The Effect of Anxiety on University-Level L2 Learner Ability to Recall Items in the Lexicon

Abstract

This study examines the effect of anxiety-producing situations on the vocabulary output performance of second language (L2) learners. Two levels of learner anxiety, high anxiety and low anxiety, were identified using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). High-anxiety L2 students and low-anxiety L2 students, as measured by the FLCAS, were each asked to write down as many English vocabulary words beginning with ‘b’ as they could think of in two minutes in two anxiety-producing situations. Before they started, half of the high-anxiety students and half of the low-anxiety students were told that an average score on this English vocabulary recall test was ten words. The other half was told that it was forty words, aiming to increase their tension level. The findings show that foreign language anxiety generally led to deficits in output performance; however, the effect of high anxiety-producing situation on language learners could be viewed as facilitative.