Foreign language anxiety (FLA) in Cantonese-English speakers

Abstract

The study investigated the correlation between the objective physiological measures and subjective self-reported ratings of Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) level, and how word type (expert vs. general) and gender (male and female) affect FLA. Twenty-four native Cantonese-speaking participants, who were currently year 2 or 3 students from the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, participated in the study. They performed two writing-to-dictation tasks with their anxiety level measured by a device E4 Empatica individually. They also filled in a self-reported questionnaire of FLA using Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Results showed no significant effects from different word types and genders on anxiety level (Wilks’ Lambda = .993, F(1, 22) = .150, p = .702). Possible limitations were discussed and recommendations to future investigation of FLA were suggested.