From Therapy to Instruction: The Effect of Systemic Strategies on the Oral Performance of Foreign Language Learners

Ana Clara Sánchez Solarte and Andrés Sánchez Solarte http://dx.doi.org/10.19183/how.24.2.393 From Therapy to Instruction: The Effect of Systemic Strategies on the Oral Performance of Foreign Language Learners De la terapia a la enseñanza: el efecto de estrategias sistémicas en el desempeño oral de estudiantes de lengua extranjera* Ana Clara Sánchez Solarte Universidad de Nariño, Pasto, Colombia Andrés Sánchez Solarte Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia This paper reports the results of a group intervention based on strategies derived from the systemic therapy model—brief strategic therapy. These strategies aimed at decreasing the anxiety levels commonly found in oral performance tasks related to L2 learning. Thirteen students from different semesters who belonged to two foreign language teaching programs participated in four weekly 40-minute group sessions. The pre- and post-assessments suggest a meaningful reduction of anxiety levels (t = 8.978 p < 0.05; ES = 2.49). The results suggest that the application of the strategies is highly effective and beneficial for anxious L2 learners. Key words: Anxiety, foreign language anxiety, intervention strategy, oral performance. * Received: December 15, 2016. Accepted: March 22, 2017. How to cite this article (APA 6th ed.): Sánchez Solarte, A. C., & Sánchez Solarte, A. (2017). From therapy to instruction: The effect of systemic strategies on the oral performance of foreign language learners. HOW, 24(2), 160-178. http://dx.doi. org/10.19183/how.24.2.393. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. License Deed can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. 160 HOW 24-2 JUNIO 2017.indd 160 HOW 06/07/2017 12:47:31 p.m. From Therapy to Instruction: The Effect of Systemic Strategies on the Oral Performance of Foreign Language Learners Este artículo reporta los resultados de una intervención grupal basada en estrategias derivadas del modelo sistémico —terapia estratégica breve— orientadas a disminuir los niveles de ansiedad encontrados en actividades orales relacionadas con el aprendizaje de una segunda lengua. Trece estudiantes de diferentes semestres de dos programas de licenciatura en lengua materna y extranjera participaron en cinco sesiones grupales con una duración aproximada de 40 minutos. Las evaluaciones pre y post revelan una disminución significativa de los niveles de ansiedad (t = 8.978 p < 0.05; ES = 2.49). Los resultados sugieren que la aplicación de esta estrategia es altamente efectiva y beneficiosa para los aprendices de lenguas extranjeras ansiosos. Palabras clave: ansiedad, ansiedad asociada al aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, desempeño oral, estrategia de intervención. Introduction This article reports the findings of a study carried out at a Colombian university concerning the application of psychology-based strategies to help foreign language (L2) learners face the anxiety symptoms they experience when exposed to oral performance in the L2. Second language acquisition (SLA) studies have addressed learner differences and their role in teaching and learning. These differences, including aptitude, attitude, motivation, and intelligence, determine to some extent the success in L2 learning and interact with affective factors such as anxiety (Lightbown & Spada, 1999). Liu (2006), Liu and Jackson (2008), Liu and Ni (2015), and Krashen (as cited in Richards & Rodgers, 2014) have discussed the role of anxiety in the performance of L2 learners. Krashen even proposed a theory of learning inside the natural approach (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, 2014) featuring the affective filter hypothesis, which states that “acquirers with a low affective filter seek and receive more input, interact with confidence, and are more receptive to the input they receive,” (Richards & Rodgers, 2014, p. 266) implying that anxious or stressed out learners will block incoming L2 input. In community language learning, Curran (as cited in Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011) set forward principles derived from Rogerian counseling that stress the importance of dealing with learners’ fears and feelings and advocating the role of teachers as counselors who foster a non-threatening learning environment to enhance language learning. Teachers need to be aware of their potential role in triggering foreign language anxiety (FLA) and modify the input, interaction, and feedback they provide their students. As Piniel (2006) explained, FLA may be associated with the following events, all connected to teachers: 1) the teacher does not clarify why the student is being corrected, 2) the feeling of fear of being corrected by the teacher every time a mistake is made, 3) the teacher posing questions that students have not prepared for, and 4) the fast pace of the lessons. (p. 54) HOW Vol. 24, No. 2, July/December, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 160-178 HOW 24-2 JUNIO 2017.indd 161 161 06/07/2017 12:47:31 p.m. Ana Clara Sánchez Solarte and Andrés Sánchez Solarte This study then, contributes to making anxiety visible among teachers and learners, and suggests procedures which enable teachers to help students successfully cope with anxietytriggering situations, increasing opportunities for L2 acquisition. Literature Review Anxiety is at the core of this study. It is necessary to elaborate on it to better grasp the extent of its influence on L2 learning. Understanding Anxiety A number of authors have offered definitions of anxiety and FLA. Abu-Rabia (2004) defines the former term simply as “fear, panic, and worry” (p. 711). Clément (as cited in Tran, 2012) sees it as “a complex construct that deals with learners’ psychology in terms of their feelings, self-esteem, and self-confidence” (p. 69). Young (1992), on the other hand, characterizes FLA as an intricate psychological phenomenon particular to language learning. For MacIntyre (as cited in Tran, 2012) and MacIntyre and Gardner (as cited in Tran, 2012), FLA is a “feeling of tension and apprehension specifically associated with second or foreign language contexts, including speaking, listening, and learning, or the worry and negative emotional reaction arousal when learning or using a second or foreign language” (p. 69). Similarly, Zhang (2001) conceives anxiety as “the psychological tension a learner goes through in performing a learning task” (p. 74). These definitions expand on the ideas set forward by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), for whom FLA is “a phenomenon related to but distinguishable from other specific anxieties” (p. 129) and define it as “a distinct complex construct of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of language learning process” (p. 128). They also introduced the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), an instrument to measure anxiety levels “as evidenced by negat (...truncated)