Language Anxiety from the Foreign Language Specialist's Perspective: Interviews with Krashen, Omaggio Hadley, Terrell, and Rardin

ABSTRACT Recently we have acquired a body of data on language anxiety from the student's perspective. The following is an examination of language anxiety from the language specialist's perspective. Through the interview format, Stephen Krashen, Alice Omaggio Hadley, Tracy Terrell, and Jennybelle Rardin offer their perspectives on language anxiety—a complicated psychological phenomenon peculiar to language learning. They share their views on foreign and second language teaching and theory and offer insights into the theoretical as well as practical issues of language anxiety, such as its role in language learning and its sources and manifestations. They also suggest ways for reducing language anxiety. Many of their perceptions go beyond agreement with existing research, and often, their responses lead to insights into language anxiety fertile for future areas of inquiry.