A Case Study of Anxiety in the Spanish Classroom in Australia

Abstract

This study investigates the links between anxiety during oral activities in the Spanish language classroom and the teacher’s role, as well as the strategies students use to cope with their anxiety. Most of the studies on language anxiety have focused on beginner groups; however, such anxiety is not limited to just that group. As this study has found, second-year students learning Spanish also experience a certain level of anxiety, many times caused by different factors from those that might have caused them anxiety in their first year of learning. This study uses different methodologies to investigate those factors, including a journal and a semi-structured interview. Based on the results, this study shows some strategies that students use to overcome anxiety, and ways for teachers to effectively support students in their learning process.