Investigating College Students’ Second Language and Computer-Mediated Communication Anxieties in a Philippine Comprehensive University

• Main Authors: Forro, Marikah Devon, Ballesteros-Lintao, Rachelle
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: second language anxiety; computer-mediated communication; language learning; online learning; affective filter; Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/jeal/vol2/iss2/5; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/jeal/article/1071/viewcontent/5_Forro___Lintao_revised.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The issue of classroom language anxiety, considered a significant factor that hinders language learning, has received an increasing amount of research in the field of language education. In the Philippines, despite the abundance of literature regarding students' language anxiety, the shift in the learning environment due to the pandemic may have significantly affected the language anxiety experienced by learners. Hence, this study sought to investigate students' language and computer-mediated communication (CMC) anxieties as they communicate through technology during online classes. Subsequently, it was aimed at identifying the relationship between language anxiety and CMC anxiety. Employing Krashen's Theory of Affective Filter (1982) and Brown et al.’s computer-mediated communication anxiety theory (2004), this paper utilized adapted questionnaires from Jugo's (2020) English Language Anxiety Scale and Brown et al.’s (2004) CMC Anxiety Scale to measure the students' language and CMC anxieties, respectively. A total of 377 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Arts and Letters in a Philippine university participated in this study. Findings revealed that students have a generally low level of language anxiety. Nevertheless, the respondents are inclined to encounter unease when participating in speaking exercises. It was also found that they have low CMC anxiety and look forward to using computers to communicate. This study underscores that language anxiety and CMC anxiety correlate. Hence, the study reveals that students with higher language anxiety tend to engage less in computer-mediated communication and participate less in online classrooms. The results provide important information about university students' language and CMC anxieties during online classes in the Philippines, which may serve as a lens to assess and adjust the strategies and approaches of instructors with the hope of diminishing or eliminating the said anxieties in digital classrooms experienced by learners in the country.