Comparing learners’ state anxiety during task-based interaction in computer-mediated and face-to-face communication

Abstract

The construct of anxiety is often believed to be the affective factor with the greatest potential to pervasively affect the learning process (Horwitz, 2001), and recent research has demonstrated that anxiety can mediate whether learners are able to notice feedback and subsequently produce output (Sheen, 2008). In order to reduce the negative effects of anxiety, researchers have suggested that computer-based interaction may be an ideal medium for communication and practice (Kern, 1995), although this hypothesis has yet to be tested empirically. The current study addresses this gap by comparing the effect of computer-mediated communication (CMC) vs. face-to-face communication (FTF) on learners’ state anxiety. Twenty-five learners of intermediate Spanish completed two information-gap tasks with their teacher in a within-subject, counterbalanced design. Learners’ state anxiety was measured halfway through and following each task via a state anxiety questionnaire, and a task preference questionnaire was administered after the treatment. Results demonstrate that — contrary to expectations — reported state anxiety was not significantly lower in the CMC mode than the FTF mode. In fact, learners’ reported state anxiety was comparable across modality. The use and implications of both interactional modes for foreign language learning contexts are discussed, as are students’ perceptions of interaction in the CMC and FTF modes.