In classrooms all over the world, there are students who fear the attention of both teachers and peers alike. Anxiety is a cause for such fears and in foreign language classrooms it can be prevalent. Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is a concept developed by Horwitz et al (1986) to describe the unique anxiety that arises in a foreign language learning situation. Anxious students are less prone to use their target language and feel less motivated in their language studies, both of which have a negative effect on their learning. The aim of this study was to measure and compare anxiety levels among Swedish lower and upper secondary school students, identify major sources of anxiety and gain understanding of individuals’ perception of foreign language anxiety. 49 subjects from two classes participated in the study. Their anxiety was measured with the foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al (1986). Interviews were used to gain insight into the subjects’ perception of foreign language anxiety. The results showed that a majority of the subjects were anxious and that students in the lower secondary school class were more anxious than the upper secondary school class. The identified major sources of anxiety were teacher-induced anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and general anxiety. / I klassrum över hela världen finns det elever som är rädda för både lärarens och sina klasskamraters uppmärksamhet. Nervositet är en orsak till en sådan rädsla och kan vara vanligt i främmandespråkklassrum. Språkängslan inför främmande språk är ett begrepp utvecklat av Horwitz m. fl. (1986) för att beskriva den unika nervositet som uppstår vid lärande av främmande språk. Nervösa elever är mindre benägna att använda språket de lär sig och känner sig mindre motiverade att lära sig och båda sakerna har en negativ effekt på deras inlärning. Syftet med studien var att mäta och jämföra nervositetsnivåer bland svenska högstadie- och gymnasieelever, identifiera de största källorna till nervositet och få förståelse för elevers uppfattning av nervositet. 49 elever från två klasser deltog i studien. Deras nervositet mättes med skalan för språknervositet i samband med undervisning i främmande språk, utvecklad av Horwitz m fl (1986). Intervjuer användes för att få insikt i deltagarnas uppfattning om språknervositet inför främmande språk. Resultatet visade att en majoritet av deltagarna led av språknervositet och att högstadieeleverna i högre grad var nervösa än gymnasieeleverna. De största källorna till nervositet som identifierades var lärarorsakad nervositet, rädsla för negativt omdöme och generell nervositet.

This comparative study aims to discover and demonstrate the potential relationship between foreign language speaking anxiety and course level among 183 students from three consecutive courses of English as a foreign language, i.e. English 5, 6, and 7, at three upper secondary schools in the South of Sweden. Accordingly, a survey was distributed in order to account for demographic information about the students, such as course level, age, and sex, to determine the students’ oral proficiency levels, and to assess the students’ anxiety levels in relation to 33 anxiety-provoking classroom situations. The results showed that Swedish upper secondary students are not particularly anxious regardless of course level, save that the students in English 5 would feel less comfortable around native speakers of English, although not to an extent which would indicate anxiety, and that the students in English 7 would, in contrast to the other course levels, experience high levels of anxiety when volunteering answers and being called on in class. However, the most notable differences were found between the genders and between the students with high and low oral proficiency levels. Female students generally showed higher levels of anxiety than male students did. Yet, in most cases, the difference did not suggest that one of the genders was anxious while the other one was not. In terms of oral proficiency levels, the students with low oral proficiency showed higher levels of anxiety, often to the extent that they would be anxious while the ones with high proficiency would not. Thus, the levels of anxiety seem to depend on gender and oral proficiency more than the students’ course levels.

This study sought eight grade students’ experiences of verbal production in the English classroom. From the perspectives of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and willingness to communicate (WTC), what are the students' experiences of verbal production, in what situations are students willing to communicate and in what situations are they not? A quantitative study was conducted using a self-report paper questionnaire, consisting of Nilsson’s (2019) modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) in conjunction with open-ended questions. The result indicates that verbal production causes a high level of foreign language anxiety, and that the students' willingness to communicate increases and decreases depending on stable and situational variables that influence a student's willingness to use their L2. The findings of this study are beneficial to English teachers by raising awareness of FLA and WTC and their presence in our classrooms. The greatest beneficiary of this study is L2 language teachers, who will be inspired to create a classroom environment where the students seek opportunities to engage in verbal production.

Anyone who has been learning a new language knows the feeling of anxiety when facedwith the task to use it in the classroom and in real life. Foreign Language Anxiety isconcept developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) to describe and measure this specific form ofanxiety. In this study, the anxiety levels of a class of Chinese senior middle schoolstudents taking an English class have been measured. The levels were measuredaccording to the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale, developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). 59informants participated in the study. The data were analysed to find which factors invokethe most anxiety. To gather qualitative data and gain further insight, two sets of groupinterviews were performed. The results show that a majority of the students suffer fromanxiety in class. Teacher-generated anxiety seems to be the most provoking factoraccording to the analysis. / Alla som har studerat ett främmande språk känner igen den ängslan man upplever närspråket ska användas i klassrummet eller i en autentisk situation. Språkängslan införfrämmande språk är ett begrepp som utvecklats av Horwitz et al. (1986) för att beskrivaoch mäta den här specifika formen av ängslan. I den här studien har nivån av ängslan ien kinesisk högstadieklass som studerar engelska mätts. Nivån har mätts i enlighet medskalan för språkängslan i samband med undervisning i främmande språk (författarensöversättning) utvecklad av Horwitz et al. (1986). 59 informanter deltog i studien. Datananalyserades för att se vilka faktorer som framkallar mest ängslan. För att samlakvalitativ data och få djupare insyn genomfördes också två gruppintervjuer. Resultatetvisar att en majoritet av studenterna lider av ängslan i klassrummet. Lärargenereradängslan är den mest bidragande faktorn enligt analysen.