Verbalizing Fears: How does Language Anxiety affect students in academic and social environments?

People’s perceptions regarding the connection between speech and intelligence create intense anxiety among self-conscious individuals that prevent them from progressing in academic and social environments. The note ‘Broken, just like my English’ is put against the background of UCT campus which represents the environment where in language anxieties can flourish. Photographer: Zoe Wells

It’s Monday morning and I’m in my 8 am lecture. The class is eerily quiet. I hear the tips of pens being aimlessly scribbled on blank pages while I scan the faces of my fellow students. Someone at the back coughs awkwardly, trying to break the tension that has now entered the lecture theater as our professor stares up at us expectantly, annoyed by our silence. A thought pops into my mind as I stare back at the professor. Can it be that none of the 50 something students knows the answer to his question or are some, like me, simply too petrified of opening their mouths? You see, I know the answer, but I’ve been sitting here forming the ‘correct’ way of voicing the answer for almost a minute. Mulling over the broken English that I know will eventually spill from my gums, like word vomit. The lecturer sighs defeated before he continues to answer his own question. I lean back in my chair, relieved, and my stomach unclenches as the thought of publicly answering his question disappears. Only, a few minutes go by before he poses his next question. My stomach clenches again as the turn tables in my head start spinning and my tongue knots shamefully.

Anxiety is complex, there are different variations of it whether it’s social anxiety, test anxiety or general anxiety, but they all break down to one simple variable: fear. Second language- or Foreign language anxiety is probably the most stifling variation of anxiety in an educational environment as provided by the dominantly English, University of Cape Town. At University level there is a certain expectation of students who belong to this environment, an expectation of excellence in every aspect of their lives, language is especially important. With this notion in mind I set out to find how much value UCT students put upon one’s ability to speak English eloquently in order to evaluate whether or not the anxiety that comes along with speaking a second language is purely self conceived or if it is justified by the perception of others.

The five students I interviewed consisted of four females and one male: Jasmin Valcarcel, Zeenat Samodien, Varisha Hutheram, Tamlin Bora and Kgabane Kb Lengane. Apparently, UCT’s male population are prone to being camera shy. Out of the five students I did manage to interview three students did admit to subconsciously judging others based on the way that they spoke. Second Year Fine Arts student Jasmine Valcarcel stated that she ‘definitely’ thought people subconsciously judge others based on the way that they spoke. She went on to use an example of the stereotypical stigma surrounding people who have strong ‘black’ accents, saying that it is associated with being uneducated. While the remaining two students, Kgabane Lengane and Varisha Hutheram, who denied being judgmental of others based on the way that they spoke stated that, the only important thing is that one’s point comes across clearly and that it didn’t matter to them how eloquently people speak.

Although the students had different views regarding the need for eloquent speech they all agreed on two fronts, people who do feel self-conscious about their speech will be at a disadvantage regarding their academic and social experience at UCT. Varisha Hutheram noted that the anxiety that comes along with perceptions of speech will create barriers between the student and the lecturer: “You won’t be able to approach a lecturer if you have any questions or if you misunderstood any of the course content.”  She went on to say that socially, you would become more of an introvert for fear of people shunning what you say or downgrading your opinions.

Knowing that all of the students agree on the impact anxiety in general and language anxiety has on students who have this fear, the lack of support specifically aimed towards students who suffer from anxiety on the University’s part is very problematic. The University’s Wellness Center used to have a program specifically for students who suffer from anxiety, but it has been suspended. Students who do seek help now need to find alternative ways of either coping or conquering their anxieties. Considering the fact that students are disadvantaged academically as well as socially, the lack of support in this regard might attribute to student dropout rates. Since anxiety is not an easily identified problem it seems as though this situation is overlooked by the University which in itself poses the question of how important the wellness of students really are.

With Universities such as UCT filled to the brim with students from all over the country chances are many of them have to face the hurdle that comes from being in a dominantly English environment.  Even though one’s ability to speak English eloquently has little to do with intelligence or education the stereotypes still exist subconsciously in the minds of students. However, it is important for us to understand that our judgment and ridicule has the power to influence people’s perceptions of themselves and therefore we should be mindful of the ways in which we indulge in those stereotypes. H. Jackson Brown  Jr , the author of Life’s Little Instruction Book, once said : “Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.” We should all keep this in mind the next time we find the urge to indulge.    

See the interviews discussed in this article here:

   

Anxieties go viral

Admit it, you’ve removed a post or a picture on Facebook before when an hour has gone by and no one bothered to press the like button. We’ve all been there at some point because, whether we want to admit it or not, likes are important to us. It shows that what you’re saying is valid or cool, it means someone thought you looked pretty today and in some messed up way it reassures you that you are actually having fun. If these things weren’t true then no one would have bothered to press the like button right?

But what does the opposite mean then? If no one presses that like button or if no one hearts your Instagram photo or retweets your tweet does that make it less valid, less cool, does that make you ugly and does that mean that you might not be having as much fun as you think you are? If you’re nodding right now then I’m sorry to say it my friends but we might be in big trouble…

UCT Confessions page leads to change?

Images:Two screengrabs of the posts made by UCT students on the UCT confessions page

The UCT Confessions page on Facebook is known for its controversial posts as students anonymously post their dreams, desires and yes, opinions for all the world to see. These post usually make you cringe, leave you shocked and for the most part entertained but rarely has this platform been seen as a mechanism for change, until now that is. Recently there have been frequent posts from first year students admitting to feeling lonely and isolated even though the semester started almost five months ago. These posts have been met with great responses from fellow UCT students offering help and support but after a student confessed to being ‘more suicidal than ever’ one girl decided to do more.

Quote of the day

If you don’t think your anxiety,depression, sadness and stress impact your physical health, think again. All of these emotions trigger chemical reactions in your body, which can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Learn how to cope, sweet friend. There will always be dark days. – Kris Carr

Could it be in my genes?

You know the irrational fear you had as a child of the monsters that you ‘knew’ were just waiting for you to turn your night light out so they could pounce on you and rip you to shreds? And how it didn’t matter how many times your parents checked underneath your bed you still insisted on having the door cracked open with the hallway light switched on…Yes, I do too. Now imagine it being 15 years later and finding out that your fear might not have been that ‘irrational’ in the first place because low and behold one day that hideous creature decides to rear its ugly head, only it’s not Freddy Kruger taunting you at night it’s a monster within its own class. If you are like me then I probably don’t even need to spell it out for you but for those of you who don’t know, the monster I’m referring to is anxiety disorder.

What is Anxiety disorder?

Anxiety disorder is a combination of pressure, stress and fear that restricts people from functioning ‘normally’ on a daily basis whether it is in social situations, at home or within a work environment. When it comes down to identifying the root from which this mental disorder has sprung from specialists have narrowed it down to genes and environment, although there is still a divide in terms of which one contributes the most towards the development of anxiety most specialist do acknowledge that both factors do play a substantial role.

Varsity survival guide for people with social anxiety- University Edition

Survival guides? aren’t those the ones you get before you go shark diving or river rafting, university really? Yes, really because for people who suffer from social anxiety University is the direct equivalent of shark diving, cage excluded. Being thrust into a hyper social situation or place is no joke and it is important to be prepared or else you might just get eaten alive! Figuratively of course, cannibalism is frowned upon around here. Hopefully where ever you are reading this from too! Comment help immediately if this is not the case!

Unlike river rafting or shark diving however creating a survival guide for social situations is very challenging, there aren’t any water colored diving suites for us to wear that will make the anxiety go away, it would be great if there was though. In the meantime I have a list of guidelines that you can abide by that might help you survive the day to day struggles that come along with suffering ( What an awful word), coping with social anxiety.

First Year fears come true

As a first year the prospect of going to a University far from home is equal parts daunting and exciting at the same time. Finally, after twelve years of school, you have made it and now it is time to start your future without the cushion provided by lifelong friendships that you have built, the warmth of your own bedroom or even the reassuring smiles from teachers who have have seen you become the adult that you are now. As I said… being a first year is daunting. Only for some it it less daunting than it is for others, for some that fear goes away after arriving at their chosen University. They would form new lifelong friendships, make their dorm room resemble home as much as possible and form new relationships with professors who will one day before graduation once again pass a reassuring smile their way. If only it could be that simple for everyone. A few weeks ago I read an article in UCT’s student newspaper titled ‘Alone at lunch, again’ and my heart sunk because the article had confirmed what I knew to be true which is that finding ones place in unfamiliar territory could be a struggle. I immediately knew that I wanted to interview the author, a first year student named Anthea van den Bergh, for my blog. Not only was she incredibly brave for writing the article in the first place but she made me realize why I wanted my blog to be about this particular issue in the first place.

Not all who wander are lost

‘I’m not nervous’ I said to myself as I made my way towards the other side of the lecture theater after spotting Amy sitting alone at the top corner. I knew that I wasn’t nervous because in my mind she was just like me: Quiet, Non-threatening, Alone. Even though I’ve only spoken to her quickly once before I felt like I knew her. I felt like I knew her well enough to tell her story without even having to talk to her because as I approached her I had already begun ticking off the tiny boxes in my mind.

• A book in the hand. Check √
• Avoiding eye contact. Check √
• Earphones. Check √
• Empty surrounding seats. Double check√

For some reason I believed that that was all I needed to know that Amy Apple, the complete stranger now sitting next to me was in fact just like me and when she said yes to the interview I thought I knew how this was going to end. I thought I knew her, only after the interview ended later that day the only thing I knew for certain was that I knew nothing.