KOREASCHOLAR

This study analyzes the results of ten foreign language anxiety (FLA) research papers from the Korean post-secondary EFL context. Its aim is to identify some of the methodological limitations that persist in such research in an effort to influence the epistemological perspectives and methodological approaches of future studies. A comprehensive summary of the FLA-associated factors, variables, and pedagogical implications reported in the respective research papers is presented. Discussions include a critical analysis of the traditional cognitivist approach to FLA research, addressing issues associated with attempts to isolate and objectively quantify the cognitive states of the students. Highlighted is the argument that, when the socio-cultural dimension of language learning is adequately accounted for, many of the underlying assumptions inherent to traditional FLA research become inescapably problematic. The study concludes by emphasizing the need to adopt holistic, interpretive, and social constructivist research perspectives through which the dynamic and ever-changing nature of human activity can be more fully accounted for, and by which the pedagogical implications remain deeply entwined with, rather than detached from, the context in which the language learning activity takes place.

• Neil Briggs(Talmage Liberal Arts College, Hannam University)