Abstracts
Abstract
Although anxiety has been found to be a key variable in both interpretation performance and second language (L2) acquisition, there has been virtually no dialogue between these two fields. In order to bridge this gap, this study investigated Taiwanese undergraduate student interpreters’ foreign language (FL) anxiety using Horwitz, Horwitz et al.’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Results showed that (1) Taiwanese student interpreters did have FL anxiety despite the language facility expected from them; (2) the scope of their FL anxiety was slightly less prevalent than regular Asian L2 learners, as widespread as American L2 learners, and more far-reaching than European L2 learners; and (3) the level of their FL anxiety was slightly less severe than in most of the university students from several cultural groups with various L2s, except for American college students of Arabic and Russian. Implications for pedagogy and future research are suggested.
Keywords:
- interpretation anxiety,
- foreign language anxiety,
- Chinese-English interpretation,
- student interpreters
Résumé
Bien que le rôle déterminant de l’anxiété ait été démontré autant en situation d’interpération que dans le cadre de l’acquisition d’une langue seconde (L2), pratiquement aucun dialogue n’a été établi entre ces deux domaines. Afin de combler ce vide, la présente étude analyse l’anxiété liée à l’usage d’une langue étrangère (LE) chez des étudiants en interprétariat de Taïwan au cours de leurs premières années universitaires. La mesure de l’anxiété est fondée sur l’échelle d’anxiété en classe de langue étrangère mise au point par Horwitz, Horwitz et al. (1986). Les résultats ont révélé : a) que malgré leur aptitude pour les langues, qui était attendue, ces étudiants éprouvaient une anxiété liée à l’usage d’une LE ; b) que la prévalence de cette anxiété était lègèrement moins importante que chez des apprenants asiatiques en L2, aussi importante que chez des apprenants américains en L2 et beaucoup plus importante que chez les apprenants européens en L2 ; c) que leur anxiété était légèrement moins intense que chez la plupart des étudiants d’appartenances culturelles diverses, toutes langues cibles confondues, à l’exception des étudiants américains de l’arabe et du russe. Enfin, la présente étude discute des implications pédagogiques de ces résultats et propose des orientations de recherches futures.
Mots-clés:
- anxiété liée à l’interprétariat,
- anxiété liée à l’usage d’une langue étrangère,
- interprétation chinois-anglais,
- étudiants en interprétration
Appendices
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