A mixed-methods study on the effects of manipulated speaking anxiety on L2 utterance and L2 cognitive fluency

Abstract

Although the debilitative effect of foreign language anxiety (FLA) on second-language (L2) performance and L2 speaking has repeatedly been shown, it is unclear in what way FLA affects L2 fluency and the speech production processes that lead to (dis)fluency. The current study investigates the effect of FLA on the utterance fluency of Dutch learners of L2 English and their (recalled) speech production processes (cognitive fluency). Using an experiment with a within-subjects design, 22 L2 learners performed two speaking tasks in a high and low anxiety condition. Their L2 utterance fluency was explored quantitatively by calculating temporal measures, whereas cognitive fluency was explored qualitatively using stimulated recalls, for a subset of seven students. Additionally, participants reported on their experiences during the speaking tasks. It was found that in general, they felt more anxious in the high anxiety condition and judged their performance as lower compared to the low anxiety condition. Of all fluency indices, results showed an effect for filled pauses only. Additionally, heightened anxiety was significantly related to more use of silent pauses. Finally, the stimulated recalls revealed a difference in the number and quality of processing issues between the anxiety conditions, as participants reported more issues related to the content of the message in the high-anxiety condition compared to the low-anxiety condition. This finding contrasts with predominant hypotheses, which state that anxiety primarily impacts linguistic formulation. Thus, this finding calls for experimental research with different ways to manipulate anxiety within participants to further investigate how anxiety impacts cognitive fluency.

Keywords

• foreign language anxiety
• l2 learner
• l2 utterance fluency
• l2 cognitive fluency
• stimulated recall