Anxiety and EFL: does multilingualism matter?

“Does English make you nervous?”

“…However, previous results do not support this view (see Thompson & Khawaja 2015;Thompson & Lee 2013, for further elaboration). Consequently, it is imperative to perform EFA on data from diverse contexts to investigate the cultural implications of language learning anxiety.…”

“…One similarity between the two studies was with F3; the third factor in both studies resulted in the same three questions loading onto that factor: Q32, Q14, and Q11. Thompson and Lee (2013) suggested that "The similarity of the results for factor 3 in both studies could indicate that similar levels of anxiety exist with regards to interactions with native speakers regardless of the language being learned or the cultural background of the student. As an extension of this idea, we can postulate that the anxiety that results from interactions of native speakers is perhaps a universal phenomenon" (p. 744).…”

“…As an extension of this idea, we can postulate that the anxiety that results from interactions of native speakers is perhaps a universal phenomenon" (p. 744). Factor 1 in both studies also had several overlapping questions; Thompson and Lee (2013) suggested that "The similarity in these results also point towards the idea that all students to some extent have anxiety in the classroom and to some extent lack self-confidence when learning a second or foreign language" (p. 745). However, Thompson and Lee (2013) found a latent variable that did not appear in Aida (1994): Fear of ambiguity in English, and there was a call for research in different contexts to investigate this factor further.…”

“…More recently, Thompson and Lee (2013) also found a four-factor structure in a study with 123 EFL learners in Korea, although the factor names and item loadings were somewhat different from those of Aida (1994). A closer look at the latent variables in these two studies illustrate the need to avoid the assumption that results from a factor analysis in one context will always transfer to a different context.…”

“…However, Thompson and Lee (2013) found a latent variable that did not appear in Aida (1994): Fear of ambiguity in English, and there was a call for research in different contexts to investigate this factor further. In the Turkish context, Thompson and Khawaja (2015) found a similar factor structure to Thompson and Lee (2013), and the context presented in the current study (Swedish EFL learners) provides an additional data point to explore the potential factor structures of the FLCAS in diverse contexts, as suggested in Thompson and Lee (2013).…”