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Nonverbal Cues: Clues to the Detection of Foreign Language Anxiety
Abstract
This observation study examined the nonverbal behavior of anxious and nonanxious foreign language learners during a videotaped oral foreign language exam. Focusing primarily on the kinesic signals found in facial expressions, gazing behavior, body movement and gesture, and posture, it was discovered that anxious learners manifested limited facial activity including brow behavior and smiling; maintained less eye contact with the teacher; were more rigid and closed with their posture; and, although they self-touched and manipulated objects more than the nonanxious, they used fewer illustrative and regulatory gestures. Although significant differences were found, limitations for using nonverbal observation for detecting anxiety are discussed.
... Besides, it is also stated that the components have to do with strong speaking anxiety (Puškar, 2010). In addition, they are mostly used as the basis for foreign language anxiety measurement (see Onwuegbuzie et al., 1999;Gregersen, 2005;Ezzi, 2012). ...
... Its relation to speaking has also been concerned, which provides novel insights into the association of language anxiety and oral performance (Gregersen & Horwitz, 2002;Woodrow, 2006;Ewald, 2007;Hewitt & Stephenson, 2011). Furthermore, in oral presentations, non-verbal cues of anxious language learners are also examined (Gregersen, 2005(Gregersen, & 2009. ...
... The questionnaire, adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope's FLCAS (1986), was to gauge the learners' language anxiety and to choose seven learners with the highest level of anxiety as participants of the interview. The selection of the FLCAS was based on a consideration that it is reported to be valid and reliable in addressing foreign language anxiety (Onwuegbuzie et al., 1999;Gregersen, 2005;Ezzi, 2012). ...
Anxiety-trigerring conditions that can facilitate and debilitate learning must be made known to teachers. Besides, studies comparing foreign language anxiety in rural and urban areas are inconclusive and incongruous. Thus, this study is intended to explore learners’ language anxiety in speaking performance at urban and rural high schools. The investigation of language anxiety particularly addresses the extent of language anxiety, the anxiety factors as well as the relationship among language anxiety, school sites, and speaking. This study utilized a questionnaire, a test, and a learner interview to collect data by involving urban and rural school. Quantitative data analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics to find out learners’ language anxiety levels, and through Multiple Regression Correlation (MRC) to determine the relationship among the variables. Qualitative data analysis was conducted in relation to language anxiety sources by generating broad themes from the interview. The analysis revealed that (1) the extent of learners’ language anxiety was distinct from one another and subject to certain circumstances and their anxiety sensitivity; (2) four factors causing language anxiety were discovered; and (3) a new insight into the correlation between urban and rural learners, language anxiety, and speaking was noticeable. These findings suggest that teachers recognize the circumstances leading to anxiety, which is a basis for successful language acquisition and learning.
... In addition to acoustic cues, behavioral signals, such as facial expressions, gazing behaviors, body movements, gestures, and postures, were recorded as indices of anxiety state (Gregersen, 2005). Anxious learners were reported to have limited facial activities (e.g., few smiles and brow movements), to maintain less eye contact with a teacher, to be more rigid, and to use fewer illustrative and regulatory gestures than their non-anxious counterparts. ...
... The recorded speech signal processing and feature extraction were performed with an in-house-developed pipeline (Gu et al., 2017;Jiang et al., 2019) in MATLAB (Mathworks, Natick, MA, USA). According to the scoring manual, two independent raters coded the kinesic features, the rating standard of which was stipulated beforehand in line with a previous study (Gregersen, 2005) and empirical data collected earlier (from the five subjects in the pilot analysis). ...
... Referring to the variables listed in microanalysis of nonverbal behaviors by Harrigan et al. (2010), and the findings of a study that compared the nonverbal behaviors of anxious and non-anxious foreign language learners during a videotaped oral foreign language exam by Gregersen (2005), the kinesic measures were formulated for both perspectives (Table 2). ...
Delivering presentations in English class is an anxiety-provoking activity for English learners. However, the anxiety states of foreign language learners in such a public speaking task are largely subjective and may not be apparent to observers. Therefore, this study aims to explore the acoustic and kinesic indicators that are related to speakers’ real-time self-rated and observer-rated anxiety states of presenters from both perspectives. Seventy undergraduates from non-English majors in China were recruited to give English presentations in class while being video-recorded. Speakers’ anxiety states were measured with the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) by speakers and observers immediately after presentations. The acoustic parameters of audio data were automatically extracted by a computer program, and the kinesic features of visual data were coded by independent raters with robust inter-rater reliability. The results showed a positive correlation between two subjective perspectives on the presenter’s anxiety levels but a discrepancy in terms of specific nonverbal signals. Other-perceived anxiety that was originated from both audio and visual modalities was positively correlated with body tension, the standard deviation of the first formant, and negatively correlated with head-turning. Self-perceived anxiety only originated from the audio modality, i.e. mean fundamental frequency and standard deviation of the first formant. This study assesses the anxiety-related recognition model of speech and kinesics in a setting of English class presentations, contributing to the automatic and real-time computation of learners’ negative emotions in a foreign language classroom.
... panic, shivering, sweating, fast heart beat, restless sleep) appear as a result of anxiety in learners who suffer from it. Gregersen (2005) also pinpointed nonverbal physical differences in anxious learners' behavior compared to those who feel more at ease: differences as less facial and brow expressions, making less eye contact with their teacher, restless body posture, less hand movement to express what they mean, and more eye blinks. in the wake of anxiety, psychological symptoms roll up, which last long and take some doing to subside. ...
... Added to this, Kim and Tracy-Ventura (2011) found that highly anxious learners were almost always less accurate when it came to using simple past tense. To all intents and purposes, if anxiety arises, that is FL communication that becomes restricted, and ficial expressions consequenly decline (Gregersen T. S., 2005). ...
Purpose
A couple of decades ago, the negotiated syllabus was introduced as an alternative to the predetermined syllabus. The review of the related studies shows the number of studies on the use of negotiated syllabus in English language teaching is scanty. The main purpose of the study was to explore the advantages/merits of employing negotiated syllabus in general English courses that undergraduate students take.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed the phenomenology research method to deeply delve into the undergraduate students' perceptions of the advantages of the negotiated syllabus. The phenomenology method is used for investigating human lived experiences through the descriptions given by the people involved in the study. This qualitative research method is mainly used to study fields with little or no knowledge. The authors collected the data through in-depth interviews with the informants (18 students) who were selected through theoretical sampling. The informants were undergraduate students at Allameh Tabataba'i University who were selected through theoretical sampling. The authors listened to the recordings to transcribe the participants' statements and remarks verbatim. Then, we analyzed the interviews thematically through open, axial and selective coding. This study aimed at exploring the participants' perspectives on the advantages of the negotiated Syllabus. The study's main objective was to investigate the advantages/merits of employing negotiated Syllabus in undergraduate students' general English courses.
Findings
Findings revealed that employing the negotiated syllabus resulted in many advantages which were reduced into three axial coding: psychological, pedagogical and individual. Generally, the negotiated syllabus reduces the students' anxiety, improves their motivation, affects their language achievement and develops their critical thinking and learner autonomy.
Practical implications
Teachers are recommended to minimize the constraints and use the negotiated syllabus to optimize language learners' motivation and language achievement in teaching English programs.
Originality/value
The impact of the negotiated syllabus on language learners has been investigated through quantitative research methods. However, the language learners' perceptions of the negotiated syllabus have not been well explored qualitatively.
... Horwitz, 2017;Naudhani at al., 2018;Oteir & Al-Otaibi, 2019). On the other hand, almost all anxiety studies agree that most of the anxiety is associated with language teachers' behaviour towards their students (such as Gregersen, 2005;Horwitz, 2017;Malik at al., 2020;Marwan, 2016;Milan, 2019). Therefore, it seems imperative to explore the kinds of teacher behaviour that could alleviate students' speaking anxiety (SA) in order that students' English learning in general and spoken competency in particular may be developed. ...
... Additionally, an open, warm, social and comfortable classroom environment has been reported useful in reducing SA. For instance, Gregersen (2005)reported that language teachers can alleviate their students' SA by providing them with a sociable and comfortable classroom. Similarly, Tsui (1996), Milan (2019) and Marwan (2016) suggested for teachers that a comfortable and friendly classroom atmosphere discourages many sources of SA. ...
... In addition to the value, students' level of anxiety during learning, either high or low, also has varying degrees of impact on their learning motivation, learning attitudes, learning achievement, and language learning processes [52,53]. Students may even exhibit avoiding behaviors (like missing class) when they have negative feelings toward or have an aversion to learning foreign languages [54]. Studies have also found that females experience more anxiety than males when learning foreign languages [55,56]. ...
Thai has its own unique spelling system and grammatical rules. Its word order is quite different from that of Mandarin and English, thus making it more difficult for students in Taiwan to learn. Past studies also point out that learning word order is one of the most difficult aspects when learning foreign languages. As science and technology advance, emerging technologies have been widely applied in foreign language learning. This research aims to explore the effect of using a multi-language VR learning assessment system on assisting Thai learners to learn grammatical word order, and to investigate the correlates between Thai self-efficacy, Thai language anxiety, word order learning retention, and task value of VR learning. In order to accomplish this purpose, we invited Thai learners who took Thai courses in the continuing education division of a national university in northern Taiwan to participate in a 5-week teaching experiment, during which the participants were asked to practice Thai word order for 20 min. They were administered a questionnaire to fill out after five weeks of practice and were tested for retention one month after the experiment. A total of 84 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective return rate of 93.3%. Of the respondents, 30 were male (35.7%), and 54 were female (64.3%). The data were subjected to item analysis, reliability and validity analysis, and then underwent PLS-SEM for research model validation. The results revealed that: (1) Thai language self-efficacy was positively related to learning retention and task value; (2) Thai language anxiety was negatively related to learning retention and task value; (3) Learning retention was positively related to the task value of learning and continuous usage intention.
... Culture influences the way people communicate verbally and through their nonverbal communications, including via facial expressions, voice tone, or gestures (Gregersen, 2005). People subconsciously rely on their culturally accepted ways of doing things, ways of interpreting information, and preferences for interpersonal interactions. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated people’s desire for more immersive ways to connect with others. With the creation of the metaverse, some companies (e.g. Google, Microsoft, Apple)have begun experimenting with immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Haptic(i.e. touch) technology where users can navigate metaverse platforms as personalised avatars. Immersive technologies that integrate the physical world with digital or simulated reality enable a user to naturally interact with the blended reality. Against this backdrop, this brief (i) highlights how sexual violence in the metaverse occurs, (ii) examines the psychological impacts of sexual violence in the metaverse, and (iii) discusses implications for sexuality education, and the shared responsibility of digital developers, policymakers, VR headset owners, and society.
... In recent years, anxiety associated with learning a foreign language or a second language has become a primary consideration and researchers have presented varying perspectives on this topic for a long time (Tran, 2012). In addition, it has been reported in some studies that students with foreign language anxiety will see learning as a troublesome and boring activity (Gregersen, 2005). In their study, Horwitz et al. (1986) noted that FLA (foreign language anxiety) is "a distinct complex construct of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of language learning process" (p. ...
This study investigated the writing anxiety of second language learners and analyzed the positive and negative implications of this concern. The research examined anxiety, foreign language anxiety, and the primary functions of writing anxiety. To view this topic from the students' perspective, 94 secondary and high school students from Stirling Schools in Iraq and university students from TISHK International University completed a questionnaire. According to the survey findings, writing anxiety has beneficial and harmful effects on children. The children were not adversely affected by the feedback of their peers and educators, which was an unexpected finding. Another remarkable result is that many pupils had writing anxiety due to inadequate grammar and vocabulary. The most striking and gratifying outcome is that students believe they are more successful when writing on themes they enjoy and are familiar with. In this way, their writing anxiety decreases, and they can produce more productive work.
... Deception, for example, may be marked by a decreased frequency of blinks (Fukuda, 2001). In the context of second language research, anxious L2 speakers have been found to blink slightly more frequently than at ease test takers in both paired discussion tasks and in speaking test contexts (Gregersen, 2005). Blinks were also found to occur slightly more frequently during moments of nonunderstanding , which might relate tangentially to concomitant spikes in cognitive load, though a replication of this study found no differences in blinking frequency between understanding episodes . ...
The effects of question or task complexity on second language speaking have traditionally been investigated using complexity, accuracy, and fluency measures. Response processes in speaking tests, however, may manifest in other ways, such as through nonverbal behavior. Eye behavior, in the form of averted gaze or blinking frequency, has been found to play an important role in regulating information in studies on human cognition, and it may therefore be an important subconscious signal of test question difficulty in language testing. In this study, 15 CEFR B2/C1-level-English learners took a Zoom-based English test with ten questions spanning six CEFR complexity levels. The participants’ eye behaviors were recorded and analyzed between the moment the test question ended and the beginning of their response. The participants additionally provided self-report data on their perceptions of test-question difficulty. Results indicated that as test questions increased in difficulty, participants were more likely to avert their gaze from the interlocutor. They did not, however, blink more frequently as difficulty changed. These results have methodological implications for research on test validation and the study of nonverbal behavior in speaking tests.
... Second language anxiety is responsible for uncomfortable learning experiences and plays a critical role in second language learning. Second language anxiety substantially affects second language achievement, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing (Horwitz, 1986;Gregersen, 2005;Li and Wei, 2022). Second language Frontiers in Psychology 02 frontiersin.org ...
Sleep quality, personality, and cognitive load potentially increase second language writing (SLW) anxiety and subsequently affect SLW achievement. This study investigates the predictions of sleep quality, personality (social inhibition/ negative affectivity), and cognitive load (content/ computer) toward SLW anxiety and achievement in a computer-based test. Participants included 172 voluntary undergraduates majoring in English as foreign language. SLW anxiety in a computer-based test, sleep disturbance, personality and cognitive load was assessed with the SLW Anxiety Inventory, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Type-D Personality, and cognitive load questionnaires. A structural equation modeling approach was applied to examine the interdependence among the observed variables. An adequate-fit SLW anxiety model was built ( X ² = 6.37, df = 6, p = 0.383, NFI = 0.97, CFI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.02; R-squared multiple correlations: SLW anxiety in a computer-based test = 0.19, computer-based SLW achievement = 0.07). The structural model showed that sleep disturbance (+0.17), social inhibition personality (+0.31), and computer-induced cognitive load (+0.16) were significant predictors of SLW anxiety in a computer-based test. Subsequently, SLW anxiety in a computer-based test (−0.16) and computer-induced cognitive load (−0.16) were significant negative predictors of computer-based SLW achievement.
... When it occurs, they will be afraid of expressing themselves and ideas orally (Basic, 2011;Akkakoson, 2016). In addition, the learners feeling anxious in their foreign language learning may find their study less enjoyable (Gregersen, 2005;Marwan, 2007). It makes them unable to focus on the learning process. ...
In the last few decades, foreign language speaking anxiety (hereafter, FLSA) has been a debatable investigative issue among linguists and TESOL practitioners. One of the most salient factors is it generates an incapacitating impact for speakers to communicate orally in English as a foreign language. However, delving learning activities as a cause of FLSA and its solutions, notably in Indonesian secondary school level remains scarce. To fill the void, this study scrutinized the specific learning activities causing learners' FLSA in the classroom and the solutions to resolve them. Three junior high school learners were recruited as the participants. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically (Braun & Clarke, 2006). On the one hand, the findings outlined that the students suffered from FLSA when they engaged in questions and answer session of the classroom English language learning activities and speaking performance activities. On the other hand, the solutions of such FLSA encompassed focusing on the learning process and ignoring the disruptive behaviour of their classmates. Pedagogically, creating a less anxious atmosphere of learning English speaking practices enables students to successfully acquire English language skills (e.g., speaking) and adapt to appropriate social and academic milieu.
... When L2 speakers feel anxious, they tend to speak in utterances that lack sufficient detail, avoid claiming or volunteering a turn, and provide frequent backchannels as a way of evading an extended turn (Ely, 1986;Steinberg & Horwitz, 1986). Anxious speakers also appear to avoid eye contact, engage in fidgeting, and display fixed facial expressions and unnatural or rigid body postures (Gregersen, 2005). These linguistic and nonlinguistic markers of communication anxiety may have been salient to the speakers to the extent that these markers impacted their collaboration ratings. ...
Conversation is a co-constructed social activity, and interlocutors, including second language (L2) speakers, frequently align in their linguistic and nonlinguistic behaviors to create shared understanding. Given that L2 speakers make assumptions about their interlocutors, this exploratory study examines whether their perceptions about linguistic, socio-affective, and behavioral dimensions of interaction align. It also explores whether such alignment is related to
their agreement about the success of the conversation. Eighty-four pairs of L2 English university students completed a 10-minute academic discussion task, subsequently rating each other’s
comprehensibility, fluency, anxiety, motivation, and collaboration. At the end of a 30-minute session, they also assessed thecommunicative success of their conversational experience. Speakers were generally aligned in their evaluations of each other and in their perception of
communicative success, with alignment operationalized as the difference between the partners’ scores. Although alignment in all dimensions of interaction was associated with perceived
communicative success, collaboration had the strongest relationship (.40 or 16% shared variance). The findings provide preliminary evidence that L2 speakers’ alignment in perceived dimensions of interaction, particularly collaboration, is associated with their perceived communicative success.
... Worde (1998) argues that more than half of foreign language learners encounter anxiety in the process of English learning. Students who perceive anxiety may find the process of learning to be less enjoyable (Gregersen, 2005). Even worse, for the anxious English learners, they tend not to engage in any activities that make them anxious (Pappamihiel, 2002). ...
The effort to enhance students’ engagement in the EFL classroom is still becoming an issue. Fortunately, some studies have shown a positive correlation between technology utilization to elevate the students’ engagement. Based on that potential finding, this study aims at digging out the impact of Mentimeter, as one of the popular tools in this recent time, on EFL students’ engagement. It is a descriptive qualitative study. There are 70 respondents of the non-English students that were selected by using purposive sampling. The results of the study reveal that there are three most prominent students' positive perception towards the implementation of Mentimeter in the EFL classroom, namely practicality, anonymity, and freedom. Those three aspects foster the students to be engaged in the process of English learning. Then, most students perceive that no reason makes them dislike Mentimeter usage in the EFL classroom. The next finding depicts a significant impact of Mentimeter on the students’ engagement in English learning by giving opinions and discussion activities. It was proven with the percentage of students’ participation, reaching 82% and 91%, above the average of Mentimeter participants’ contribution.
... Sobre esto último, hay que señalar que la evolución porcentual de los valores de las respuestas es limitada. Con todo, también destacan la afinidad emocional en lo que compete a la interacción entre unos y otros, quizás relacionados con la ansiedad (Horwitz, Horwitz, y Cope, 1986;Gregersen, 2005) generada por cometer errores. Por último, prefieren interactuar con otros compañeros con un nivel idiomático igual (4,2) o menor (4,1) al suyo. ...
... Studies have also suggested that interlocutors may use object-and self-adaptors to make dispositional inferences as it is believed that adapters may reflect unconscious feelings and thoughts (Mahl, 1968;Ekman & Friesen, 1974). In the context of second language speaking, research has shown that anxious EAL speakers increase the use of self-and object-adaptors (Gregersen, 2005). Therefore, it is possible to postulate that the high number of adaptors produced by test-takers 1 and 6 may have influenced how examiners A and F assessed the test-takers' performances in the face-to-face speaking tests. ...
This study investigated the role of gestures, smiles, and eye contact on scores assigned to English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) speakers during standardized face-to-face speaking tests. Four English-as-a-first-language examiners and four EAL test-takers participated in simulated IELTS Speaking Tests. Qualitatively, an inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Quantitatively, scores were holistically (overall scores assigned) and analytically (by criterion). Nonverbal cues were examined by the total number of cues produced by all test-takers, the frequency of production by test-taker, the frequency of production of subcategories of nonverbal cues by test-taker, and by production alongside speech or in isolation. Mimicry of nonverbal cues generated by test-takers was investigated. Test-takers’ lexical range was also analyzed vis-à-vis the scores assigned to the criterion lexical resource. Conclusions drawn from the triangulation of data sources indicate that nonverbal cues may have played a role in the assessment of the criteria fluency and coherence and pronunciation. This study adds to the current body of literature on second language assessment, which has suggested that variables other than language proficiency may play a role in scores assigned to test-takers during face-to-face speaking tests.
... In particular, rigidity is a potential indicator of deception (Twyman et al., 2014;Pentland et al., 2017). Although this research does not necessarily align rigidity with nervousness, nervous behaviors are associated with rigidity, including kinesic cues (Gregersen, 2005) and vocal tension (Laukka et al., 2008). This is partly because deception is thought to increase cognitive load, and higher cognitive load reduces overall activation (Vrij and Fisher, 2020). ...
... In foreign language learning situation, Gregersen (2005) admits that anxiety has a negative effect on anxious learners as it reduces their proficiency and makes their study less enjoyable due to the arousal of uneasiness feelings. According to McIntyre (1995, p. 96) anxiety can create a division in the anxious learners' attention as they need to focus on both the task at hand and people's reactions on it. ...
The present research paper aims to examine foreign language learners’ top sources of communication anxiety in their ‘Comprehension and Oral Production’ (COP) class and to investigate the efficacy of Instant Messaging on reducing English Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ communication apprehension. The study was conducted with second-year students of the Department of English at the University of Tlemcen using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and a students’ Instant Messaging questionnaire, as data collection tools. The results of the study reveal that the research informants confess the effectiveness of Instant Messaging in decreasing their speaking anxiety in their class .
Keywords: instant messaging; EFL communication apprehension; COP class; EFL students .
... The most striking problem confronted by students is speaking anxiety is they were afraid and felt nervous when they speak in front of other people. Generally, anxiety can be associated with the treatment of affiliated self-efficacy as a threat (Pappamihiel, 2002), thus the study became unpleasant (Gregersen, 2005). They perceived it as a big or difficult problem. ...
The common problems faced by students in English speaking are anxiety and the lack of confidence and ideas. This research was conducted to determine the relevant factors and to provide a solution by using the smartphone video camera. To obtain the data in this research, experimental research was performed inside and outside the classroom with a series of treatments and a questionnaire sheet as the instrument. The data were analyzed using a model proposed by Smeda, Dakich, and Sharda (2014) and a Likert scale questionnaire, which was adapted from Spratt, Humphreys, and Chan (2002). The result from the test showed a significant difference between the experimental and control classes as the carried t-test presented the score of -8.36, which was out of the limit (between -1.96 and 1.96). Another result was the students developed positively which was shown by: the anxiety tends to decrease as they were given time before performing thus prepared better, their self-confidence was increased and challenged by using the smartphone video camera method due to the application of innovation in the speaking class. The conclusion of this research is lecturer needs to apply new methods, one of which is using a smartphone application.
... Kondo and Ying (2004) argued that foreign language anxiety harms learners' performance. Gregersen (2005) also maintained that anxious learners do not respond effectively to their own mistakes. In the context of this research, we conclude that when the students have high anxiety they will have a low speaking score. ...
Speaking a foreign language creates anxiety in foreign language learners. The study aimed to investigate the impact of gender on Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and speaking proficiency of advanced level students. The participants of the study were 150 students (90 female students of Government Girls College Model Town Dera Ghazi Khan, and 60 male students of Government Boys Degree and Intermediate Colleges, Dera Ghazi Khan). The data were collected through the FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) with a 33 item questionnaire developed by Horwitz and Cope (1986), which was translated into Urdu. Another instrument was the interview which was based on 10 questions.. The data were analyzed using Frequency Analytical Techniques such as independent sample t-test & chi-square test along with SPSS. The results indicated that both male and female participants faced Foreign Language Anxiety but female participants displayed more anxiety levels than male participants in the area of research. The study concluded that the level of speaking anxiety differs in terms of gender. It also revealed that the learners' speaking anxiety level did not vary according to their proficiency levels.
... TESOL Speaking Anxiety in an Afghan EFL Setting: A Case Study of an Afghan University 164 appraisals of situations as threatening" (Pappamihiel, 2002, p. 331). To add more, Gregersen (2005) argues that learners who feel anxiety in their language learning process may find their lesson not much enjoyable. According to Abu-Rabia (2004), the foreign language learners with a high level of anxiety are always worried about their learning process physically and emotionally (p. ...
Speaking anxiety is a significant phenomenon which is experienced by the majority of learners, specifically Afghan EFL learners in their speaking. This qualitative study aimed to explore the reported experiences of seven Afghan EFL students studying in English Department of Takhar University with their speaking anxiety. For collecting the data, a semi-structured interview was designed. After collecting the data, the data was transcribed verbatim, and three important themes were drawn: (a) students' perceptions of anxiety in speaking (b) reasons for speaking anxiety (c) the effects of speaking anxiety on students' performance and the ways to overcome anxiety. The results showed that students' perceptions toward speaking anxiety are both positive and negative. The findings also revealed that correcting students' mistakes by teachers on the spot is a big cause for experiencing anxiety in speaking. The students reported that watching videos of English speakers of different English speaking countries and doing some physical exercises like, breathing deeply before taking part in classroom activities, using body language, and showing more eye contact while doing oral practices were core strategies they had used to reduce speaking anxiety.
... In a study with students learning foreign languages, researchers found that anxious students continuously tapped their feet, bounced, and jiggled. In contrast, non-anxious students demonstrated crossed and uncrossed their legs a few times [35]. Considering these anecdotal evidences, and other research on behaviour science, using foot interfaces to infer mental behaviors was first suggested by Velloso et al. [114]. ...
Augmented foot interfaces have been studied since the beginning
of wearable computers. The worlds’ first wearable computer was
an instrumented shoe that consisted of a toe operated switch with
a wireless module. Since then, academic research and commercial
products on augmented foot interfaces are booming with novel
interfaces every year. This paper surveys the body of work on augmented
foot interfaces and shows the current trends and guidelines
for future augmented foot interfaces. We contribute a classification
of over 100 academic papers and commercially-available products.
We discuss the integration of augmented foot interfaces, interaction
schemes and application domains. Finally, we contribute a set of
design considerations to scaffold future research of augmented foot
interfaces based on the classification and inspired by the surveyed
work.
... Anxiety is one of the main variables that can negatively affect learners' performance in a foreign language (henceforth, FL) to the extent that it may create a mental block in the learning process (Chen & Chang, 2004;Cheng, 2002;Gregersen, 2005;Hewitt & Stefenson, 2011;Horwitz, 2010;Huang, 2012;Jingjing, 2011;Wu, 2010). It is particularly true when learners are engaged in spontaneous speaking activities, being under psychological and time pressure. ...
Purpose: Numerous studies have been conducted on foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA); however, research on the effect of parents’ education, school type, and gender on EFL learners’ anxiety in a single study is scarce. Therefore, to fill this niche the present study aimed at investigating the impact of the aforementioned variables on FLCA.
Research Method: The exploratory design of this research was implemented through a survey, which was used to explore anxiety level among 96 male and female students in two different high schools: public and private. The effect of parents’ education on FLCA was also investigated. A Turkish version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale was used for collecting the required data. T-test and ANOVA were employed to explore whether there were any statistically significant differences in participants’ FLCA according to gender, type of school, and parents’ education.
Findings: The findings indicate that female participants experience more FLCA than males. The results also revealed that participants who attended the public school experienced more FLCA than those attending the private school. Furthermore, students whose parents had a primary education suffered most from foreign language anxiety.
Implications for Research and Practice: Based on the findings of the present study, language teachers should be made aware of foreign language anxiety and should try to create a positive and anxiety-free classroom environment in which students would feel relaxed and willing to communicate without being worried about their performance.
Keywords: Foreign language anxiety, gender, school type, parental education level
... While we have highlighted a particular risk for autistic individuals, our results indicate the risk of negative evaluation may also extend to any individual who displays similar atypical nonverbal behavior within similar situations. The nervewracking nature of police or trial questioning may induce fidgeting, stuttering and gaze aversion for individuals with anxiety (Schlenker & Leary, 1982); diagnosed depression may produce flat emotional affect (Troisi & Moles, 1999); and being a non-native speaker or belonging to certain cultural groups may be related to the display of gaze aversion, fidgeting, and speech disturbances (Brewer, Welsh, & Williams, 2010;Gregersen, 2005;Vrij & Winkel, 1991). Therefore, it is imperative that forensic evaluators are educated on avoiding negative bias towards individuals based on the display of unusual behavior. ...
According to expectancy violations theory, displays of behavior considered “unusual” during an interaction will trigger scrutiny of an individual. Such scrutiny may be detrimental in forensic contexts, where deception detection is emphasized. Autistic individuals, in particular, may be scrutinized unfavorably given unusual nonverbal behavior associated with the condition. Across two experiments using between-subjects’ designs, participants (overall N = 3,342) watched a scripted police-suspect interrogation, randomized to view the suspect display autism-related behaviors or none of those behaviors. Autistic behavior biased evaluations of deception and guilt as a function of violating individual behavioral expectations, regardless of whether decisive or ambiguous evidence framed the suspect as guilty or innocent. Promisingly, however, providing an autism information card attenuated such evaluations. Our research extends expectancy violations theory, advances understanding of determinants of forensic judgments, highlights important applied implications for nonverbal behavior displays in the justice system and recommends methods to protect against bias.
... TESOL Speaking Anxiety in an Afghan EFL Setting: A Case Study of an Afghan University 164 appraisals of situations as threatening" (Pappamihiel, 2002, p. 331). To add more, Gregersen (2005) argues that learners who feel anxiety in their language learning process may find their lesson not much enjoyable. According to Abu-Rabia (2004), the foreign language learners with a high level of anxiety are always worried about their learning process physically and emotionally (p. ...
Speaking anxiety is a significant phenomenon which is experienced by the majority of learners, specifically Afghan EFL learners in their speaking. This qualitative study aimed to explore the reported experiences of seven Afghan EFL students studying in English Department of Takhar University with their speaking anxiety. For collecting the data, a semi-structured interview was designed. After collecting the data, the data was transcribed verbatim, and three important themes were drawn: (a) students' perceptions of anxiety in speaking (b) reasons for speaking anxiety (c) the effects of speaking anxiety on students' performance and the ways to overcome anxiety. The results showed that students' perceptions toward speaking anxiety are both positive and negative. The findings also revealed that correcting students' mistakes by teachers on the spot is a big cause for experiencing anxiety in speaking. The students reported that watching videos of English speakers of different English speaking countries and doing some physical exercises like, breathing deeply before taking part in classroom activities, using body language, and showing more eye contact while doing oral practices were core strategies they had used to reduce speaking anxiety.
... In particular, rigidity is a potential indicator of deception (Twyman et al., 2014;Pentland et al., 2017). Although this research does not necessarily align rigidity with nervousness, nervous behaviors are associated with rigidity, including kinesic cues (Gregersen, 2005) and vocal tension (Laukka et al., 2008). This is partly because deception is thought to increase cognitive load, and higher cognitive load reduces overall activation (Vrij and Fisher, 2020). ...
Nonverbal signals color the meanings of interpersonal relationships. Humans rely on facial, head, postural, and vocal signals to express relational messages along continua. Three of relevance are dominance-submission, composure-nervousness and trust-distrust. Machine learning and new automated analysis tools are making possible a deeper understanding of the dynamics of relational communication. These are explored in the context of group interactions during a game entailing deception. The “messiness” of studying communication under naturalistic conditions creates many measurement and design obstacles that are discussed here. Possibilities for their mitigation are considered.
... The association between anxiety and comprehensibility is a novel finding, linking comprehensibility to a socioaffective dimension of interaction. Anxiety ratings likely captured visual signs of anxious L2 speakers, such as restrained facial expressions, decreased eye contact, rigid postures, and hand movements focused on manipulating objects (e.g., clicking a pen) rather than on enhancing the meaning of speech (Gregersen, 2005). Anxiety ratings may have also reflected linguistic and interactional behaviors shown by anxious speakers, including generic rather than detailed utterances, avoidance in claiming or volunteering a turn, and frequent single-syllable backchannels with nonverbal encouragement (e.g., nodding) for the interlocutor to continue talking (Ely, 1986;Steinberg & Horwitz, 1986). ...
Comprehensibility, or ease of understanding, has emerged as an important construct in second language (L2) speech research. Many studies have examined the linguistic features that underlie this construct, but there has been limited work on behavioral and affective predictors. The goal of this study was therefore to examine the extent to which anxiety and collaborativeness predict interlocutors’ perception of one another’s comprehensibility. Twenty dyads of L2 English speakers completed three interactive tasks. Throughout their 17-minute interaction, they were periodically asked to evaluate their own and each other’s anxiety and collaborativeness and to rate their partner’s comprehensibility using 100-point scales. Mixed-effects models showed that partner anxiety and collaborativeness predicted comprehensibility, but the relative importance of each predictor depended on the nature of the task. Self-collaborativeness was also related to comprehensibility. These findings suggest that comprehensibility is sensitive to a range of linguistic, behavioral, and affective influences.
... Understanding the differences between how high-anxious and low-anxious students communicate nonverbally, more precisely whether and how often they use gestures while speaking in a foreign language, will give teachers a starting point for identifying which students are struggling with foreign language anxiety so that the anxiety reduction measures can be taken. When suspicious that nonverbal cues such as using gestures by a student when speaking are indicative of foreign language anxiety, specific techniques discussed previously may prove beneficial in allaying students' anxiety (Gregersen, 2005). Since using synonyms and circumlocutions when lacking an appropriate word when speaking in English can help in interaction, these reducing-anxiety techniques may also be immeasurably helpful in enabling learners at the higher levels of language anxiety not to get blocked and to continue the interaction. ...
The study examines the undergraduate students’ perceived use of foreign language speaking strategies, their levels of foreign language anxiety, and the potential relationships between them. Two instruments were used in the study—Inventory of Speaking Strategies in a Foreign Language, based on the instrument Strategy Inventory in Foreign Language Learning, and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. The results showed that students’ overall perceived use of speaking strategies in English as a foreign language for specific purposes was frequent. The findings also revealed that the students’ foreign language anxiety was at a medium level; individual performance anxieties remained at the same medium levels. A few differences were found between the low-anxious and high-anxious groups on the speaking strategy use: the former uses circumlocutions and synonyms when stuck with a word in English more frequently while the latter is paying attention more often when someone is speaking in English. The results also suggest that the medium-anxious group uses gestures when unable to think of a word during a conversation in English less frequently than the low-anxious group.
... Ayrıca, bilişim teknolojileri yabancı dil öğreniminde kaygı düzeyi yüksek öğrencilere de çeşitli kolaylıklar sağlamaktadır. Bazı öğrencilerin hata yapma endişesiyle özellikle konuşma becerisi ediniminde sessiz kaldıkları ve özgüven duygusu geliştiremedikleri de bilinen bir gerçektir (Tunaboylu, 1993;Nunan, 1999, Gregersen, 2005. Bilgisayar destekli öğrenmenin öğrencide kaygı düzeyini azaltması üzerine yapılan çalışmalar bilgisayar ve internetin sağladığı kolaylıklar sayesinde bu tür problemlerin önüne geçilebileceğini düşündürmektedir (Chun, 1994;Warschauer, 1996b;Murray, 2000;Rodgers, 2000;Saade, R.G. ve Kira, D., 2009;Saraçoğlu, R. ve Sulak S. A. 2012). ...
From a Vygotskian (1997) theoretical perspective, teachers and learners, of necessity, need to listen and respond to one another in a meaningful way, which, significantly, entails some form of role reversal (i.e., student as teacher and teacher as student). van Lier (1996) furthered this approach in relation to second language (L2) classroom environments, emphasizing the need for conversational symmetry between students and teacher so that participation by all includes contributing individual and collective thoughts and experiences in relation to the content of a lesson, or ‘contingent interaction’, which van Lier also based on a similar approach: Instructional Conversation. Furthermore, van Lier linked his perspective to Vygotsky’s (1987) central premise that language (signs) constitutes the primary mediational tool with which we navigate ourselves and the world, which includes not only meaning (znachenie) but sense (smysl), and as applied in the case of the current study to L2 immigrant children growing up in a multilingual society. Moreover, although Vygotsky had recognized the role of proto-gesture (e.g., an infant reaching for an object that is then brought by an adult) as perhaps the earliest form of semiotic mediation, he did not concentrate on nonverbal forms of mediation, nor did van Lier. However, the current research hopes to demonstrate that speech together with nonverbal forms of communication, especially in combination (multimodal ensembles) can constitute an important aspect of creating L2 contingent interaction, and following van Lier, as connected to the Zone of Proximal Development. Additionally, emotional development (Perezhivanie) as tied to contingency and as an aspect of cooperative social relations is given treatment. Data for the study come from a second-grade classroom of L2 learners of English engaged in a read-aloud lesson directed towards L2 language and literacy development.
The present study highlights anxiety in the speaking skills of Kurdish EFL learners of the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades of basic schools in Suliamani city. The study hypothesizes that after studying English for 6 years, the majority of the students are unable to speak English appropriately; this could be attributed to a number of factors such as self-preparation, teacher’s teaching style, lack of conducting different activities in the classroom, etc. To investigate this, a questionnaire is designed and given to 100 basic school students. Moreover, a mixed method study is used, which is adapted and modified from the speaking anxiety framework of Young (1990). The study questionnaire consists of four parts: three closed-ended and one open-ended question. To analyze the data, SPSS 25 is used. Furthermore, the study concludes that basic school students need self-preparation before joining classes and the teachers should change/modify their teaching style and focus on speaking skills rather than writing. The majority of basic school students express their uncomfortable feelings and anxiety when they speak, even when it is for a very specific period of time. The teachers should attempt to decrease learners’ anxiety by engaging them in different inside-class activities.
Physical activity can activate the prefrontal cotex of the brain and improve cognitive performance. However, digital learning tools based on physical activity have not been sufficiently studied in the field of language learning. In addition, grammatical syntax is a key part of foreign-language learning, and the correct syntax is necessary to learn sentence usage. Therefore, how to effectively use digital games to enhance syntax learning for foreign-language learners is worth exploring. This study invited 182 Thai learners from two universities in northern Taiwan and one science and technology university to participate in the research. This study lasted 15 weeks and employed a digital game called "Shaking Fun" App, which can be used as learning assessment by involving students to sort text and shake mobile devices to send answers. The students were asked to play for 20 minutes each week. To assess learning effectiveness of shaking mobile devices as taking a test for assessing Thai syntax learning, this research used the control-value theory of achievement emotion (CVTAE) to explore the emotions related to achievements. The CVTAE predicts that activate emotions, such as game flow, bring to better learning value, whereas deactivate emotions, such as test anxiety, reduce learning value. Therefore, a research model based on this theory was proposed; the results of the research revealed the following: (1) Thai language learning attitudes is positively related to gameplay flow; but Thai language learning attitudes is negatively related to test anxiety. (2) Thai language anxiety is negative related to gameplay flow; but language anxiety was positively related to test anxiety. (3) Test anxiety can negatively predict gameplay flow experience. (4) Gameplay flow can positively predict Thai syntax using confidence. (5) Test anxiety can negatively predict Thai syntax using confidence. Expectedly, the results of this study can provide students who learning Thai as secondary language to use "Shaking Fun" device to improve their achievement emotion. © 2021, National Taiwan Normal University. All rights reserved.
This study adopted a quasi experimental design to examine the impact of a pedagogical positive psychology (PP) intervention on how the integration of positive and negative emotions in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and teaching affects learner language motivation as a positive affective variable, anxiety as a negative emotion, and EFL achievement as a learning outcome. To address this question empirically, the study implemented three emotion-regulation quasi experiments employed by 6 EFL teachers with 209 EFL learners divided into three groups for 12 weeks: in group 1, learners were exposed extensively to anxiety-regulating strategies, those in group 2 were thoroughly exposed to motivation-promoting strategies, and those in group 3 were exposed to combined anxiety-regulating and motivational strategies together. The influence of the treatment was assessed using questionnaires, classroom observations, and achievement tests. ANOVAs and MANOVAs were employed to capture treatment effects. The findings show that integrating positive and negative emotions in language learning resulted in the largest positive change in learner's motivation, anxiety, and language achievement. These findings support the assumptions of the Broaden-Build Theory in that positive emotions not only broaden people's vision and build strengths but further help undo the lingering effects of negative emotions.
Purpose
This study aims to propose and test a model that examines the potential connections between two teacher situational variables (teacher immediacy and credibility) and three learner affective factors (motivation, attitudes and communication confidence) and to examine how such associations predict learners’ L2WTC (Foreign/second language willingness to communicate) in a language class via a comprehensive communication model to structurally verify the theoretically based associations among these variables.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 214 females and 198 males took part in the study with age range between 19 and 38 years. Participants filled in a verified, translated Arabic version of the questionnaires using an online questionnaire. Data were gathered using questionnaires and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis and sequential mediation analysis using bootstrapping methods to identify and verify direct and indirect paths in the model.
Findings
The initial L2 communication structural model showed acceptable goodness of model fit. Teacher credibility and immediacy behaviors only indirectly predicted L2WTC through the mediation of affective variables. Motivation and communication confidence mediated the relationship between credibility and L2WTC, while the association between immediacy and L2WTC was mediated by communication confidence.
Originality/value
The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications globally for professions related to communication instruction, especially with regard to teacher credibility behaviors and particularly for practitioners and beneficiaries in EFL contexts where learners are widely acknowledged for their unwillingness to communicate in foreign language classes.
Le Clignement Spontané des yeux (CS) se distingue du clignement volontaire et du clignement reflexe. Les variations du taux de CS (TCS) ne sont pas expliquées par la seule nécessité de lubrifier la cornée. Des baisses de TCS ont été corrélées avec l’attention, la concentration et la perception visuelle, des hausses de TCS avec la mémorisation et la parole. L’augmentation du TCS observée durant la conversation, a été attribuée à un mécanisme méta-langagier destiné à organiser les échanges et ponctuer le discours entre partenaires. La présente thèse relativise le rôle du CS dans la communication humaine. En effet nos deux premières études (Article 1 et 2) montrent que les variations du CS entre partenaires (des mères avec leur nourrisson) ne sont pas mimétiques ni même l’effet d’un entrainement entre partenaires. Au contraire nous montrons (Article 3, Expérience 1) que le CS dépendrait d’abord d’un mécanisme individuel de traitement de l’information. La fonction interpersonnelle de communication du CS serait donc subsidiaire (Article 3, Expérience2) ; le CS serait essentiellement relié à des processus cognitifs individuels (unilatéraux), utiles à la communication mais dédiés à une fonction plus générale de gestion d’information. Pour confirmer cette hypothèse, nous avons testé (de manière inédite) la variation des CS lors du traitement d’informations haptiques, avec ou sans la vision (Article 4, Expérience1). Nous montrons (Article 4, Expérience 2) que le CS émerge prioritairement de l’activation co-occurrente de processus top down (représentation mentale et intention) et bottom up (sensorialité). A l’issue de ces résultats, nous soutenons que le CS est un phénomène qui accompagne le traitement attentionnel des informations. Le CS serait le marqueur du traitement conscient des informations internes (réflexives) ou externe (sensorielles) que nous tentons d’expliquer par le modèle énactif.
This study explored how foreign language anxiety in class relates to individualism-collectivism culture. Additionally, to serve as a guideline for foreign language anxiety assessment, the study determined a normative score of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), which is well known and frequently applied for foreign language anxiety examination. After conducting a literature search identifying 106 studies in 35 countries/regions, a top-down approach was used to analyze aggregate FLCAS mean scores by country/region and examine relationships between the FLCAS score and the rating of individualism-collectivism cultural dimension from Hofstede’s cultural index. This relationship was significant for higher education institutions but insignificant for all institutions and for elementary to high schools. The FLCAS normative score was 94.82, slightly lower than the theoretical midpoint of 99. The findings have implications for educators, since university/college/graduate students in countries/regions with stronger collectivism had higher foreign language anxiety.
This book discusses human–computer interaction (HCI) which is a multidisciplinary field of study which aims at developing and implementing tools and techniques to attain an effective and efficient interaction between the humans (the users) and computers. In recent years, there is an increase of interest of HCI researchers and practitioners in the inclusion of gaze gestures which can greatly enhance the communication between the human user and the computer, as well as other more “physical” communication involving all what can be learned from movements of the human body, from face, hand, leg, foot, etc., to the whole body movement, even extending to the involvement of groups of agents, even society. These explicitly human-centric issues in the development, design, analysis, and implementation of the HCI systems are discussed in the book. A comprehensive state of the art is given complemented with original own proposals. As opposed to more traditional formal and IT based analyses, the discussion is here more focused on relevant research results from psychology and psychophysiology, and other soft, cognitive, etc., sciences. Remarks on the relevance of affective computing are also mentioned.
What does the future hold for motion-based interaction methods? Will increasingly popular concepts and inventions, such as immersive virtual reality, hasten their already rapid development? Or will they be supplanted by other solutions, such as interfaces capable of reading brain activity directly, or those that recognize voice commands? Neither of these require movement. Each enables new perspectives for both users and technology, but also carry many risks. The development of technologies related to the recording of movement, such as immersive virtual reality, is also of high importance for other branches of science, including psychology. To date, no solution has facilitated the analysis of human behaviors by psychologists in such a detailed manner, nor in such natural environments.
This chapter discusses the relationship between movement and mental and cognitive function, as well as the potential for it to be utilized by new technologies. The first section of the chapter presents the cerebral mechanisms responsible for associating physical with mental activity, and discusses examples of this influence on cognitive and emotional processes, as well as learning. The second section focuses on physical activity as an element of human interaction with a computer, including, but not limited to, so-called “exergames”. The subject of physical activity and cognitive functions is presented in the final section of the chapter from the perspective of immersive virtual reality technology—a tool which appears to be highly compelling. The potential of virtual reality stems from it being ideally suited to the study of the phenomenon of motion, and to its relationship with mental functioning. Immersive virtual reality is also a potentially effective motivator for increasing individuals’ physical activity, with a view to improving their mental functioning.
This chapter focuses on eye movement from the perspective of human-computer interaction. The first section offers general information on the anatomy and physiology of the human eye, and outlines the key types of eye movement. It also presents the method of eye tracking and fields in which it can be applied. The chapter goes on to discuss issues pertaining to cognitive load, and how its intensity in relation to human-computer interaction and hypertext reading can be determined using oculomotor measurements. The final section is dedicated to the employment of eye tracking technology as a method of interaction. It presents methods that use the Gaussian function as a potential solution to the Midas touch problem. It also includes examples of solutions to registration errors during the use of head-mounted eye-trackers.
This chapter focuses on the use of standard human–computer interaction devices, such as keyboards and mice. These relate closely to movement of the hands, fingers, and forearms, and the way users operate them allows considerably more information to be acquired beyond typed texts and cursor clicks; it is possible, for instance, to identify users and to monitor their emotional states. The first section of the chapter outlines how keyboards are used to recognize emotions and identify users by applying keystroke dynamic analysis. It also explains the effects of differences in learning efficiency between using keyboards and traditional methods of recording information. The second section discusses the use of mice to identify users and recognize their emotional states. It also reflects on the psychological benefits of analysis of subjects’ movement and, in turn, their behavior.
This chapter presents concepts pertaining to movement in virtual reality (VR), with an emphasis on its prospective applications in psychological studies. Behavioral measurements, a key tool in such studies, are almost invariably conducted in unnatural and experimental settings, and entail considerable difficulty. These issues may be addressed by the application of VR. The chapter also illustrates examples of the technology’s use in studies of personality and differences between the sexes in psychological and psychiatric practice—for example, as a supporting tool in addiction treatment; and in more general applications that utilize VR in user movement tracking, such as the learning of dance movement patterns. The final section presents negative sensations experienced while using VR systems and discusses the mechanisms and causes of cybersickness.
This chapter discusses the perception of movement during human–computer interaction. The phenomena discussed include, but are not limited to, perception of biological movement and deduced movement. The chapter also outlines the concept of mirror mechanisms. The later sections explain the potential effects of perceived motion on perception of the properties of an interface, such as its attractiveness, or its perceived performance. The chapter concludes with a summary of research on how movement affects the perception of avatars.
This chapter discusses whole-body movement in the context of human–computer interaction. The first part focuses on the recognition and classification of body movements with the use of motion capture systems and video signal analysis. It also presents practical applications, such as automatic recognition of sign language and identification of individuals. The second half of the chapter reflects on the use of body movement as a method of interaction with computers and machines. Remote operation is discussed, including drone control. The chapter concludes with examples of new whole-body interaction paradigms.
This chapter explores human–computer interaction involving the feet and legs. It begins with a concise description of the anatomy of the feet; next, it presents the elements of non-verbal communication that affect foot position and movement, as well as how the feet relate to aspects of human psychology. Both the anatomy of the feet and their connection to psychological functioning dictate how computer system designers involve them in interactions. The second half of the chapter outlines technological solutions that utilize the feet as a means of interaction with computers. It presents examples of indirect interfaces in which the feet are used to move various types of manipulator, such as pedals. It also presents direct interfaces based on sensors installed inside shoes—for instance, in soles or insoles. The final section discusses environmental sensors, such as sensing floors, which detect foot positions without the need to install special detectors or external controllers.
Interest in the role of learners’ personality, emotions and the learning environment in foreign language (FL) learning has grown exponentially in the past decade. The introduction of personality psychology in the field of applied linguistics has led to the inclusion of a set of personality dimensions in research designs like resilience and grit, which have been shown to be significant predictors of FL achievement. The abrupt
emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 forced universities around the world to move their courses online, which has been named Emergency Remote Teaching. The sudden change in FL learning environment offers a unique opportunity to researchers to investigate whether the relationships between learners’ personality and classroom emotions in traditional ‘in-person’ classes, and the predictors of those emotions, also exist
in the new online environments. The present study examined the foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) of Chinese secondary students at different instruction levels and its links with learner-internal and external factors, namely general grit and the classroom environment (CE) of the online English classes. A total of 1,526 Chinese secondary students completed an online questionnaire. Pearson correlation analyses andregression analyses revealed that general grit and CE predicted FLCA either independently or jointly. The findings are discussed and interpreted in the light of existing research on person-environment interaction. We identify avenues for further research and propose a number of pedagogical implications for optimizing online FL teaching.
Second language (L2) researchers have long acknowledged that affective variables (e.g., anxiety, motivation, positive emotions) are essential in understanding L2 learner psychology and behavior, both of which influence communication and have implications for language learning. However, there is little research investigating affective variables during L2 interaction, particularly from a dynamic rather than a static, trait-oriented perspective. Therefore, this study examined 60 L2 English speakers’ affective responses in real time during a paired discussion task using galvanic skin response sensors to capture speakers’ anxiety. Analyses focused on speakers’ speech, their behavioral reactions, and the content of their discussion while experiencing anxiety episodes (high vs. low arousals). Findings revealed that speakers glanced away, blinked, and used self-adaption gestures (touching face, hair-twisting) significantly more frequently during high arousals than low arousals, whereas head nods were found to occur significantly more often during low arousals. In comparison to low arousals, a larger proportion of high arousals occurred while discussing personal topics. Implications are discussed in terms of the role of affective variables in communication processes.
This exploratory study examined the relationship between second language (L2) English speakers’ comprehensibility and their interactional behaviors as they engaged in a conversation with fellow L2 speakers. Thirty-six pairs of L2 English university students completed a 10-minute academic discussion task and subsequently rated each other’s comprehensibility. Transcripts of their conversation were coded for eight measures of task engagement, including cognitive/behavioral engagement (idea units, language-related episodes), social engagement (encouragement, responsiveness, task and time management, backchanneling, nodding), and emotional engagement (positive affect). Speakers who showed more encouragement and nodding were perceived as easier to understand, whereas those who produced more frequent language-focused episodes and demonstrated more responsiveness were rated as harder to understand. These findings provide initial evidence for an association between L2 speakers’ interactional behaviors and peer-ratings of comprehensibility, highlighting L2 comprehensibility as a multifaceted and interaction-driven construct.
Angst ist unzweifelhaft einer der individuellen Faktoren, die das Lernen einer Fremdsprache überwiegend beeinträchtigen. In diesem Beitrag wird eine empirische Analyse vorgestellt, in der die Studienanfänger/innen in Germanistik nach ihren Schulerfahrungen beim Deutschlernen gefragt wurden. Die Daten wurden mit einem standardisierten Fragebogen von HORWITZ / HORWITZ / COPE (1986) erhoben. Untersucht wurden zwei Gruppen – Magisterstudierende und Berufsstudierende. Die Ergebnisse haben keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den Gruppen ergeben, wobei sich in einigen Aspekten doch Differenzen beobachten lassen. Die Diskussion bezieht sich auf die möglichen Ursachen der Angstentstehung und didaktische Möglichkeiten, wie man den hinderlichen Angstgefühlen entgegenwirken kann.
RESEARCH IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH • VOLUME 36 • FEBRUARY 2002 327 This study addresses issues of English language anxiety in two settings: English as a second language and mainstream classrooms. Participants were 178 middle-school Mexican immi-grant students attending school in the U.S. Participants were given the English Language Anxiety Scale, which was analyzed with three statistical tests: paired t-tests to analyze broad levels of anxiety between ESL and mainstream classes; ANCOVAs to identify how levels of anxiety correlated with the specific factors of years in the U.S., levels of academic achieve-ment, listening and speaking skills, reading and writing skills, and gender; and an explor-atory factor analysis to identify additional factors contributing to anxiety. A second data set, focus group transcripts, was analyzed to identify additional factors and coping strategies. Results showed several related but different types of English language anxiety and a signifi-cant gender difference. The focus groups revealed that interaction with Chicano students raised anxiety levels and that such strategies as avoidance were used to reduce anxiety. The paper concludes with recommendations for teaching and research that recognize the complex-ity of anxiety for English language learners.
Defining the motivational basis of second and foreign language acquisition has been at the center of much research and controversy for many years. The present study applied social psychological constructs to the acquisition of English in the unicultural Hungarian setting. A total of 301 Grade 11 students from the region of Budapest answered a questionnaire assessing their attitude, anxiety, and motivation toward learning English, as well as their perception of classroom atmosphere and cohesion. In addition, their teachers rated each of the students on proficiency and a number of classroom behaviors and evaluated the relative cohesion of each class group. Factor and correlational analyses of the results revealed that xenophilic (M=4.22on a 1–6 scale), sociocultural (M=3.96), instrumental (M=3.78), and media-use reasons (M=3.79) were most strongly endorsed by the students whereas an identification orientation (M=1.8l)was rejected. Factor analysis of the attitude, anxiety, and motivation scales confirmed the existence of attitude-based (integrative motive) and self-confidence motivational subprocesses and revealed the presence of a relatively independent class- room based subprocess, characterized by classroom cohesion and evaluation. Correlational analyses of these clusters further revealed that, while all subprocesses were associated with achievement, self-confidenceand anxiety showed no relationship to classroom atmosphere. We discuss these findings in the context of current theories of second and foreign language acquisition and with reference to their applied implications.
Two experiments examined nonverbal behavior patterns and relational communication perceptions associated with communication reticence. In the first, pairs of friends (N = 90) and pairs of strangers (N = 90) engaged in 9-minute discussions. Ratings by partners and trained observers showed that as level of communication reticence increased, subjects nodded less, showed less facial pleasantness and animation, displayed more anxiety and tension, leaned away more, and communicated greater disinterest. Strangers rated reticents'relational messages as expressing less intimacy/similarity, more detachment, more submissive-ness, and more emotional negativity, and rated reticents as less credible. Friends gave reticents mixed but frequently more positive ratings. In the second experiment, 55 subjects interacted with a male or female confederate interviewer who alternately asked innocuous or highly personal questions. The same patterns of nonverbal behavior emerged as in Study One, with increases in stress (due to privacy-invading questioning) eliciting more pronounced responses. Results are discussed in terms of the cross-situational consistency of reticence syndromes in eliciting dysfunctional communication patterns.
Two experiments were conducted to determine whether embarrassment is a recognizable emotion independent of the nonverbal associates of humor. In the first experiment subjects attempted to identify embarrassment or amusement from silent videotape recordings presented under three viewing conditions: body, face, or face and body together. Correct recognition of embarrassment required both face and body cues while amusement required only facial cues. Embarrassment was incorrectly identified as amusement from facial cues. Experiment 2 investigated the relative importance of facial versus bodily cues for the recognition of embarrassment and amusement. Subjects, who viewed only the face plus body condition, indicated on a schematic drawing of a person which part they were utilizing to make their judgments. While the mouth signaled amusement, the eyes, hands, lower legs, and mouth were all important signals of embarrassment. The part played by amusement in an embarrassing incident is discussed in the light of these findings.
what are the criteria of a language / Dittmann concludes . . . that language is a code
examines in detail two nonverbal codes, American Sign Language and Indian Sign Language
Dittmann examines the body movements that accompany speech (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This interview study examined the reactions of anxious and nonanxious foreign language learners to their own errors. Native Spanish-speaking students were videotaped twice: first as they took part in an English-language conversation with the researcher and then as they watched themselves in the taped interview. An analysis of the participants' English interactions and responses to their own oral performances indicated that anxious and nonanxious students differed in their ability to recognize their errors and in their reactions to making errors. Specifically, anxious learners made more errors, corrected themselves and codeswitched more frequently, overestimated the number of errors that they made, and recognized fewer errors in a stimulated recall situation. The implications for choosing error-correction techniques are discussed.
Previous research has shown language anxiety to be associated with broad-based indices of language achievement, such as course grades. This study examined some of the more specific cognitive processes that may be involved in language acquisition in terms of a three-stage model of learning: Input, Processing, and Output. These stages were represented in a set of nine tasks that were employed to isolate and measure the language acquisition stages. A new anxiety scale was also developed to measure anxiety at each of the stages. Generally, significant correlations were obtained between the stage-specific anxiety scales and stage-specific tasks (e.g., output anxiety with output tasks) suggesting that the effects of language anxiety may be both pervasive and subtle.
High school students' scores on a paper-and-pencil test of social anxiety were correlated with talking, eye contact and gesturing behaviors during a 10-min vidotaped interview. Results showed that high anxious subjects talked less while listening to instruction. They also held the gaze for less total time and in bouts of shorter duration while they were talking;while they were listening, they were significantly more variable in their average bout duration. Within-group variability suggested that non-verbal behaviour should be analysed according to individual rather than group differences.
The present study measured the normal blink rate (BR) variations in relation to behavioral tasks in 150 healthy volunteers (70 males and 80 females; aged 35.9 +/- 17.9 years, range 5-87 years). The subjects were videotaped in a standard setting while performing three different tasks: resting quietly, reading a short passage, talking freely. The mean BR was computed during each task; the data were compared by means of analysis of variance and Student's t tests. Mean BR at rest was 17 blinks/min, during conversation it increased to 26, and it was as low as 4.5 while reading. As compared with rest, BR decreased by -55.08% while reading (p < 1 x 10(-15)) and increased by 99.70% during conversation (p < 1 x 10(-9)). As compared with reading, BR increased during conversation by 577.8% (p < 1 x 10(-17). The distribution curves were highly reproducible in each task. The best curve fit was represented by a log-normal distribution, with the upper tail of each curve having a normal distribution. Eye color and eyeglass wearing did not influence BR. Women had higher BR than men just while reading. No age-related differences were found. The most common BR pattern was conversation > rest > reading, which occurred in 101 subjects (67.3%); 34 subjects (22.7%) had the pattern rest > conversation > reading; 12 (8.0%) had the pattern conversation > reading > rest. This study identified three normal behavioral BR patterns and showed that BR is more influenced by cognitive processes than by age, eye color, or local factors. The present findings provide a normal reference for the analysis of BR in movement disorders such as dystonia or tics.
An analysis of discomfort, risktaking, socia-bility, and motivation in the L2 classroom Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation
- C M Ely
- R C Gardner
Ely, C. M. (1986). An analysis of discomfort, risktaking, socia-bility, and motivation in the L2 classroom. Language Learning, Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
The nature and replicability of factors in second language learning
- R C Gardner
- I Smythe
- C Lalonde
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