Language Anxiety of Older Adults in an Online and In-class EFL Course: Results of a Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

As recent meta-analyses reveal, language anxiety (LA) is one of the most important determinants of success in foreign language (FL) learning, next to aptitude, motivation, and working memory. Although studies on LA have been carried out for a few decades, exploring its nature, causes, correlates and influence on FL achievements, there are still several questions to be answered. One of such under-researched areas is LA experienced by older adults (60+), who nowadays constitute an important group of FL learners in Poland. A few years ago, their attempts to master English as a FL were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought several limitations and changes, forcing them to switch from learning in a classroom setting to an online mode. The main objective of this chapter is to report the outcomes of a mixed-method pilot study, aimed at measuring the level of LA of older adults (OAs) in the in-class and online modes, exploring its causes, and identifying the most anxiety-provoking skills. Data were collected among six OAs via a questionnaire, draw-a-picture technique, and semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that there is a complex interrelated network of external and internal factors of LA, which should be taken into account when teaching this age group. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.