Foreign language anxiety in the English classroom: A teaching proposal

Abstract

It is widely believed that in these days, learning Foreign Languages (FLs) has become a goal due to professional or personal reasons. However, FL acquisition can be considered a challenging experience in the learning area. That is because many students are worried when they are about to face a Target Language (TL), expressed in fears or insecurities. Furthermore, the process of learning a FL is not simple as many factors influence in the acquisition such as motivation, self-esteem or anxiety. Hence, these affective variables can prevent or motivate students to achieve properly a Second Language (L2), especially on the early stages of the acquisition. Therefore, the present project will be mainly focused on one affective factor, which is a feeling of tension, Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), a field studied by many researchers due to the many inconveniences that cause on learners. Consequently, the purpose of this present contribution consists of the following. First of all, it aims at giving special attention to the insights of FLA. Secondly, the paper’s goal is to elaborate a teaching proposal for students who belong to first of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO). Thus, the designed method is generally intended for students with a basic A2 level of English. In this proposal five different activities will be made with the purpose of reducing Language Anxiety (LA) learners may experience when they are exposed to a FL. Finally, in order to implement this proposal, further research of the topic would be advisable.