TFLA
FLA is a situation-specific anxiety experienced by language learners (e.g., Horwitz et al., 1986). It was defined as “a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” by Horwitz and her colleagues (1986, p.128). Horwitz (1996) suggested that foreign language teachers, as advanced language learners (Coleman & Towell, 1991), can encounter many anxiety-provoking experiences when learning and teaching the target language. Later researchers have empirically examined language teachers’ FLA through questionnaires, interviews, and so on (e.g., Bekleyen, 2009; Kralova & Tirpakova, 2019; Kralova, et al., 2017). These studies have shown that language teachers worldwide experience FLA, and such feelings negatively affect teaching practices and students’ learning outcomes (e.g., Liu & Wu, 2021; Tum, 2012, 2015). For example, in Tum’s (2015) study of 12 Turkish pre-service EFL teachers, anxious teachers tended to avoid using the target language in teaching and overemphasized correcting students’ language use errors. Similarly, Machida (2015) conducted a study with 133 Japanese elementary school English teachers. Analysis of questionnaire data revealed that more than seventy-seven percent of the participants reported anxious feelings about their language abilities. Their FLA primarily came from low confidence in using English to communicate and unpreparedness to teach English. Also, factors like teaching experience, training experience, and English proficiency could strongly influence their level of FLA. Kralova and her colleagues (2017) focused on foreign language pronunciation anxiety (FLPA) of student teachers in Slovakia and found that it was negatively correlated with the quality of the participants’ English pronunciation.
However, as research on foreign language teacher anxiety progressed, it became evident that addressing teachers’ language-related anxiety alone is inadequate (e.g., Fraschini & Park, 2021, 2022; Ikeda et al., 2020). The teaching-related anxiety of FL teachers has received increased attention (e.g., Alrashidi, 2022; Ouastani, 2020). For example, Fraschini and Park (2022) used Q methodology to examine Korean pre-service language teachers’ anxiety. They summarized four major perspectives, including concerns about the lack of teaching experience and skills, poor work-life balance, relationship with supervisors and colleagues, and limited chances to demonstrate their creativity.