Phillips- Anxiety and Oral Competence Classroom Dilemma

Anxiety and Oral Competence: Classroom DilemmaAuthor(s): Elaine M. PhillipsSource: The French Review, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Oct., 1991), pp. 1-14Published by: American Association of Teachers of FrenchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/394560 .Accessed: 09/05/2013 07:49

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THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 65, No. 1, October 1991 Printed in U.S.A.

Anxiety and Oral Competence: Classroom Dilemma

by Elaine M. Phillips

ALTHOUGH ABILITY AND APTITUDE have long been recognized as significantly related to language learning, Bailey emphasizes the importance of affective variables when she says that "what the learner experiences in a language lesson is as important as the teaching method, the sequence of presenta- tion, or the instructional materials" (71, emphasis added). For many students, anxiety is certainly one of the most important of these affective variables. The wealth of research conducted concerning anxiety and language learning and the number of approaches to language study that have developed, in part, in response to students' apprehension about speaking the foreign language are further evidence of anxiety's importance within the language learning framework.1

For many teachers, however, foreign language classroom anxiety is not merely an abstract construct studied by theorists or by researchers under laboratory or "induced-anxiety" conditions. It is a reality confronted in the classroom on a daily basis as they face students who are intensely anxious about foreign language study. Most easily recognize these students who often sit in the back of the room, attempt to "hide" in their seats, neglect to turn in homework, never volunteer, and, when called upon, respond in a barely audible whisper, if at all.

For these students suffering from foreign language classroom anxiety, today's proficiency-oriented classroom may further exacerbate their apprehension. The publication of ACTFL's oral proficiency guidelines has led to heightened interest in the development of the oral skill and appears to have influenced the focus of the classroom curriculum-if the current crop of language textbooks is any indication. Memorization, pattern drills, and extensive grammatical explanations give way more and more to functional language use and communicative activities, language in context. The dilemma associated with the emphasis on oral ability arises because two important goals-making language learning an enjoyable experience and developing the students' communicative competence-are often at odds with each other. More practice in speaking, intended to facilitate oral competence, can also engender anxiety, which in turn reduces any enjoyment associated with the language learning experience.

Practitioners need not, however, throw up their hands in despair. Al- though intuition might suggest the contrary, considerable quantitative data

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BiljaSticky NoteIako se u uenju jezika smatralo da su najvaniji sklonost i dar, Bajli smatra da su takoe vane afektivne varijable, jer ono to uenik doivljava uei lekciju je isto vano kao i metoda poduavanja, prezentacija gradiva i materijali.

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BiljaSticky Noteza mnoge studente, anksioznost je jedna od najvanijih afektivnih varijabli. Istraivanja o anksioznosti i uenju stranog jezika i sudije o jeziku sve ovo je vano za uenje SJ koji e pomoi i strahu od korienja SJ.

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BiljaSticky NoteZa mnoge profesore, Anksioznost u uenju SJ nije apstraktni pojam koji istrauju mnogi teoretiari i istraivai, ve je realnost sa kojom su oni i njihovi uenici na dnevnoj bazi suoeni. Uenika koji osea anksioznost lako je prepoznati, oni obino sede u zadnjem delu uionice, pokuavaju da se sakriju u svojoj stilici, zaboravljaju da urade domai zadatak, nikada se sami ne javljaju, kada su prozvani, odgovaraju jedva ujnim apatom, ili ne odgovore uopte.

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BiljaSticky NoteZa ove uenike koji pate od anksioznosti prouzrokavanom uenjem SJ, dananje uionice u kojima se razvijaju najvie jezike vetine, mogu im pogorati strah. U savremenom uenju jezika akcenat se prevashodno stavlja na razvoj usmene komunikacije na SJ i ovo utie na fokus samog asa i Jkurikuluma uopte.

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BiljaSticky NoteMemorizovanje, drilovi i sveobuhvatna gramatika objanjenja daju na sve veoj jezikoj funkcionalnosti da se jezik koristi u svrhe komunikativne aktivnosti u samom kontekstu. Pojavljuje se dilema koja se povezuje sa usmenom sposobnou zbog dva vana cilja: da uenje jezika uenicima predstavlja prijatno iskustvo i da se usput razvija njihova J kompetencija su obino u suprotnosti jedno od drugog.

BiljaSticky NoteVie vebanja govora, iji je zadatak da olaka usmenu komunikaciju, moe takoe dovesti do uenike anksioznosti- moe pokrenuti ank- to umanjuje uivanje uenja jezika koje je povezano sa tim iskustvom.

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BiljaSticky Noteoni koji se bave ovom sferom i uenici zbog ovoga ne trebaju da oajavaju. koliinski podaci u vezi sa anksioznou. pokazali su skromnu vezu anksioznosti sa postignuem u uenju jezika.

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devoted to anxiety reveals only a modest relationship with achievement in language learning. Several studies, for instance, reveal no correlation between anxiety and achievement in language learning (Pimsleur et al.; Brewster; Steinberg; Backman; Young, "Relationship") or negative correlations between anxiety and one skill but not others (Bartz; Swain and Burn- aby) or one language and not others (Chastain). Two have even shown anxiety to correlate positively with language learning (Chastain; Klein- mann) causing researchers to ponder the distinction between facilitating and debilitating anxiety. Still, numerous studies indicate a small inverse relationship between classroom anxiety and achievement (Scott; Phillips, "Effects"; Horwitz, "Preliminary"; Gardner et al.; Trylong; Huelsman) although correlations are generally low to moderate. Thus, students with lower anxiety levels may tend to perform better than those with high levels of anxiety and vice versa, but the relationship between anxiety and performance apparently explains only a part of the total achievement picture.

Since anxiety appears to influence achievement only to a small degree, the quantitative results may be considered encouraging from a performance perspective. Regrettably, however, this conclusion tends to ignore the human element within the anxiety-achievement framework. Qualita- tive research, for example, suggests that students feel anxiety matters, that it can and will affect their performance in class and on tests (Price; Phillips, "Effects"). From a psychological perspective, then, the study of anxiety is important because what the students believe can affect their attitudes toward language class, language study in general, even the target culture. Furthermore, these attitudes are likely to affect decisions about further language study, for it is unlikely that students will continue language learning beyond the level of lower division or diploma requirements if they are discouraged by lack of progress and anxious about being in class (Speiller).

This article examines several factors that contribute to foreign language classroom anxiety: the discrepancy between ability and effort, the "language ego," the oral skill, and unrealistic expectations on the part of the language learner. The final discussion focuses on techniques for reducing foreign language classroom anxiety using both metacognitive and pedagogical strategies.

Factors Contributing to Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

Several factors have been identified as contributing to heightened anxiety in the language class. First, ability and effort are not necessarily quickly rewarded as in the study of some subjects. Secondly, one's self-image is closely related to the ability to express oneself through language and is vulnerable to "assaults" by teachers and classmates and to self-perceived failure. Thirdly, the intensified interest in oral competence, as mentioned earlier, increases apprehension among many language learners. Finally,


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BiljaSticky NoteNekoliko studija nisu pokazale vezu izmeu anksioznosti i uspenosti u uenju jezika ili negativnu vezu izmeu anksioznosti i jedne sposobnosti ali ne druge ili jednog jezika ali ne drugih. dve su ak pokazale da se anksioznost pozitivno vezuje za uenje jezika, to je navelo istraivae da povedu diskusiju izmeu olakavanja i anksioznosti oslabljivanja

BiljaSticky NoteNaalost, brojne studije pokazuju suprotnu vezu izmeu anksioznosti na asu i postignua, stoga studenti sa niim nivoima anksioznosti mogu da imaju bolju performansu od onih sa viim nivoima anksioznosti, ali i performansa objanjava samo deo od ukupnog postignua.

BiljaSticky NoteBudui da anksioznost utie na postignue samo u malom stepenu, rezultati se mogu smatrati ohrabrujuima sa perspektive performanse. Na alost, ovaj zakljuak ignorie ljudski element, jer to to studenti oseaju anksioznost je vano, da moe i da e uticati na njihovu performansu na asu ili ispitu.

BiljaSticky Notesa psiholoke perspektive, studija anksioznosti je vana jer ono u ta uenici veruju moe da utie na njihov stav prema asu jezika i uenju jezika uopte, ak na njihovu kulturu. tavie ovi stavovi mogu olako da utiu na odluke u daljem uenju jezika, jer je oni nee nastaviti sa uenjem jezika ako budu ostvarili najmanje postignue ili traenu diplomu ako su obeshrabreni od strane nedostatka napretka ili anksiozni to su na asu.

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BiljaSticky NoteNekoliko faktora je otkriveno da doprinosi poveanju anksioznosti na asu jezika. 1. trud i dar za jezik se ne nagrauju brzo tako brzo kao u nekim drugim predmetima 2. slika koju uenik ima sam o sebi je povezana da se on izrazi preko jezika i ranjiv je na pritisak profesora i drugova i da se sauva od neuspeha 3- sve vei interes za oralnu kompetenciju, poveava zatvaranje sve veeg broja uenika nekog SJ. Uenici imaju stavove o uenju jezika i nerealna oekivanja koja im samo poveavaju anksioznost.

ANXIETY AND ORAL COMPETENCE 3

students often bring to class questionable beliefs about language learning (e.g., unrealistic expectations) that are likely to heighten anxiety.

Though attempts have been made to isolate the variables related to anxiety in language learning, relatively little is perfectly understood. What appears evident to foreign language teachers, however, is that the poor student is not always anxious (Backman), and sometimes even the best students will react apprehensively and perform poorly when called upon in class (Price; Phillips, "Effects"; Speiller). Furthermore, the students' pre- sumed ability and the effort expended in language learning do not always bring the expected results. Price found "the discrepancy between effort and results" was especially frustrating to students used to receiving high grades. Though they sometimes spent more time preparing for language class than for others, the results were worse, leaving them feeling they were "less in control in language classes than in other courses" (105). Even the students who did well admitted that their anxiety caused them to dread going to class and to have difficulty even discussing their experiences. It is not quite clear how anxiety about the foreign language class actually affects performance (Phillips, "Effects"); it is certain, however, that students believe it does, and Bailey asserts that what the student believes is possibly more important than "any external reality" (86).

These high-ability students who fail to perform at expected levels in language class often react negatively to this perceived affront to their self- image. Learners with a positive self-perception, on the other hand, often perform at levels beyond that of peers with low self-esteem related to language learning (Heyde, Parsons). Because the student's self-image is closely associated with his or her ability for self-expression through language, Guiora et al. argue for the existence of a unique type of "language ego" prevalent in the classroom. Accordingly, an adult language learner must develop a new ego for each foreign language learned and must be willing to appear foolish because errors are inevitable during the language learning process. Guiora et al. contend that a strong language ego allows the student to overcome inhibitions and succeed at the learning task, while weak language egos can lead to failure.

The importance of the learner's self-image is further emphasized by Horwitz et al., who suggest that "the language learner's self-esteem is vulnerable in the awareness that the range of communication choices and authenticity is restricted" (128). Thus students' attempts to express themselves orally with minimal linguistic skills can lead to frustration and anx- iousness about their ability to represent themselves in an authentic manner. Price's students also verified the "frustration" of not being able to express themselves in what they considered an appropriate fashion, admit- ting they sometimes felt "stupid" and "like a babbling baby."

Nor surprisingly, the oral skill is the one in which the language ego appears most vulnerable. Horwitz et al. suggest that foreign language classroom anxiety may "represent serious impediments to the development


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of second language fluency as well as to performance" (127). Over a third of the students they surveyed were anxious enough about their foreign language class to volunteer to attend special sessions aimed at reducing anxiety through group support. The authors found, further, that students were highly concerned about the oral component of the class as evidenced by their answers to many of the questions on the Foreign Language Class- room Anxiety Scale (Horwitz). A considerable percentage of their respond- ents agreed with statements such as "I start to panic when I have to speak without preparations in language class" and "I feel very self-conscious about speaking the foreign language in front of other students." Price's report of interviews with ten highly anxious ex-foreign language students likewise indicates that all of the learners felt speaking the language in class had been the greatest cause of anxiety. They feared "being laughed at," "making a fool of themselves," and "being ridiculed."

Besides the frustration of seemingly unrewarded effort and the threat to self-esteem related to oral activities, Horwitz ("Beginning UFLS") and Price both maintain that the beliefs about language learning that students bring with them to class can influence the anxiety they experience there. Price's students acknowledged that they felt their language skills were inadequate and that others in the class were much better at language learning. They also maintained that a special aptitude was needed to learn a foreign language (one they did not possess), though some felt they could have done better if they had worked harder. Her findings support the conclusions of Horwitz, whose subjects agreed that some people are born with a special aptitude for learning languages but that "everyone can learn to speak a foreign language" (287). Anxiety can readily develop in students who feel they do not possess this special aptitude and in those who experience difficulties with language learning since they believe they should be able to learn.

In sum, several themes recur in discussions of foreign language classroom anxiety. First, students believe that, in spite of their ability, they are not truly masters of their own fate in the language classroom. Language learning is difficult; effort does not always seem to be rewarded. Secondly, the oral skill appears the most problematic due to its potentially negative effect on the students' self-image. Finally, a distorted view of the language learning process seems to contribute to students' fears and lack of self- confidence in their ability to achieve.

Implications for Instruction and Testing

The preceding discussion of factors contributing to foreign language classroom anxiety suggests several areas where teachers can focus attempts to lower the level of apprehension in the language classroom. Prac- titioners hope to see students pursue foreign language studies past the intermediate level. Although anxiety is certainly not the only factor in-


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volved in retainment, reaching out to students on an affective level may be a necessary first step. Since evidence indicates that students with high anxiety tend to exhibit poor attitudes toward language learning (Trylong), it is unlikely that they will continue foreign language study if they are anxious about being in class. Furthermore, given the current interest in oral proficiency, concerns about both classroom activities and oral testing must be addressed.

Few language teachers are trained to provide psychological counseling or to instruct students in progressive relaxation therapy, and many teachers lack the training or institutional support necessary to incorporate approaches such as Community Language Learning or Suggestopoedia. Nev- ertheless, several common strategies exist that can contribute to making language learning less stressful. The remainder of this article describes several of these techniques including both metacognitive and pedagogical strategies.

Oxford et al. have suggested that good language learners "manage" their language learning through the use of metacognitive strategies, those where the learner consciously plans, self-evaluates, and self-monitors his or her progress. Carrell notes two important aspects of metacognition: "knowledge of cognition" and "regulation of cognition." In other words, the learner must first be aware of his or her "cognitive resources" and of the limitation imposed by the self and the learning task before the student's cognitive resources (e.g., ability to reason, plan, evaluate) can be brought to bear in controlling the situation. This author contends that metacognitive strategies can be applied to controlling classroom anxiety much in the way they are used in developing effective reading or listening comprehension skills. Although the instructor may provide the stimulus (i.e., knowledge of cognition), the focus is on the students' control of the learning process or, in this case, their classroom anxiety. Metacognitive strategies discussed below emphasize, in particular, the development of rational criteria for self- evaluation.

Foss and Reitzel contend that discussing their fears about language learning indicates to students that they are not alone in their anxiety, that the instructor understands their apprehension; the discussion itself encour- ages learners to relax. The role of the instructor is to begin the semester by confronting the issue of foreign language classroom anxiety directly. Hor- witz's Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale provides an excellent framework for generating discussion of the students' concerns.

An extension of the aforementioned direct approach is the implementa- tion of rational emotive therapy used to help students understand that many of their fears are unfounded. This therapy involves "presenting the idea that we all operate, to some extent, from individual irrational belief systems" (Foss and Reitzel 445). Typical unwarranted suppositions that can evoke anxiety in foreign language students include the following: 1) "one is not worthy unless one is thoroughly competent and adequate in all aspects


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of life"; 2) "one must be approved of by every person one encounters"; and 3) "there is one correct way to handle a particular situation" (446). Al- though on an intellectual level students may realize these views are exag- gerated, their actions in the classroom often reveal that, subconsciously, they believe them to be true.

Rational emotive therapy involves debunking the myth through a serious evaluation of its false assumptions. Foss and Reitzel encourage teachers to solicit student input, listing on the board common fears about language learning. Students are then asked to answer a series of questions to aid in a realistic assessment of their beliefs.

1. What irrational belief do I want to dispute? That I must speak the language perfectly in order to be liked by those with whom I converse.

2. What evidence exists of the falseness of this belief? a. No proof exists that people will not like me if I cannot speak their

language perfectly.... b. If someone I like rejects me for not speaking the language perfectly, that

will be unfortunate, but I will not die. c. No law of the universe says I must be liked by everyone. d. If I am not liked by one person, I can still be liked by others. e. In the past, I have done things imperfectly-and people have still liked

me. f. I might speak the language perfectly, and people could still not like me.

3. Does evidence exist of the truth of this belief? No, not really. ....

Even if my greatest fears are realized ... I can still cope. I know there are people in the world who like me, who appreciate my efforts to learn a second language, and with whom I can have a meaningful relationship. (446)

Once the idea of rationally examining irrational beliefs has been illus- trated to and practiced by the students, they need only be reminded from time to time that much of their anxiety is based on fears that are ground- less. If the students' fears are examined in small groups, a sense of community often develops as they discover that their concerns are shared by other classmates. Realizing that anxiety is a common affective reaction of new language learners reduces a student's fear of appearing anxious.

Next, because many of students' fears are based on erroneous assumptions about the learning process, the discussion of foreign language classroom anxiety should be followed by a discussion of the nature of language learning. Horwitz ("Beginning UFSL") found that some students believe that they should not say anything which they cannot say perfectly, that language learning means simply memorizing vocabulary lists and verb par- adigms, or that they should be fairly fluent after a few months of study. It is understandable that students with a distorted view of language learning become anxious when the techniques they use and assumptions under which they operate fail to produce the expected results. Consequently, helping students establish realistic expectations about language learning should be one of the primary goals of language instructors.

Several concepts can be discussed with learners to help them develop



these reasonable self-evaluation criteria. First, students need to know that risk-taking can be as important as accuracy. Risk-taking is considered characteristic of a good language learner (Rubin) because students who are willing to take risks are more likely to seek out oral interaction in the target language and, hence, receive more frequent exposure to comprehensible input. Ely ("Analysis") also suggests that learners who are willing to take risks have better attitudes toward language learning, although he also contends ("Personality") that students need to feel "psychologically comfortable" and "safe" before they are willing to take risks. Secondly, learning techniques include not just memorization but also communicating with a focus on meaning. The distinction between learning and acquisition (Kra- shen) is familiar to teachers but seldom pointed out to students, who tend to focus only on strategies such as memorization, note-taking, translation, and grammatical manipulation, while neglecting activities dealing with listening for messages and reading for meaning. Finally, foreign language learning is a very lengthy process. Teachers may want to inform students, for example, about the amount of time (240 hours) required by the Foreign Service Institute to produce an intermediate level speaker under "ideal" circumstances (e.g., motivated learners, intensive courses, small classes). Stu- dents' goals of becoming fluent speakers in four semesters need to be revised, and pointing out the limited exposure afforded those who complete only two years of undergraduate study (approximately 214 hours with a 16 hours requirement) can help them establish more realistic expectations. Another instrument developed by Horwitz, the Beliefs About Lan- guage Learning Inventory, can be used to stimulate discussion of these concepts and of the language learning process.

Although metacognitive processes allow students consciously to reduce their own level of anxiety about language learning, several strategies can be initiated by teachers to provide learners with a more pleasant classroom experience. Pedagogical strategies discussed below include error correction, communicative activities, humor, and evaluation formats designed to reduce anxiety.

While much research has focused on the effectiveness of error- correction in language learning (Hendrickson), little attention has been paid to students' affective reactions to negative evaluation. Certainly, for those students whose language egos are relatively fragile, the method of correction must be given careful consideration. Furthermore, if, in a discussion of the nature of language learning, students are reassured that mistakes are a natural part of the acquisition process, the instructor must take care not to contradict this belief through over-zealous attention to form. Hence, in addition to reassuring students that they are expected to make mistakes as they learn, excessive overt correction should be avoided, particularly during communicative activities that are likely to be the focus of many language classes. An illustration of error correction in "natural" speech is revealing. Day et al.'s study of recorded conversations between native speakers and


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non-native speakers focused on the native speakers' reactions to errors committed by their non-native interlocutors. Most important was their discovery that only 8.9% of all errors were corrected, and, of those, 89.5% were corrections of factual errors. They state that "not once in the 15.1 hours of data did a native speaker provide a grammatical explanation to help clear up an error" (223). While a language teacher's responsibility is, of course, to help students not only communicate, but to communicate in a linguistically-appropriate manner, Day et al.'s findings provide food for thought with regard to the amount of time expended and the types of errors addressed in the classroom.

In the classroom when correction is necessary, a technique such as modeling (rephrasing the students' comments in the appropriate form) is an indirect method decidedly less negative and personal than overt correction and, thus, less likely to raise the student's affective filter. Correction involving a grammatical explanation or the use of intonation, for example, calls attention to the fact that an error has been committed. The correction is personalized, and no response is made to the students' message. Modeling, on the other hand, allows the teacher to react first to meaning while producing the appropriate form, depersonalizing correction, and respond- ing communicatively. Holley and King contend that a "successful exchange of ideas should be valued and rewarded whether these ideas are expressed grammatically or not" (498).

Although some instructors feeling modeling is too indirect, anecdotal evidence indicates that students with adequate control of the language benefit from modeling during communicative activities just as much as from overt correction, whereas the less skillful student does not always gain appreciably from either one. On the other hand, less able students may be discouraged and intimidated by continual negative feedback (Holley and King). In circumstances requiring more direct correction, teachers may wish to note errors committed frequently during communicative activities and present a brief review of the structural difficulty at the end of the session. This method, used in conjunction with modeling, allows problems to be addressed directly yet is less likely to heighten anxiety.

Besides addressing students' affective reactions to error-correction, the instructor should, ideally, provide students ample opportunity for communicative oral practice under low-stress conditions. Numerous oral activities can be modifed so that they are less threatening to the individual learner. Providing students the opportunity to get to know others in the class, for example, helps them develop the sense of community that Little and Sand- ers contend feeds the desire for interaction, and is, in fact, essential for authentic communication. Once students develop a sense of camaraderie with their classmates, they are less embarrassed by their own mistakes and more inclined to cooperate with others in the learning process. This sense of community may be encouraged early in the semester through interviews with classmates and group study and testing. Personalized activities such as



polling fellow students concerning their opinions on a given topic also encourage student interaction while allowing learners to become better acquainted with their peers. Most students are less anxious when they are allowed to volunteer answers, and Young ("Relationship") found they were more likely to volunteer when asked to express a personal opinion.

Another often neglected technique that helps reduce anxiety about oral activities is to teach students conversation strategies so that they may react more naturally to the comments of their classmates. Indeed, Hatch encour- ages teaching learners to introduce topics, use clarification requests, and employ fillers to indicate understanding. Expressions for interrupting, agreeing, disagreeing, suggesting, or drawing a partner into the conversation can be learned as "chunks" of language and help students feel more comfortable with oral interactions. An added bonus is that these social formulas also reduce the use of English.

Finally, cooperative learning activities, partner and small group work such as the information gap, interviews, problem-solving, and role-plays have been widely discussed in the literature (Omaggio and many others). Small-group work provides students with a less threatening environment for oral activities than when they are called upon to answer individually in front of the class. Foss and Reitzel found communication apprehension was lowered by using "group preparation, evaluation, and performance" (449). Students not only spend more time speaking the target language, but anxiety is reduced when they communicate with one or two classmates they know well and with whom they are cooperating in learning French.

In conjunction with attention to error correction and the use of low- anxiety group activities, humor can also be used to make students more comfortable with language learning. Powell and Andresen assert that humor creates positive attitudes toward the learning environment, suggesting "a hearty laugh wipes out, if only momentarily, differences in sta- tus and viewpoint" (80). This momentary sense of oneness can be particularly important to students worried about their own ability in relation to their classmates'. In studies in other fields, students have indicated that humor considerably reduced anxiety in the classroom2 and made the class more enjoyable, though they were less sure that it aided the learning process (Schacht and Stewart; Mogavero).

Even though the effect of humor on achievement has not been fully established, injecting levity into the language lesson is worthy of consideration due to its possible impact on attitudes and its "inherent tension- reducing function" (Schacht and Stewart 54). The advantages, according to Powell and Andresen, include heightened student attention and involve- ment and the potential for impact on cognitive development. Ziv, for instance, found that students who listened to humorous recordings performed better on a test of creativity. While he does not claim that the recordings made the students more creative, he contends that they facili- tated divergent responses, "the expression of a particular mode of thinking


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not bound by 'right' and conventional answer.... Humor, exploration, and art all feed on novelty, incongruity, or departures from what is usual, conventional, and expected, and therefore have to transcend the fear of ridi- cule" (Ziv 320; emphasis added). Ziv also reiterates Powell and Andresen's claim that humor instills a sense of group unity, thereby reducing anxiety.

Certain precaution must, nevertheless, be taken when using humor in the classroom. Care must be given not to mock or embarrass students who may be offended by the attitudes and values implicit in some jokes. Furth- ermore, sarcasm or humor that is aggressive or overtly sexual in nature is destructive and may even raise students' anxiety levels (Schacht and Stewart).

Using humor of any kind in a language lesson is not necessarily an easy task, and although foreign language teachers are often thought of as frus- trated actors and actresses who have no trouble "hamming it up" in class, some instructors simply do not see themselves as funny people. Powell and Andresen, however, distinguish between the "creation of wit" and the "communication of humour"; the latter, they suggest, can be learned through observation and practice. Since humorous material need not be original to be effective, they recommend keeping a file system of suitable topics, cartoons, anecdotes, and verbal jokes. Schacht and Stewart prefer the use of cartoons because the content can be controlled, and the cartoons can be used for testing as well as in class, providing students visual evidence of the relationship between material taught and material tested.3 Finally, comfort is provided for anxious teachers who do not believe they are funny: Mogavero discovered that students did not "confuse the quality of humor with its overall value as an effective classroom tool" (53).

Many of the aforementioned pedagogical strategies recommended for reducing anxiety in the classroom can also be used to help students feel less anxious with communicative oral testing. Although students who always experience high levels of test anxiety will probably never feel comfortable about oral foreign language exams, it is possible to lessen the tension related, for many, to assessment. Teachers should begin by acknowledging learners' fear about oral evaluation while encouraging them, reassuring them, and providing them ample opportunity for communicative practice. Next, rewarding students for their ability to accomplish a task or to add creatively to a role-play, for example, will confirm to them the realistic expectations expressed by the teacher (i.e., if students are asked to "communicate," more than accuracy must be graded). Group testing formats (Phillips, "Overcoming Difficulties"; Omaggio; Gonzales-Pino) may also provide students "comfort in numbers," thereby reducing anxiety levels to a degree. In addition, they reduce the time it takes to test, which in turn allows more frequent testing so that students become accustomed to oral evaluation. Interactive role-play works particularly well for group testing; indeed, most any proficiency-oriented oral activities used in class can be effectively recombined and used for assessment. In a role-play, for example, a



previously learned function (e.g., getting information) can be combined with a new context (from asking directions to interviewing a prospective roommate), providing students the comfort of familiarity while still testing their ability to create with language in novel situations. Conversational strategies taught and practiced in class further help prepare students for oral testing by providing them chunks of language to fill in the silence that often occurs as their ability is strained to its limit. Humorous role-play situations, likewise, can be effective at providing comic relief. Finally, Huelsman found a tendency for warm behavior on the part of the instructor during testing to be associated with more output from students and higher exam scores, so something as simple as an encouraging smile before the test begins might diminish the ominous atmosphere often associated with evaluation.

The use of any of the metacognitive or pedagogical strategies mentioned above provides students the comfort of knowing that the teacher understands and is concerned about their anxiety. In the long run, whatever is done in the classroom that helps students feel better about themselves as language learners will be important. Already beginning foreign language courses often suffer from the stigma of "requirement"; students may dis- like their language class before they ever enter it simply because it is forced on them. When the stressful, ego-involving nature of the classroom and the difficulty of foreign language learning are added to the burden, encouraging students to continue language study becomes a Herculean task. An effort must be made to address the attitudes and affective reactions of students to the foreign language classroom and testing situation if we wish to see them cross the threshold into advanced-level study. Concerning ourselves with the student's anxiety about the language classroom is a first step in the right direction.

SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Notes

1Asher's Total Physical Response, Krashen and Terrell's Natural Approach, Curran's Community Language Learning, or Lozanov's Suggestopoedia, for example, attempt to speed acquisition by creating a low-stress environment in the classroom. (Some contend, however, that Asher's and Krashen's methods may actually raise anxiety levels for some students.) Krashen uses the term "affective filter" to refer to the anxiety experienced by language students which prevents them from focusing on the task at hand and acquiring structures of the target language.

2Foreign language classroom anxiety may be as dreaded by mathematicians as math anxiety is by many language teachers. Blalock (in Schacht and Stewart) argues that statistics anxiety causes students to try and memorize details of procedures rather than to develop their global understanding. "When this strategy fails, students often react by com- plaining that the course material makes little sense, that it sounds and looks like a foreign language and that the instructor is failing to translate the material into something they can understand" (52; emphasis added).


12 FRENCH REVIEW

3For specific suggestions related to the use of cartoons in the language classroom, see Mollica.

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Article Contentsp. 1p. 2p. 3p. 4p. 5p. 6p. 7p. 8p. 9p. 10p. 11p. 12p. 13p. 14

Issue Table of ContentsThe French Review, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Oct., 1991), pp. 1-186Front MatterAnxiety and Oral Competence: Classroom Dilemma [pp. 1-14]Norme et usage: l'emploi de l'indicatif aprs bien que et quoique dans la presse qubcoise [pp. 15-29]Des tragdies "profanes" aux tragdies "sacres" dans le thtre de Racine [pp. 30-35]Ursule through the Glass Lightly [pp. 36-45]Regards d'hommes / corps de femmes: Germinie Lacerteux des Frres Goncourt [pp. 46-54]Potique de spleen dans l'uvre de Jules Laforgue [pp. 55-63]"Solitaire et multiple": l'clatement du mot chez Ren Char [pp. 64-74]Gary-Ajar and the Rhetoric of Non-Communication [pp. 75-83]Rflexions sur la proposition de rforme de l'orthographe et sa polmique [pp. 84-90]NotesLa Vie des mots [pp. 91-92]Une Vocation d'crivain [pp. 92-93]

DepartmentsFrom the Editor's Desk [pp. 94-95]Announcements [pp. 95-99]Dissertations in Progress [pp. 99-113]

ReviewsLiterary History and CriticismReview: untitled [pp. 114-115]Review: untitled [pp. 115-116]Review: untitled [pp. 116-117]Review: untitled [pp. 117-118]Review: untitled [pp. 118-119]Review: untitled [pp. 119-120]Review: untitled [pp. 120-121]Review: untitled [pp. 121-122]Review: untitled [p. 123]Review: untitled [pp. 123-124]Review: untitled [pp. 124-125]Review: untitled [pp. 125-126]Review: untitled [p. 127]Review: untitled [pp. 128-129]Review: untitled [pp. 129-130]Review: untitled [pp. 130-131]Review: untitled [pp. 131-132]Review: untitled [pp. 132-133]Review: untitled [pp. 133-134]Review: untitled [pp. 134-135]Review: untitled [pp. 135-137]Review: untitled [pp. 137-138]Review: untitled [pp. 138-139]Review: untitled [pp. 139-140]

Technology in Teaching and ResearchFile Management on MS-DOS Computers: Problems and Solutions [pp. 141-146]

LinguisticsReview: untitled [pp. 146-147]Review: untitled [pp. 147-148]Review: untitled [pp. 148-149]Review: untitled [pp. 149-150]

CivilizationReview: untitled [pp. 150-152]Review: untitled [pp. 152-153]Review: untitled [pp. 153-154]Review: untitled [pp. 154-155]Review: untitled [pp. 155-157]Review: untitled [pp. 157-158]Review: untitled [pp. 158-159]

FilmReview: untitled [p. 160]Review: untitled [pp. 160-161]Review: untitled [pp. 161-162]Review: untitled [p. 163]Review: untitled [pp. 164-165]

Creative WorksReview: untitled [pp. 165-166]Review: untitled [pp. 166-167]Review: untitled [pp. 167-168]Review: untitled [pp. 168-169]Review: untitled [pp. 169-170]Review: untitled [pp. 170-171]Review: untitled [pp. 171-172]Review: untitled [pp. 172-173]Review: untitled [pp. 173-174]Review: untitled [pp. 174-175]Review: untitled [pp. 175-176]Review: untitled [pp. 176-177]Review: untitled [pp. 177-178]

Textbooks, CAI Software and MethodologyReview: untitled [pp. 178-179]Review: untitled [pp. 180-181]Review: untitled [pp. 181-182]Review: untitled [pp. 182-183]Review: untitled [pp. 183-184]

Back Matter [pp. 185-186]

Documents

Phillips- Anxiety and Oral Competence Classroom Dilemma