Young learners’ perspectives on English classroom interaction: Foreign language anxiety and sense of agency in Swedish primary school

Young learners’ perspectives on English classroom interaction: Foreign language anxiety and sense of agency in Swedish primary school

This thesis explores young language learners’ experiences of classroom interaction in English instruction, focusing on foreign language anxiety (FLA), sense of agency and learner beliefs, aiming to inform and problematize language pedagogy for young learners. Learners from ten classrooms in years 2–5 participated. Study I focused on levels and triggers of FLA, by means of a learners’ questionnaire about common language classroom practices. Findings revealed that 18% of learners frequently felt anxious during English lessons and that these negative emotions centered on speaking in class. With this study serving as a baseline, the following two studies investigated learners’ beliefs about language learning and teaching, as well as their actual experiences of classroom communication during English lessons, using recorded group discussions among learners with similar levels of FLA. Study II compared learners in one year 3 classroom, with many frequently anxious learners, whereas study III centered on learners with recurrent anxiety across seven classrooms, in years 2–5.

Together, the studies illustrate young language learners’ beliefs, and how they perceive and position themselves in relation to English instruction. In general, learners expressed positive attitudes to the English subject and the teaching. Regardless of anxiety levels, learners stressed the importance of extensive English input and for learners to guess and dare to speak. Learners who experienced recurrent FLA were confronted with three dilemmas that reduced their sense of agency. Incomprehensible English input made it difficult for them to follow instructions and understand what they were expected to say or respond to. Furthermore, the fear of social exposure and negative reactions made them prefer to remain silent and refrain from speaking or pose questions. Nevertheless, these learners favored whole class instruction, as they relied heavily on teacher support, and feared falling behind during individual work, although this setting sparked FLA.

The findings foreground the interaction of social, cognitive and emotional processes of language learning and the development of learners’ sense of agency in the classroom. The strong consensus and many recurrent themes expressed across classrooms, related to language use, instructions and organization, suggest that the findings may have bearing beyond these ten specific classroom contexts. The perspectives of primary school learners themselves are valuable in the development of age-appropriate language teaching that strives to foster motivation and a sense of agency, while counteracting the development of FLA. The thesis hopes to inspire academic and professional discussion about how to best organize English instruction that benefits all young learners, with varying language proficiencies in the same classroom.