Chapter 10 – Facing Fears and Finding Opportunities
Chapter 10 – Facing Fears and Finding Opportunities
“Hitting a Wall”: What to Do about Anxiety and Motivation?
Faith Adler; Bibi Halima; and Keli Yerian
Preview Questions
- What is second language anxiety and how can we try to overcome it?
- What does it mean to hit a language plateau?
- How can we stay motivated to continue learning a language?
We addressed many language learning myths throughout the text, but we want to address one more with you here to close: the myth that language learning can be quick and easy. You’ve likely seen the “Learn a language in JUST A WEEK!” style articles and videos, and as nice as it would be if it were true, it isn’t quite so simple. You’ll go through many ups and downs as you go through the experience of language learning. Some days, you’ll be able to focus on the language for hours without issue, and the next you might struggle just to keep your Babbel or Duolingo streak going. It can be easy to get discouraged with a process that moves so slowly in a world that demands instant gratification.
Think back
Do you recall the fixed and growth mindsets discussed in Chapter One? Learning a language can sometimes feel like a slippery slope. Just when you think you’ve memorized all the vocabulary you need to talk about something you love, you might stumble to recall vocabulary as you try to talk about it later with a friend. It can be easy to become discouraged and fall into a fixed mindset. However, adoption of a growth mindset can help us to engage in the metacognitive cycle and trust that success will come with time.
Second Language Anxiety
We’re all familiar with the feeling. Or the teacher begins calling on students to translate sentences on the board, and you feel your stomach drop. As language learners, we’ve all faced countless situations where we’ve known what we’re supposed to say but when the time comes the words just won’t come out or our mind seems to go blank.
Anxiety is our mind’s way of preparing us for negative consequences (such as negative judgement from others or our inability to express ourselves) that may or may not occur in the near future. Anxiety is our body’s way of protecting us from situations that it interprets as dangerous or unpleasant. However, in the case of L2 learning, anxiety can negatively impact us as learners and be detrimental to our growth.
Papi and Khajavi (2023) tell us that Second Language Anxiety can lead language learners to freeze up, tremble, or sweat when they need to perform in their second language. Despite how it may feel, you are not alone in any Second Language Anxiety you may experience. So how can we overcome this feeling?
First, we should ask ourselves what are the contexts in which we experience the highest levels of Second Language Anxiety. Think, do you feel anxious when you are talking to a friend casually? When submitting an essay? Ordering at a restaurant? Next, we can break this down to look at what it is about those situations that makes us anxious. Is i