Learning
Differences: Affective or Native Language Aptitude Differences?
Chapter
2. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: A Strong Inference
Approach to Causal Factors in Foreign Language Learning: A Response to
MacIntyre
Chapter
3. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow, Reed Anderson, James
Javorsky, Sue Skinner and Jon Patton: Differences in Language Performance
among High-, Average-, and Low-Anxious College Foreign Language Learners
Chapter
4. Leonore Ganschow and Richard L. Sparks: Anxiety about Foreign
Language Learning among High School Women
Chapter
5. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow, Marge Artzer, David Siebenhar
and Mark Plageman: Language Anxiety and Proficiency in a Foreign Language
Part 2: Do L2 Anxiety Scales Measure Anxiety or Language Ability?: Evidence
from a Ten-Year Longitudinal Study
Chapter
6. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: Is the Foreign Language
Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) Measuring Anxiety or Language Skills?
Chapter
7. Richard L. Sparks and Jon Patton: Relationship of L1 Skills and L2
Aptitude to L2 Anxiety on the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale
Part 3: L2 Reading Anxiety and Language Achievement: Déjà Vu All Over Again?
Chapter
8. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow and James Javorsky: Déjà Vu
All Over Again: A Response to Saito, Horwitz and Garza
Chapter
9. Richard L. Sparks, Julie Luebbers, Martha Castañeda and Jon
Patton: High School Spanish Students and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety:
Déjà Vu All Over Again All Over Again
Chapter
10. Richard L. Sparks, Jon Patton and Julie Luebbers: L2 Anxiety and
the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS): Listening to the
Evidence
Part 4: Is L2 Anxiety a Causal Variable for L2 Learning? Evidence from
Studies Using Structural Equation Modeling and Latent Growth Curve Modeling
Chapter
11. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: Long-Term Impacts of L1
Language Skills on L2 Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Language Aptitude and L2
Achievement
Chapter
12. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: How Does First Language
Achievement Impact Second Language Reading Anxiety? Exploration of Mediator
Variables
Chapter
13. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: Its Not Anxiety that
Predicts L2 Writing Growth, Its L1 Writing Achievement: The Latent Growth
Curve Model Approach
Part 5: Other Issues, Other Voices on Language Anxiety
Chapter
14. Benjamin J. Lovett: General Problems with Anxiety Explanations:
The Case of Test Anxiety
Chapter
15. Ekaterina Sudina: Scale Quality in L2 Anxiety Research: Issues
and Challenges
Chapter
16. Abdullah Alamer: The Mirage of Cause-and-Effect in
Cross-Sectional Data: The Case of Language Anxiety Research
Richard L. Sparks: Conclusions and Implications
Appendices
References
Index
Richard L. Sparks is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Graduate Education at Mount St. Joseph University, USA. His research interests include L2 aptitude, L1-L2 relationships, language and learning disabilities, and foreign language anxiety, and he has published extensively in foreign language and learning disability journals. He is the author of Exploring L1-L2 Relationships: The Impact of Individual Differences (Multilingual Matters, 2022).
