Tag: Development

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Language Anxiety: Let’s Talk About It

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

    Have you ever gotten clammy, nervous, or felt your heart race when you were in your Spanish or French class? Most of us have been there. This feeling is called xenoglossophobia (zen-o-glos-o-phobia), this is a situation specific anxiety whenever someone has to communicate in a language different from their native one. Like regular anxiety that can be triggered by broader situations, xenoglossophobia can be managed if treated properly using different techniques to combat it. However, before we look into the solutions, we must look at the common triggers.

    One of the first triggers is the fear of a negative evaluation; the fear of not being understood or heard. Let’s be honest, if you are a language learner there is a good chance that someone has laughed at you for mispronouncing a word or having an accent. This can intimidate us since we are already putting ourselves in a vulnerable position by speaking a language that we are not familiar with. We want to feel validated by our peers which is why the sting hurts even more when you are going into this knowing that you are not the fluency that you may want to be at, risking your ideas and perceptions being lost in translation. This leads into the second trigger which is the feeling of having our identity attacked. Through identity protective cognition, when our identity that we have built and internalized through our own experiences is being attacked from external forces, our fight, flight, or freeze response is activated. Flight or freeze is often the choice of many people when encountering a situation involving a foreign language. The beginning stages of a new language can prohibit a person’s control of what they can say. With the additional anxiety when speaking another language it can cause problems with one’s ability to cognitively process the language thus creating problems with your language progress. So with this said, how are ways that people can move past this to actually improve their language abilities. 

    The first is to surround yourself with people who are native speakers in your target language who are open to mistakes. The best way to learn is to be in an environment where you can prosper, being in a tense place where you are being heavily judged will not help you. Only take a language course that counts towards your GPA if you can handle the anxiety of another language impacting your grade (there are literature classes that can help fulfill your language requirement at university but, always double check). The second thing is to take every mistake as a stepping stone towards where you want to be in your target language. Like any other skill you will learn from the mistakes that you make, you will have moments where you will have minor errors and then you will have moments that you said the absolute wrong thing and the person is staring at you wondering why you asked to hold a sausage. The best way to handle everything is to laugh it off, laugh at yourself, a good sense of humor goes a long way. The third rule is to not set the bar too high for yourself to the point that you feel as though you are wasting your time. Do not expect to have deep meaningful conversations about your place in the universe after a few days or even weeks of studying a new language. Start small, memorizing the most used words in the language, talk to yourself, write down your thoughts in a journal, listen to the music, etc. Everything will fall into place once you master the simplicity of doing small everyday things, you will be more prepared for the challenges that you may face when it comes to complex subjects from philosophy to business. The final note is to study a language you genuinely want to know as a whole, from the food to the culture, be committed to the language like you would a relationship. 

    Language is the foundation in which we communicate with one another, it is a gateway to new ideas, relationships, and possibilities. It is as though you have unlocked another part of yourself by learning a new language. It is highly intimidating to have a limited vocabulary to express yourself but, like anything else in life you are taking a risk; the risk of being lost in translation in order to better your communication skills. You will listen and comprehend more not only your target language but your native language as well. I had my moments when I gave up and quit a language but I always found myself drawn back to it whether it be by music, tv shows, or the culture. It can be a lot but, be open to knowing that learning a new language is a never ending journey and there are a million words that can be used to express yourself; you just need to find the right ones.

Source: https://blog.chatterbug.com/en/how-to-overcome-your-foreign-language-anxiety/ 

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Socioeconomic Disparities in Second Language Education in the United States

Classroom

Photo by Matt Hoffman on Unsplash

With the rise of the travel industry as well as the interest in modern languages, we can anticipate a drastic increase in multilingualism in the nearby future. According to iLangugues.org, 60% of the world identifies as bilingual/trilingual/multilingual while the remaining 40% identifying as monolingual in predominately English-speaking countries. With other languages gaining recognition on the world stage, eventually only knowing English will not be enough to succeed in most career fields. So, this presents the following questions: How did we get here? And how can we improve second language education in the nearby future?

English is the 3rd most spoken language in the world behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. This is heavily due to the Age of Imperialism during the 19th century with Great Britain leading the pact; with that the English language was spread widely to the world. After heavy colonization in the 19th century, the next contributing factor to the dominance of the English language was the boom of Hollywood and pop culture in the United States post-World War 2. Not only were goods being exported, but so was the English language. Due to the heavy influence of the English language on an international scale, majority of schools in predominately English-speaking countries did not heavily enforce second language education. However, because of the overwhelming priority of the English language, most countries where it is primarily spoken have a history of attacking people who speak a language other than English in public. In an article from The Washington Post titled Half the World is Bilingual. What’s Our Problem? 22% of Hispanic speakers have experienced harassment for speaking Spanish in public. Those who speak languages other than Spanish have also experienced similar instances including glares, whispers, and stares. While this began to create an “English only” environment in English speaking countries, others had to heavily enforce the English language into their curriculum in order for their citizens to succeed on both national and international scales. This also presents the next problem in foreign language education: accessibility.

It is no secret that the public education system in the United States has a variety of issues from being underfunded, overcrowded, etc. However, what is not talked about is access to second language education. According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, approximately less than 20% of students in the United States are given the opportunity to take a foreign language class at the K-12 level. This is heavily due to the fact that the United States is experiencing a teacher shortage for educators who meet the standards to teach a second language. In countries like South Korea and Japan, they have created English instructor programs (EPIK & JET) to bring in foreign teachers who come from countries where English is primarily spoken such as the United States, South Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc. The goal of these programs is to have children in the public education system be fully immersed in the English language with someone who will only speak that language with them. This also helps hit that critical period of a child being exposed to another language by the age of 10 years old. This is only speaking for the public education system in America, majority of private schools begin language immersion in kindergarten with students beginning to study Spanish, Chinese, or French. However, most private schools’ range between $10,000-$50,000 a year; with only a lucky few being able to afford the price tag. This leads us to the final issue the education system when it pertains to foreign language courses: the cost.

With students in the public education system getting a late start in learning a second language, some may choose to study a language at university, but find the cost of studying a foreign language to be one of the biggest barriers. In an article titled, Which College Major Has the Most Expensive Books? A second language textbook was the second most expensive book averaging around $268 per book; this does not include the online software code that is normally required in all foreign language courses that ranges from $50-$150. With many jobs asking or requiring a person to have a working knowledge of a language other than English, some students feel pressure to learn one to help their chances in the workforce. Psychology Today, even cited that bilingualism has improved memory, cognitive flexibility, and the ability to multitask. In recent years, colleges offering romantic language and modern languages as a major for students to choose from, those who choose to go down this route will be forced to pay a heavy price tag on top of an already expensive education system. College tuition in the United States is already expensive as it is on top of room & board, meal plans, computer fees, etc. If we are seeing a trend that students could benefit by acquiring a second or third language, why can’t we make it so that students do not need to sell their kidneys in order to achieve this? As we look to the future, how are some ways that we can improve this? The obvious answer is to invest in our public education system to give our students the best possible education. We could possibly consider creating a program similar to what South Korea and Japan have established; bring native speakers of the language a school is interested in providing to their students to teach the children. This could also open the door for students to not have to automatically learn Spanish as a second language due to its overwhelming popularity in the United States. Speakers from French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Chinese, and Arabic countries could share their knowledge with young students and expose them to their culture as well. Another change that could improve language education would be a shift in attitude towards languages other than English. There is still a negative stigma that lingers around people who speak a language other than English in public spaces; rather than feeling like we need to know what someone is saying all the time, maybe it is time for people to just simply mind their own business and let people talk. We also need to change the way that we criticize those with accents; rather than discourage people by the way they sound, we need to start praising people for their efforts because we all recognize that learning a second language comes with its own set of challenges. While we begin to see rapid changes in our education system amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we can only hope that we will see changes in second language education in the long run as we try to navigate ways to provide students with the necessary tools to succeed in the world.