{"id":16201,"date":"2020-04-01T13:27:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T11:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/?p=16201"},"modified":"2020-07-30T14:39:55","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T12:39:55","slug":"foreign-language-anxiety-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/blog-en\/foreign-language-anxiety-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Language Anxiety in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although this post was written before the current world crisis, it offers tips you can still use while working remotely with employees who don\u2019t speak your corporate language as a native language:<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have you ever traveled to a foreign country and found yourself at a loss for words? It’s limiting, isn’t it? If you speak a foreign language fluently, you may feel fine speaking to people in person, but the moment you have to speak to someone on the phone, you become anxious. Both situations fall under foreign language anxiety and it’s a real thing. If members of your team speak English as a foreign language\u2014even if they speak it fluently\u2014they may experience foreign language anxiety, and it could be hampering your team\u2019s productivity and collaboration.<\/p>\n

Foreign language anxiety (FLA<\/a>) was identified in the 1980s as a reason students have difficulty learning a foreign language despite otherwise having few, if any, issues with studying. Since then, FLA has been observed in other situations, too, including the workplace. In this blog post, we\u2019ll tell you more about this situation-specific anxiety.<\/p>\n

Is Foreign Language Anxiety Really Real?<\/h1>\n

Yes, it is. A highly respected and well-known study published in 1986 by Elaine Horwitz established FLA as a situation-specific anxiety. The initial context for FLA was in the language learning classroom. Horwitz noticed that many people claim to have difficulty learning a foreign language even though they may be good learners in other situations, have a strong motivation to learn the language, and show a sincere liking for speakers of that language.<\/p>\n

Preliminary research showed that the level of anxiety language learners experienced dictated what strategies they used in that foreign language. For example, someone experiencing a high level of anxiety when learning a foreign language may limit the types of statements they make. If they believe that it will be too difficult to express an idea or make a statement, they will avoid doing so altogether.<\/p>\n

This of course means, when translated to the workplace, that employees who speak English as a foreign language may not contribute as much as you would like them to, because they\u2019re worried about accurately and smoothly getting their idea across.<\/p>\n

What Does Foreign Language Anxiety Look Like?<\/h1>\n

You can see FLA in communication avoidance and withdrawal. For example, if you have a group of employees who share a foreign language and they\u2019re often enjoying each other\u2019s company, even when you\u2019re around, but seem more reserved when they\u2019re speaking with you, FLA could be at play here. Their reserve suggests they may not feel as comfortable speaking English as they do their own language. Aichhorn and Puck http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ibusrev.2017.01.004<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Is It Important to Worry About FLA?<\/h1>\n

In a 2000 response to criticism about her theory, Horwitz explained how FLA works. Just like having a bad hair day can cause someone to show lower self-confidence because they don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re showing their best self, speaking in a foreign language can affect someone\u2019s self-image, too. They may be funny and witty in their native language but not in the foreign language.<\/p>\n

Nathalie Aichhorn and Jonas Puck<\/a> investigated the impact of standardizing language in multinational corporations. Over the past decade or so, multinational corporations (MNCs) have begun requiring everyone to work and speak only one language. This language becomes the \u201ccompany\u201d language. Aichhorn and Puck proposed that FLA would be a major challenge for employees at these companies who did not speak the company language natively.<\/p>\n

They write: \u201cOur findings indicate that such communicative behaviors can have a considerable impact on interpersonal communication, affecting both the content and relationship dimension.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Can You Help?<\/h1>\n

Helping your employees with any anxiety issues<\/a> can range from ensuring all are aware of any psychological help offered at your place of work to working with HR on mental health awareness programs.<\/p>\n

For FLA, though, you can try a few other things.<\/p>\n