Tracking and Quantifying Japanese English Language Learner Speaking Anxiety

This study tracked and quantitatively measured Japanese English Language Learner (ELL) classroom speaking anxiety over 12 weeks. Participants (N = 75) were first-year Japanese Oral Communication students attending a public university in Japan. The Nervousness Metric (NM) was created by the researcher and was used as a quantitative tracking tool. Beginning from the second week of one school term, students filled out the NM two times in each lesson: once at the start of each week’s lesson, and again prior to the lecturer’s assigned performance task. Quantitative data produced from the NM tracking system suggested that participants’ anxiety decreased, with the most significant decrease occurring between the first and second weeks of data collection. Additional quantitative data indicated that within each lesson, anxiety levels were raised pre-performance. Qualitative data supported previous research by Woodrow (2006), which suggested that ELLs prefer collaborative group activities over individual oral presentations.