Abstract:

Several studies in language acquisition have shown that foreign language anxiety (FLA) is one of the main affective factors influencing foreign language learning, another key factor being motivation (Arnold & Brown, 1999; Bosmans & Hurd, 2016; Dörnyei, 2009; Horwitz et al., 1986). Various data collecting instruments have been developed since the late 1990s to measure the impact of these emotions on foreign language learning, including Horwitz et al.’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). While FLA in adult learners has been widely documented in various studies identifying the debilitating effects of FLA over the past 30 years, the same cannot be said for young adolescent learners, who make up one of the largest target audiences of foreign language teaching.

The present study endeavours to fill this gap by analysing the data obtained through a new Adolescent Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (AFLCAS) consisting of 24 items, based on Horwitz et al.’s (1986) FLCAS. Developed in a very specific historical and pedagogical context, their original scale needed to be adapted and translated into young adolescent learners’ L1, students whose learner characteristics differ greatly from adult ones (Bosmans & Jenny, 2022).

Following a review of the most recent literature, the present research shows the results of a sample of 139 young teenage EFL learners in a French-speaking region of Switzerland completing the new scale. The study also identifies which of the three main components of the scale is most salient with young learners (communication apprehension, test anxiety or evaluation by their peers), as well as the teacher’s perspective on the results.

Keywords:

Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), young adolescent learners, secondary education.