The Daily Texan has an article up about Elaine Horwitz’s research into how foreign language anxiety can lead to hesitancy to practice the language, missed classes and lower grades.

Her findings mimic some of my own Spanish language learning experiences. I studied Spanish from 5th grade through 10th grade, and never became fluent. It wasn’t until I spent some time abroad that I was able to really communicate with others in Spanish.

Her research also seems to confirm some suspicions I’ve had about the inefficiency of learning Spanish, or any foreign language, in a formal educational setting.

She found that while students may feel confident in their comprehension of vocabulary and grammar, they often freeze when required to speak spontaneously.

In my case at least, this problem occurred because there was such a low emphasis on actual speaking. Grades were almost wholly dependent upon my ability to process written Spanish, through reading and writing exercises.

That forced me into a memorization mode that didn’t really translate well into dynamic communication settings, i.e. talking! I really think it’s better if you focus on self-study of the Spanish language, with a good study-at-home Spanish course and by finding native Spanish speakers to talk to. This can be done online through language exchange websites, or living abroad.

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