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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 41:3 (2018) ► pp.328–348

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Foreign language anxiety in relation to affective variables

Learners of Korean as a foreign language in Australia

 | The University of Queensland
Published online: 22 March 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.17068.jee
Abstract
This study investigated Korean-as-a-foreign-language (KFL) students’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) in relation to five affective variables (i.e., unwillingness to communicate, classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation, and self-efficacy) as well as to self-rated Korean proficiency. One hundred and fifty-two KFL students who were enrolled in Korean classes in a large public university in Australia completed survey items for the study. Overall, KFL students in Australia showed moderate levels of anxiety (M = 2.79) and unwillingness to communicate (M = 2.58). Additionally, their levels of motivation (M = 3.92) and self-efficacy (M = 3.41) were high. Five affective variables were proven to be significantly related with FLA: a positive correlation between FLA and unwillingness to communicate; and negative correlations between FLA and classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation and self-efficacy. Among the variables, self-efficacy and self-rated overall Korean proficiency were found to be the best predictors of FLA.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments
      • 3.2.1Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)
      • 3.2.2Unwillingness to Communicate Scale (UCS)
      • 3.2.3Classroom Risk-Taking Scale (CRS)
      • 3.2.4Classroom Sociability Scale (CSS)
      • 3.2.5Motivation
      • 3.2.6Self-efficacy
    • 3.3Procedures
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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