LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND PROFICIENCY IN A FOREIGN-LANGUAGE

Study examined the extent to which there would be differences in oral and written proficiency in a foreign language among groups of low-, av erage-, and high-anxious high school students. Participants were 60 gi rls attending a single-sex, college-preparatory high school and comple ting the second year of a foreign language course. Analysis showed ove r-all differences on measures of proficiency in the foreign language a mong the three groups. The results support the hypothesis that anxiety about foreign language learning is likely to represent students' diff erences in language learning.