Foreign Language Anxiety

Anxiety is a frequent psycho-emotional condition associated with learning a foreign language, which shapes the students’ experience in the classroom and at home. Educators should be trained to recognize this type of – sometimes debilitating – anxiety and address it effectively through specific pedagogical strategies. Students' goal is not to get rid of anxiety altogether, which is impossible and also not desirable, but to keep it at a reasonable level of eustress, and to consider it as psychic fuel for optimal perfomance. Reducing anxiety is not enough though: a virtuous circle of positive reinforcement must then be implemented in order to lead to a higher emotional well-being in the classroom for both students and teachers.