English speaking outcomes and Stroop task performance following induction of foreign language anxiety

– Insights from behavioural and psychophysiological data –

Abstract

It is well-documented that anxiety has a detrimental effect on cognition. In the field of foreign language anxiety, the reduction in attentional control efficiency due to anxiety-inducing stressors is thought to be a possible cause of poorer performance when speaking in a foreign language. This study aims to clarify how manipulating anxiety through internal or external attentional stressors affects the quality of Japanese students’ spoken English and their executive function (inhibition). Preliminary results suggest that both experimental groups spoke less fluently than control participants. Furthermore, both experimental groups appear to complete both congruent and incongruent Stroop Task trials quicker than the control group but made more errors in the incongruent trials. As for electrodermal activity, experimental groups showed slightly increased activity in both skin conductance level and skin conductance response measures when focusing on incongruent trials. This poster will present and discuss the full results for 45 participants.