Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to construct a scale to measure the anxiety of Japanese language learners in Japan. Students from various countries who were studying Japanese as a second language at 18 universities in Japan took the Japanese Language Anxiety Scale (JLAS) about their language anxieties in their language classrooms and in other settings. Test materials were prepared in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. Results of factor analysis revealed that in-classroom anxiety (23 items) was composed of 3 factors: tenseness during speaking activities, anxiety about coping with unclear situations, and worry about general low proficiency in Japanese. Anxiety outside-the-classroom (22 items) was also composed of 3 factors: anxiety about communication with Japanese people, worry about general low proficiency in Japanese, and tenseness in formal situations. The reliabilities of the scale were sufficiently high. Scores on the scale were positively correlated with Leary's Social Anxiety Scale, and negatively correlated with MacDonald's Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale, and with confidence on a Japanese proficiency scale. These results supported the validity of the Japanese Language Anxiety Scale.
