1 Anxiety and willingness to communicate in adult ESL classrooms: Origins and ways to respond to learners’ affective needs
Yuxuan Hu
Yuxuan’s video reflection about the Capstone Project
Introduction
Language learning is a complex process shaped not only by cognitive and linguistic mechanisms but also influenced by various individual differences (ID) [i.e., factors that make one learner different from another in the way they learn a language] among learners. Some of these ID variables are sociocultural, some are cognitive, and others are affective. Unlike fixed cognitive traits, which are often stable and difficult to modify, affective ID variables are dynamic and tend to emerge in response to pedagogical choices, classroom atmosphere, or interaction patterns. This makes them especially relevant to language instruction in classrooms, where learners come from a wide range of cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds and teachers have the potential to either reinforce or help alleviate learners’ emotional barriers during language learning.
This article focuses on two affective factors: language anxiety (the tension or nervousness learners may feel when using or learning a second language, e.g., MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012) and willingness to communicate (learner’s readiness and motivation to initiate communication in the second language, e.g., MacIntyre et al., 1998, as cited in Sudina, 2023). They are not only closely tied to classroom participation and communicative development, but also are highly malleable through teacher intervention. The goal of this article is, then, to explore how ESL teachers can better support adult learners in managing anxiety and enhancing their willingness to communicate (WTC) to promote better engagement in and retention of learning.
Where It All Started: Affective Factors in Language Learning
The term “affect” currently includes a broad range of emotional and psychological states influencing second language acquisition (SLA), such as feeling self-confident, willing to communicate, or anxious (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012).
The focus on learners’ emotional and psychological states dates back to the early work by Stephen Krashen, whose contribution was arguably foundational to the study of affect in SLA. According to Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (1985), negative affective factors, such as anxiety and fear, could mentally block effective processing of language input. Krashen’s work marked a turning point in SLA theory, placing learner’s well-being under the spotlight.
Since then, the field has expanded to include a wider range of affective factors and their interactions with other IDs.
As mentioned in Pawlak (2017), while specific classifications vary, ID variables can be broadly categorized into 3 dimensions:
- Cognitive ID variables: age, aptitude, working memory, learning strategies, etc.
- Sociocultural ID variables: cultural background, beliefs, learning experience, the influence of the social environments, etc.
- Affective ID variables: anxiety, motivation, WTC, personality, etc.
It is also necessary to note that some ID variables overlap multiple categories and are influenced by one another, as well as by various external factors.
Focus: Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate (WTC)
Among the many affective factors explored in SLA, anxiety and WTC are widely researched in the filed (e.g., Horwitz et al., 1986; Sudina, 2023; Zhang, 2020), closely interrelated, and unlike other relatively stable traits (e.g., aptitude or personality) in ID, can be influenced by teachers.
Research shows that language anxiety and WTC are connected in that higher anxiety generally lowers learners’ readiness to engage in communication and the relationship is generally strong to affect in-class engagement. In other words, as a recent meta-analysis of 321 L2 anxiety and 64 WTC questionnaire studies has shown, “the relationship (i.e., between anxiety and WTC) is predominantly negative and moderate to large in size” (Sudina, 2023, p. 1433).
This highlights the relevance of focusing on both anxiety and WTC in this article and the importance of teachers understanding how to recognize and respond to them effectively.
What Can Teachers Do to Build a Supportive Classroom Environment?
While numerous strategies have been suggested on how teachers can build a supportive classroom environment to reduce anxiety and promote WTC, the following three are deemed practical and applicable across contexts:
- Establishment of classroom routines
Routines can contribute to building a supportive environment by reducing uncertainty and helping learners know what to expect (Bryfonski & Mackey, 2024). When learners feel safe, emotionally prepared, and are within a structured classroom environment with high certainty, they are more likely to engage in classroom communication and interaction.
However, a balance is needed. Too much repetition and structured routine may lead to a backfire effect, causing boredom or disengagement (Pawlak et al., 2020). This sense of boredom may also negatively impact WTC. Thus, while routines may be beneficial for promoting certainty and safety, they may inadvertently negatively impact classroom dynamics. It’s important to combine consistency with variety.
- Thoughtful task design
Well-designed tasks can help transform “debilitating anxiety” to “facilitating anxiety”, increasing engagement and WTC (He & Haji-Othman, 2024).
Research (e.g., Bryfonski & Mackey, 2024; He & Haji-Othman, 2024) suggests that thoughtful task design includes features like:
- Having clear objectives and transparent purposes
- Connecting tasks to learners’ personal or professional goals
- Promoting autonomy (in terms of task topic, format, participation role, ways of assessments, etc.)
While building a comfortable environment is important, appropriate challenge is also necessary.
Research shows an inverted U-shaped relationship between anxiety and performance (Walker, 1997, as cited in He & Haji-Othman, 2024), suggesting that optimal performance occurs when anxiety is at a moderate and manageable level. Tasks that are too simple may fail to engage learners, while ones that are too difficult can lead to excessive anxiety and unwillingness to participate. Therefore, tasks should aim to be slightly above learners’ current competence, sufficiently challenging to promote focus and attentiveness without being overwhelming, so that learners can become more aware of their language output and build confidence over time.
- Appropriate use of humor
Intentional use of humor in the classroom can help relax the learning atmosphere (Ziyaeemehr et al., 2011), strengthen classroom rapport, boost learners’ self-image, and reduce the fear of negative evaluation or public mistakes when facing challenging communicative situations (He & Haji-Othman, 2024).
Types of humor that have both cognitive and affective functions may include: self-deprecating jokes, anecdotes, and playful language use (e.g., wordplay or register shifts). They can also be used to deliver corrective feedback (He & Haji-Othman, 2024), helping learners better remember the content and be less anxious about taking language-related risks.
However, humor needs to be applied thoughtfully in terms of cultural sensitiveness, pedagogical appropriateness, and individual preferences (Wang, 2014; Ziyaeemehr et al., 2011), as what’s funny to one learner may feel awkward or confusing to another.
Conclusion
Adult ESL learners bring rich experiences to the classroom, along with a mix of affective needs. Attention to learners’ emotional well-being is not only a theoretical concern but a pedagogical necessity. Focusing on language anxiety and WTC, this article identified three practical strategies that ESL teachers could adopt in the classroom to be better informed in responding to learners’ affective needs, fostering inclusive and effective language teaching that respects the emotional complexity and individual differences of each learner.
References
Bryfonski, L. & Mackey, A. (2024). The art and science of language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
He, D. & Haji-Othman, N. A. (2024). Anxiety in English language learning. In A. Cirocki, B. Indrarathne, & S. McCulloch, (Eds.), Cognitive and Educational Psychology for TESOL (pp. 309-329). Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/327317
Krashen, S.D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York: Longman.
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gregersen,T. (2012). Affect: The role of language anxiety and other emotions in language learning. In S. Mercer et al. (Eds.), Psychology for language learning (pp. 103–118). Palgrave Macmillan.
Pawlak, M. (2017). Chapter 2. Overview of learner individual differences and their mediating effects on the process and outcome of L2 interaction. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding Individual Difference Research in the Interaction Approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 19-40). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pawlak, M., Kruk, M., Zawodniak, J., & Pasikowski, S. (2020). Investigating factors responsible for boredom in English classes: The case of advanced learners. System, 91, 102259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102259
Sudina, E. (2023). Scale quality in second-language anxiety and WTC: A methodological synthesis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 45(5), 1427–1455. doi:10.1017/S0272263122000560
Wang, Y. (2014). Humor in British academic lectures and Chinese students’ perceptions of it. Journal of Pragmatics, 68, 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.05.003
Zhang, X. (2020). A Bibliometric Analysis of Second Language Acquisition Between 1997 and 2018. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(1), 199–222. doi:10.1017/S0272263119000573
Ziyaeemehr, A., Kumar, V., & Abdullah, M. S. F. (2011). Use and non-use of humor in academic ESL classrooms. English Language Teaching, 4(3), 111–119. doi:10.5539/elt.v4n3p111
