Learning a new language is difficult for most people, but research suggests that some people suffer from a specific language anxiety.
The symptoms are familiar: your mind goes blank, your body tightens, suddenly your usual ability to calmly process information is replaced by anxiety and an inability to speak. The symptoms appear to be a specific kind of anxiety attack or phobia related to language learning which can be debilitating for a student’s confidence and progress.
What has been disregarded as stage fright or a lack of effort could be a form of anxiety caused by the sudden demand to use a foreign language. According to a growing body of research about language learning, language anxiety is more pervasive than previously thought.
What is Language Anxiety
Most people feel nervous when learning a new language. Who hasn’t felt a little nervous when faced with a fast-talking native speaker? However, a growing body of research suggests the panic some people feel when faced with a foreign language is more than a few nerves or embarrassed giggles at a rookie mistake. It’s called “language anxiety,” and it is rarely recognized in the language classroom.
Dr. Elaine Horwitz, a professor of foreign language education at the University of Texas at Austin, has studied language anxiety for nearly 35 years. She has identified a definite connection between language anxiety and classroom performance. Dr. Horwitz has identified language anxiety as its own specific type of anxiety.
According to Horwitz, language anxiety tends to happen when people, who are reasonably intelligent and socially-adept in their native languages, are suddenly demanded to perform in another language. This performance leads to feelings of fear, self-consciousness, and panic due to the demands of communication under uncertain linguistic standards. Speaking in any language requires complex mental operations, which for native language speakers is not a challenge. However, the mental operations required to speak a foreign language demand more of certain individuals than they can bear in the moment.
Nationality and Language Anxiety
The stereotype that Americans can’t (or don’t) learn foreign languages is true to some extent, but language anxiety is not an American phenomenon. It is true that many American students begin learning foreign languages later than their peers in Europe, Africa, and Asia where most children grow up speaking multiple languages. But language anxiety exists to a varying degree around the world.
Horwitz found that about one third of American students show some indicators of language anxiety, while the percentage for Europeans is slightly lower at 28 to 30 percent. In Asia, however, Horwitz found that upwards of 40 percent of students experience language anxiety. The problem persists whether people are learning languages within their language family, like Cantonese and Mandarin which are both Sinitic languages. Or whether people are learning entirely different languages like German (Germanic) and Arabic (Semitic).
The pressure to become “fluent” supersedes the desire to become conversational.
Annie Wilcox
The belief that one cannot learn a language can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Often, language learning is a romanticized process, rather than recognized as a diligent, long-term commitment. The belief that you can practice a language for only one hour a day and become fluent is far from correct. Even more problematic, the word “fluent” is often used both as a goal and a measurement of progress. Being fluent in a language means having a near-native level competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The pressure to become “fluent” supersedes the desire to become conversational.
Strategies to Overcome Language Anxiety
If you are still here, you are probably one of thirty percent of people who feel panic at the thought of walking into French class. While your language anxiety may not disappear, it can be directed into a positive force. Your anxiety can become a catalyst of progress for you in learning your target language.
1. Healthy Brain, Healthy Mindset
First, let me reassure you that learning a language is uncomfortable. It can be an embarassing, challenging, tear-jerking process, that is ultimately worth it. Not only does learning a language help you connect with new communities and cultures, it is also incredibly healthy for your brain. If you don’t feel like you are making progress, (even though you probably are), you are still supporting your brain health.
Pick a goal that is actionable within an achievable time frame.
Annie Wilcox
2. Actionable, Achievable Goals
Second, set actionable goals for yourself. Becoming “fluent” is not a reasonable goal for most people, nor is it actionable. An actionable goal is something you can reasonably do in a certain time frame. For example, I will learn 200 new vocabulary words this month. This goal is actionable because you can pick 200 new words, study, and practice them. It is achievable within a certain time frame. It is more bite-sized than a broad, abstract goal like becoming fluent. Don’t set yourself up for failure by picking a goal that will always fail you. Pick a goal that is actionable within an achievable time frame.
3. Solutions-Oriented Speaking
Lastly, find some way you feel comfortable using your target language. For some, this means practicing with a close, trusted friend. For others, your solution might be finding a language instructor. Even singing songs in your target language is better than silently sitting in the discomfort of your lack of progress or practice.
Learning a language is a commitment that takes time and dedicated effort. While the goal is to attain a certain level of comfort in the target language, recognize your growth and efforts along the way. Enjoy the process, rather than focus on the outcome. A mistake will never set you back, but only serve as a redirection and a lesson. Approach your language with the same forgiveness and fortitude you would give a child learning how to read. With time, your target language will no longer be a target.