Foreign language anxiety and dependency distance in English-Chinese interpretation classrooms

Jackie Xiu Yan; Junying Liang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.952664

Foreign language anxiety and dependency distance in English-Chinese interpretation classrooms

Front Psychol. 2022 Oct 26:13:952664. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.952664. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jackie Xiu Yan¹, Junying Liang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Department of Linguistics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been identified as a crucial affective factor in language learning. Similar to the situation in language classes, university students in interpretation classes are required to perform in a foreign language when their language skills are inadequate. Investigations are needed to determine the specific impact of FLA on interpretation learning. This study investigated the effects of the specific interpretation classroom FLA (ICFLA) on interpretation learning and dependency distance (DD) as an indicator of learners' cognitive load. The participants were 49 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in English-Chinese interpretation classes at a university in Hong Kong. The results showed a significant negative correlation between ICFLA levels and consecutive interpretation achievement scores. ICFLA was also negatively correlated with DD in consecutive interpretations. Four factors underlying ICFLA were identified. The findings of this study would provide useful insights for researchers and educators to understand the nature and effect of FLA in different settings.

Keywords: cognitive load; consecutive interpretation; dependency distance; foreign language anxiety; interpretation; interpretation learning; language learning; sight translation.