Second Language Anxiety

Richard L. Sparks is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Graduate Education at Mount St. Joseph University, USA. His research interests include L2 aptitude, L1-L2 relationships, language and learning disabilities, and foreign language anxiety, and he has published extensively in foreign language and learning disability journals. He is the author of Exploring L1-L2 Relationships: The Impact of Individual Differences (Multilingual Matters, 2022).

• AcknowledgmentsPrelude: A Cautionary Tale about Causal ExplanationsRichard L. Sparks: Introduction and OverviewPart 1: Theoretical Insights into Language Anxiety: Is Language Anxiety Related to Students’ Levels of L1 Achievement, L2 Aptitude and L2 Achievement?Chapter 1. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: Foreign Language Learning Differences: Affective or Native Language Aptitude Differences?Chapter 2. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: A Strong Inference Approach to Causal Factors in Foreign Language Learning: A Response to MacIntyreChapter 3. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow, Reed Anderson, James Javorsky, Sue Skinner and Jon Patton: Differences in Language Performance among High-, Average-, and Low-Anxious College Foreign Language LearnersChapter 4. Leonore Ganschow and Richard L. Sparks: Anxiety about Foreign Language Learning among High School WomenChapter 5. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow, Marge Artzer, David Siebenhar and Mark Plageman: Language Anxiety and Proficiency in a Foreign LanguagePart 2: Do L2 Anxiety Scales Measure Anxiety or Language Ability?: Evidence from a Ten-Year Longitudinal StudyChapter 6. Richard L. Sparks and Leonore Ganschow: Is the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) Measuring Anxiety or Language Skills?Chapter 7. Richard L. Sparks and Jon Patton: Relationship of L1 Skills and L2 Aptitude to L2 Anxiety on the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ScalePart 3: L2 Reading Anxiety and Language Achievement: Déjà Vu All Over Again?Chapter 8. Richard L. Sparks, Leonore Ganschow and James Javorsky: Déjà Vu All Over Again: A Response to Saito, Horwitz and GarzaChapter 9. Richard L. Sparks, Julie Luebbers, Martha Castañeda and Jon Patton: High School Spanish Students and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety: Déjà Vu All Over Again All Over AgainChapter 10. Richard L. Sparks, Jon Patton and Julie Luebbers: L2 Anxiety and the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS): Listening to the EvidencePart 4: Is L2 Anxiety a Causal Variable for L2 Learning? Evidence from Studies Using Structural Equation Modeling and Latent Growth Curve ModelingChapter 11. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: Long-Term Impacts of L1 Language Skills on L2 Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Language Aptitude and L2 AchievementChapter 12. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: How Does First Language Achievement Impact Second Language Reading Anxiety? Exploration of Mediator VariablesChapter 13. Richard L. Sparks and Abdullah Alamer: It’s Not Anxiety that Predicts L2 Writing Growth, It’s L1 Writing Achievement: The Latent Growth Curve Model ApproachPart 5: Other Issues, Other Voices on Language Anxiety Chapter 14. Benjamin J. Lovett: General Problems with Anxiety Explanations: The Case of Test AnxietyChapter 15. Ekaterina Sudina: Scale Quality in L2 Anxiety Research: Issues and ChallengesChapter 16. Abdullah Alamer: The Mirage of Cause-and-Effect in Cross-Sectional Data: The Case of Language Anxiety ResearchRichard L. Sparks: Conclusions and ImplicationsAppendicesReferencesIndex

This book sheds new light on anxiety as an independent, dependent, or intervening variable in interaction with many others, predicting both learning and communication processes. It is a welcome addition to the individual differences literature that tends to focus on aptitude and motivation.