A learner's foreign language self-concept and anxiety about speaking the language
Date
2016
Authors
Yoshida, R.
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Murphy, A.
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Book chapter
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Source details - Title: New developments in foreign language learning, 2016 / Murphy, A. (ed./s), Ch.4, pp.99-120
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Abstract
The present study examines how a learner who learns Japanese as a foreign language (FL) at an Australian university develops a positive FL self-concept to overcome her anxiety about speaking the FL during the transition period from secondary school to university and then to a Japanese study abroad. FL self-concepts are a newly developed research area in applied linguistics, in which individual differences of the FL learners have been increasingly focussed on as well as affective factors, such as learners' feelings associated with the FL learning and socio-contextual factors, such as their learning environments. FL self-concepts refer to learners' beliefs about themselves as FL learners including an evaluation of their competence in FL and feelings of self-worth related to the evaluation. FL self-concepts are closely associated with anxiety to speak the FL because learners’ social or intellectual status may be threatened by making mistakes, which may provoke negative FL self-concepts. This anxiety may worsen during the transition to universities or the initial stages of study abroad due to the unfamiliarity of new learning environments. Developing positive FL self-concepts and overcoming anxiety is very important, especially in those periods of time, for learners to increase their skills in communicating in FLs. FL or second language (SL) self-concepts have been investigated in the areas of English as FL, Russian study abroad, and European languages, such as Spanish or Italian (Jackson 2008, Mercer 2011a, 2012a, 20012b, Pellegrino Aveni 2005). However, no studies have been carried out in Asian language learning contexts. Therefore, the present study researches a learner's self-concept of Japanese as a FL
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Copyright 2016 Nova Science Publishers