Predictors of Foreign-Language Anxiety: Examining the ...

proficiency scores of learners with high levels of anxiety are attributable to thenegative effects anxiety exerts on L2 learning and performance (MacIntyre, 1995a,b, 1999, 2002; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991b, 1994a, b; Horwitz, 2000, 2001), including(1) cognitive effects, as proposed by the cognitive interference model of anxiety(Eysenck, 1979; Sarason, 1984; Schwarzer, 1986; Wine, 1971, 1982), as well as (2)emotional reactions and behaviours which are counter-productive to languagelearning (Horwitz & Young 1991; MacIntyre, 1999; 2002).As an alternative interpretation, foreign language anxiety has been also consideredan effect or result, rather than a cause, of poor achievement in languagelearning (Sparks & Ganschow, 1991, 1995; Ganschow et al., 1994; Ganschow &Sparks, 1996; Sparks, Ganschow, & Javorsky, 2000), which point of view is consistentwith the skills deficit theory of the potential causes of social anxieties (i.e., theanxieties experienced in social encounters) (Leary, 1982). According to this hypothesis,people may become anxious in social settings because they lack the skillsnecessary for smooth, pleasant, and successful interaction (e.g., Bellack & Hersen,1979).As a consequence, they are likely to mismanage their interactions with others,which results in “awkward, strained, and otherwise aversive” encounters (Leary,1982, p. 105). Applying this to language learning, L2 learners may feel anxiousabout using the target language in and outside the classroom because they lack theskills and various competencies (e.g., linguistic, pragmalinguistic, sociocultural,etc.) necessary for smooth and pleasant interaction. As a third possibility it hasalso been suggested that the relationship between anxiety and achievement in theL2 is best seen as a cyclical or recursive, rather than a unidirectional one, whereeach influences the other and both are influenced by various other factors (MacIntyre,1995a; Horwitz, 2000). Therefore, what relative contribution L2 proficiencymakes to L2-related anxiety is a question yet to be addressed.Foreign language aptitude and FLAThe idea that foreign language aptitude may be a potential predictor of learners’anxiety about L2 learning and communication was proposed by Sparks and Ganschow,who urged FL researchers to examine the relationship between languageaptitude and FLA (Ganschow & Sparks, 1996; Sparks & Ganschow, 1995; Sparks etal., 2000). Based on their Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), accordingto which success or failure in L2 learning is essentially dependent on one’snative language (L1) learning ability rather than affective differences, they suggestthat FLA is largely a by-product or consequence of foreign language learningproblems/ difficulties rooted in L1 coding, that is, a learner’s anxiety about FLlearning and performance can be an indicator of a relatively weaker language ability,i.e., poorer competence in the phonological, syntactic, semantic codes of language(Sparks & Ganschow, 1991, 1996). This idea is based on findings indicatingthat learners with weaker language learning ability tend to score high on anxiety;consequently, their FLA may be related to their relatively poor language aptitudeand resulting language learning difficulties (Ganschow, Sparks, Javorsky,Tóth, Zs. Predictors of foreign-language anxiety 125