Measuring Student's Anxiety when Learning Pronunciation of a Foreign Language

What is it about?

Based on the 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS; Horwitz et al., 1986), the 14-item Pronunciation Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale (PFLCAS; Bosmans & Hurd, 2016) was developed to assess pronunciation-related anxiety in online foreign language learning. This measure was constructed in the context of a study examining the link between foreign language anxiety and phonological attainment when learning in a distance setting, in a U.K. sample of English-speaking students learning French. The PFLCAS items were selected from the FLCAS for their particular relevance. FLCAS items were slightly amended, and some additional items to reflect the specific learning environment and the emphasis on pronunciation learning were included. Scores for positively worded items are reversed. Cronbach's alpha for this measure was .966, with a good correlation between the items. (PsycTESTS Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

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Why is it important?

It enables practitioners and language course writers to measure students' anxiety when working on a sub-skill of speaking, i.e. pronunciation of a foreign language

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