Second Language Anxiety: Affective or Linguistic Variable?(31 Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching)

This book traces and summarizes 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. 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.

Table of Contents:
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: It’s Not Anxiety that Predicts L2 Writing Growth, It’s 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

About the Author :
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).

Review :
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. 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. 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.