The effects of the use of paralinguistic cues on foreign language anxiety among English as a foreign language speakers

ABSTRACT

Research has mainly focused on the causes and effects of foreign language anxiety (FLA), an affective factor that adversely affects speaking skills, while few studies have concentrated on how to decrease the level of FLA among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Moreover, research lacks the effects of the use of paralinguistic features on FLA among English EFL speakers. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of the use of paralinguistic features on FLA regarding speaking skills. The sample group of the study consisted of 40 EFL learners at an advanced level. The research was designed to be experimental and included four weeks of speaking activities that aimed to use paralinguistic features in EFL speaking classes. Results showed that the use of paralinguistic features in EFL speaking classes considerably decreases FLA in terms of communication apprehension and fear of negative evaluation, while it increases test anxiety. In light of the findings, it is recommended that paralinguistic features should be used in EFL speaking classes to decrease the level of FLA, and that their sample behaviors should be reflected in speaking tests.

KEYWORDS:

• English as a foreign language
• foreign language anxiety
• speaking
• paralinguistic features

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Özgehan Uştuk (MA) is a research assistant at the Department of English Language Teaching of Necatibey Education Faculty at Balikesir University, Turkey. He researches on drama-in-education, theatre-in-education and affective states.

Selami Aydin (PhD) is an associate professor at the Department of English Language Teaching of Necatibey Education Faculty at Balikesir University, Turkey. He researches on EFL writing, testing, affective states, technology use and social media effects on the language learning and teaching processes. Currently, he teaches ELT courses for pre-service EFL teachers.

ORCiD

Selami Aydın http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1614-874X