BIASES IN SELF-RATINGS OF 2ND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY - THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE ANXIETY

Previous studies have shown a strong link between participants' appreh ension about communicating and their perception of communicative compe tence in both native (L1) and second (L2) languages. This apprehension may intensify when participants communicate in the L2, especially if they believe their level of L2 competence to be very low. This study e xamines perceived competence in an L2 as a function of actual competen ce and language anxiety. Thirty-seven young adult Anglophone students, with widely varied competence in French, participated. They completed scales of language anxiety and a modified version of the ''can-do'' t est, which assessed their self-perceptions of competence on 26 French tasks. They then attempted each of those tasks. We found that L2 langu age anxiety, perceived L2 competence, and actual L2 competence interco rrelated. However, regression analysis with actual proficiency level c ontrolled showed that anxious students tended to underestimate their c ompetence relative to less anxious students, who tended to overestimat e their competence. Theoretical and practical implications are discuss ed.