Foreign Language Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: Intermediate Korean as a Foreign Language Learners

Jee, Min Jung

doi:10.30961/lr.2019.55.2.431

Lang. Res. 55(2):431-456

pISSN: 0254-4474, eISSN: 2586-7113

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30961/lr.2019.55.2.431

Article

Foreign Language Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: Intermediate Korean as a Foreign Language Learners

Min Jung Jee ¹ ^, ^†

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹The University of Queensland

^*Corresponding Author : Lecturer (tenured/Assistant Professor), School of Languages and Cultures The University of Queensland 3rd Floor, Gordon Greenwood Building (#32), St. Lucia Qld 4072, Australia , E-mail: m.jee@uq.edu.au

ⓒ Copyright 2019 Language Education Institute, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Jun 13, 2019 ; Revised: Jul 28, 2019 ; Accepted: Aug 15, 2019

Published Online: Aug 31, 2019

ABSTRACT

This study examined the foreign language anxiety (FLA) and foreign language (FL) self-efficacy of learners of intermediate Korean as a foreign language (KFL), in relation to four language skills (i.e., speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Forty-one KFL students, enrolled in Second-year and Third-year level Korean courses at a university in Australia, completed an online questionnaire. The findings suggested that these students had moderate levels of FLA (M=2.78), especially regarding speaking (M=3.16) and listening (M=3.09). The students also showed high levels of self-efficacy in listening (M=3.66) and speaking (M=3.36). Positive correlations were found between FLA and the four skill-specific anxieties, with negative correlations between FLA and levels of self-efficacy in the four specific skills. Speaking self-efficacy was found to be the best predictor of FLA, and a lack of knowledge of Korean was revealed to be the major source of anxiety across all four skills. The students also felt confident when performing routine class activities.

Keywords: Korean as a foreign language learners; foreign language anxiety; foreign language self-efficacy; individual learner differences; intermediate Korean language learners

References

ACTFL. (2012). ACTFL proficiency guidelines [Electronic version]. Retrieved from http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines2012_- FINAL.pdf .

Ahn, Hanna. (2018). A study on affective characteristics of Korean language learners: Focusing on aspects of transition in self-esteem, self-efficacy, and anxiety for special-purpose learners. Language and Culture 14(2), 27-54 .

Anyadubalu, Christopher C. (2010). Self-efficacy, anxiety, and performance in the English language among middle-school students in English language program in Satri Si Suriyothai School, Bangkok. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 39, 1043-1048 .

Bandura, Albert. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .

Bandura, Albert. (1988). Self-efficacy conception of anxiety. Anxiety Research 1, 77-98 .

Bandura, Albert. (1997). SElf-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman .

Cheng, Yuh Show. (2004). A measure of second language writing anxiety: Scale development and preliminary validation. Journal of Second Language Writing 13(4), 313-335 .

Cheng, Yuh Show., Horwitz, Elaine K. and Schallert, Diane L. (1999). Language anxiety: Differentiating writing and speaking components. Language Learning 49(3), 417-446 .

Clément, Richard., Dörnyei, Zoltán and Noels, Kimberly A. (1994). Motivation, self-confidence and group cohesion in the foreign language classroom. Language Learning 44(3), 417-448 .

10.

Çubukçu, Feryal. (2008). A study on the correlation between self-efficacy and foreign language learning anxiety. Journal of Theory and Practice in Education 4(1), 148-158 .

11.

Gahungu, Olive. (2010). Are self-efficacy, language learning strategies, and foreign language ability interrelated? The Buckingham Journal of Language and Linguistics 2, 47-60 .

12.

Gardner, Robert C., Tremblay, Paul F. and Masgoret, Anne-Marie M. (1997). Towards a full model of second language learning: An empirical investigation. Modern Language Journal 81, 344-362 .

13.

Horwitz, Elaine K., Horwitz, Michael B. and Cope, Joann. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal 70, 125-132 .

14.

Jee, Min Jung. (2012). Effects of language anxiety on three levels of classes of Korean as a foreign language. Journal of Korean Language Education 23(2), 467-487 .

15.

Jee, Min Jung. (2014). Affective factors in Korean as a Foreign Language: Anxiety and beliefs. Language, Culture and Curriculum 27(2), 182-195 .

16.

Jee, Min Jung. (2015). Language learners' strategy use and self-efficacy: Korean heritage learners versus non-heritage learners. Language Research 51(1), 167-195 .

17.

Jee, Min Jung. (2017). Examining beliefs about language learning in relation to perceived linguistic self-confidence: Learners of Korean as a foreign language in Australia. Linguistic Research 34(Special Edition), 25-48 .

18.

Jee, Min Jung. (2018a). Four skill-based foreign language anxieties: Learners of Korean in Australia. Linguistic Research 35(Special Edition), 23-45 .

19.

Jee, Min Jung. (2018b). Foreign language anxiety in relation to affective variables: Learners of Korean as a foreign language in Australia. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 41(3), 328-348 .

20.

Kang, Gwi-Jong and Cho, Wi-Su. (2018). Analysis of learning motivation and self-efficacy of students who learn Korean: Focus on Vietnamese students who learn Korean. Journal of Learner-Centred Curriculum and Instruction 18(6), 231-252 .

21.

Kim, Joo-Hae. (2000). Foreign Language Listening Anxiety: A Study of Korean Students Learning English. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin .

22.

Kitano, Kazu. (2001). Anxiety in the college Japanese language classroom. The Modern Language Journal 85(4), 549-566 .

23.

Kwon, Youjin and Kim, Youngjoo. (2011). The influence of foreign language anxiety and risk-taking on the achievement in Korean language learners. Bilingual Research 45, 27-49 .

24.

MacIntyre, Peter D. and Gardner, Robert C. (1991). Language anxiety: Its relationship to other anxieties and to processing in native and second languages. Language Learning 41, 513-534 .

25.

MacIntyre, Peter D., Noels, Kimberly A. and Clément, Richard. (1997). Biases in self-ratings of second language proficiency: The role of language anxiety. Language Learning 47, 265-287 .

26.

Magogwe, Joel and Oliver, Rhonda. (2007). The relationship between language learning strategies, proficiency, age and self-efficacy beliefs: A study of language learners in Botswana. System 35, 338-352 .

27.

Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J., Bailey, Phillip and Daley, Christine E. (1999). Factors associated with foreign language anxiety. Applied Psycholinguistics 20, 217-239 .

28.

Oxford, Rebecca. (1999). Anxiety and the language learner: New insights. In Jane Arnold, ed., Affect in Language Learning, 58-67. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .

29.

Pae, Tae-Il. (2013). Skill-based L2 anxieties revisited: Their intra-relations and the inter-relations with general foreign language anxiety. Applied Linguistics 34, 232-252 .

30.

Park, Gi-Pyo and French, Brien. F. (2013). Gender differences in the foreign language classroom anxiety scale. System 41(2), 462-471 .

31.

Piniel, Katalin and Csizér, Kata. (2013). L2 motivation, anxiety and self-efficacy: The interrelationship of individual variables in the secondary school context. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 3(4), 523-550 .

32.

Pintrich, Paul R. (1999). The role of motivation in promoting and sustaining self-regulated learning. International Journal of Educational Research 31, 459-470 .

33.

Pyun, Danielle Ooyoung., Kim, Jung-Sup., Cho, Hyun-Yong and Lee, Jung-Hee. (2014). Impact of affective variables on Korean as a foreign language learners' oral achievement. System 47, 53-63 .

34.

Saito, Yoshiko and Samimy, Keiko. (1996). Foreign language anxiety and language performance: A study of learner anxiety in beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level college students of Japanese. Foreign Language Annals 29(2), 239-249 .

35.

Saito, Yoshiko., Garza, Thomas J. and Horwitz, Elaine K. (1999). Foreign language reading anxiety. Modern Language Journal 83(2), 202-218 .

36.

Shin, Seong-Chul. (2010). The current state of Korean language education in Australian schools. Melbourne, Vic, Australia: Education Services Australia. Retrieved from http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/NALSSP/Pages/Resources.aspx .

37.

Shon, Sunghee and Jeon, Nayoung. (2011). A study of language learning motivation of Korean language learners. Journal of Korean Language Education 22(3), 133-152 .

38.

Shon, Sunghee and Jeon, Nayoung. (2013). A study of achievement goal orientation and self-efficacy among Korean language learners. Journal of Korean Language Education 24(2), 181-203 .

39.

Torres, Kelly M. and Turner, Jeannine E. (2016). Students' foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs across different levels of university foreign language coursework. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching 3(1), 57-73 .

40.

Tremblay, Paul F. and Gardner, Robert C. (1995). Expanding the motivation construct in language learning. Modern Language Journal 79, 505-518 .

41.

Tsai, Cheng-Chang. (2013). The impact of foreign language anxiety, test anxiety, and self-efficacy among senior high school students in Taiwan. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research 1(3), 1-17 .

42.

Wong, Mary Siew-Lian. (2005). Language learning strategies and language self-efficacy. Regional Language Centre Journal 36(3), 245-269 .

43.

Woodrow, Lindy. (2006). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. Regional Language Centre Journal 37, 308-328 .

44.

Yilmaz, Cevdet. (2010). The relationship between language learning strategies, gender, proficiency and self-efficacy beliefs: A study of ELT learners in Turkey. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2, 682-687 .