By Dr Jasrael Stokes, University of Bristol
Despite passing language exams required to enter UK universities, many international students report experiencing high levels of anxiety when required to speak in English (Chen & Curdt-Christiansen, 2024). Foreign language anxiety is the nervousness people feel when they have to speak in a language that is not their mother tongue (Horwitz et al., 1986). This anxiety may refer to concerns regarding accurate language use or the speaker’s own ability to represent themselves in another language. As the use of English is essential for international students’ academic and daily life, foreign language anxiety can have significant impacts on their experience.
How are anxiety and language fluency related?
Anxious individuals tend to focus on negative thoughts and worries rather their intended message, leading to difficulties in communicating. Ruminating thoughts distract the speaker from what they intended to say and may lead to difficulty in remembering the vocabulary needed to convey their message (Eysenck et al., 2007). This then leads to disruptions during speech, such as the frequent need to pause or repeat oneself until the speaker is able to focus on and continue their message (Castillejo, 2019). Anxious students tend to pause, repeat words and phrases, and correct themselves in the middle of sentences more frequently (Castillejo, 2019).
How can a listener’s behaviour influence a speaker’s anxiety?
During conversations, both the speaker and listener show facial expressions, and perform behaviours, and gestures that impact speakers as they are talking (Shirvan & Talebzadeh, 2017). These non-verbal behaviours from the listener tell the speaker whether they are hearing and understanding their message, and their opinions and feelings about what has been said (Schroder et al., 2006). Non-verbal behaviours can impact the speaker differently depending on whether they are interpreted as positive or negative. Behaviours such as smiling and nodding are considered positive reactions and indicate agreement or understanding. These behaviours can make the speaker feel more at ease (Shirvan & Talebzadeh, 2017). On the other hand, fidgeting behaviour, silence, and lack of reaction can lead to anxiety, as speakers are unsure what the listener is thinking, or lead speakers to assume they are not communicating well (Wood, 2016). Therefore, as some non-verbal behaviours can provoke anxiety, it is likely that these behaviours may also lead to disruptions in language fluency.
Testing the impact of listener non-verbal behaviour
In my doctoral research, I wanted to understand how listeners’ non-verbal behaviour affects international students’ anxiety and fluency when speaking in English. In the study, I asked 144 international students to answer the same question in front of an audience of four native English speakers on Zoom: “What advice would you give to a future international student beginning to settle into life at the University of Bristol?”
Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three audience types:
- Positive audience: smiling, nodding and encouraging expressions
- Neutral audience: occasional nodding, minimal expression
- Negative audience: bored looks, lack of eye contact, signs of distraction
Afterward, participants watched a recording of their performance and rated their anxiety in real time on a scale of 0-5 and partook in a short interview where they were asked about their experiences of anxiety throughout the task. Participants’ speech was also transcribed and analysed for fluency, which included the number of pauses, repetitions, and self-corrections.
The findings showed that students who faced a negative audience reported significantly more anxiety and showed more disfluencies during the speaking task compared to those who faced a positive or neutral audience. During the interviews, participants described positive behaviour, such as smiling and nodding, as indicating that the audience was friendly. It also dispelled insecurities about their ability to communicate in English. On the other hand, seeing negative behaviour led them to doubt their English competence and question what they were saying.
Why are these findings important?
The way we listen can shape the way others feel and speak. For international students, even small cues like nodding or eye contact can ease anxiety and support clearer and more fluent communication. As the experimental conditions were randomly allocated, the non-verbal behaviour had nothing to do with what the speaker was saying or their language skills. However, it still had a significant impact!
For international students, the behaviour of those with whom they interact during their time in the UK can significantly impact their ability to comfortably and clearly communicate their ideas. As classmates, colleagues, or educators, being more aware of our own non-verbal behaviour is a simple but powerful way to create a more inclusive and supportive environment.
About the author
Dr Jasrael Stokes recently completed her PhD at the School of Education, University of Bristol, where she conducted mixed-methods research on the impact of listener non-verbal behaviour on international students’ anxiety and oral fluency. Jasrael’s research interests include language learner emotions and cognition, and how listener behaviour influences communication outcomes.