This book provides an overview of current theory, research and practice in the field of language anxiety and brings together a range of perspectives on this psychological construct in a single volume. Chapters in the volume are divided into three sections. Part 1 revisits language anxiety theory, showing that it can be viewed as a complex and dynamic construct and that it is linked to other psychological variables, such as the self and personality. In Part 2, a series of contextualised studies on language anxiety are presented, with a key feature of these studies being the diverse research designs which are applied in different instructional settings across the globe. Part 3 bridges theory and practice by presenting coping strategies and practice activities with a view to informing classroom practice and pedagogical interventions.
Table of Content
1. Mark Daubney, Jean-Marc Dewaele and Christina Gkonou: Introduction
Part 1: Theoretical Insights
2. Peter D. Macintyre: An Overview of Language Anxiety Research and Trends in Its Development
3. Elaine Horwitz: On the Misreading Of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) and the Need to Balance Anxiety Research and the Experiences of Anxious Language Learners
Part 2: Empirical Investigations
4. Erdi Şimşek and Zoltán Dörnyei: Anxiety and L2 Self-Images: The ‘Anxious Self’
5. Jean-Marc Dewaele: Are Perfectionists More Anxious Foreign Language Learners and Users?
6. Jim King and Lesley Smith: Social Anxiety and Silence in Japan’s Tertiary Foreign Language Classrooms
7. Tammy Gregersen, Peter D. Macintyre and Tucker Olson: Do You See What I Feel? An Idiodynamic Assessment of Expert and Peer’s Reading of Nonverbal Language Anxiety Cues
8. Christina Gkonou: Towards an Ecological Understanding of Language Anxiety
9. Zsuzsa Tóth: Exploring the Relationship between Anxiety and Advanced Hungarian EFL Learners’ Communication Experiences in the Target Language: A Study of High- Vs. Low-Anxious Learners
Part 3: Implications for Practice
10. Rebecca L. Oxford: Anxious Language Learners Can Change Their Minds: Ideas and Strategies from Traditional Psychology and Positive Psychology
11. Fernando D. Rubio-Alcalá: The Links between Self-Esteem and Language Anxiety and Implications for the Classroom
12. Christina Gkonou, Jean-Marc Dewaele and Mark Daubney: Conclusion
About the author
Jean-Marc Dewaele is Professor in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism, Birkbeck, University of London¸ UK. He has been working in the field for close to 30 years and has published extensively on multilingualism and emotion. He is General Editor of Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.