For my final project for the CTL5011 course, I have chosen to create a website that compiles many different tools to help French Language learners increase their perceived competence, which in turn will reduce their language anxiety, which is very common amongst language learners.
I teach in a French Immersion program, which is considered an enhanced program that comes with increased curriculum expectations and I have seen the way traditional language learning formats can often lead to high levels of stress and anxiety within students as young as Grade 1. Fortunately, it has been proven through the movement away from traditional language learning formats towards more authentic and engaging language learning formats, stress and anxiety in these learning settings can be reduced.
This resources provides learners with a one stop shop to find all the resources they need to have engaging French language learning experiences that can increase confidence and decrease anxiety.
Perceived competence plays a major role in a language learners level of anxiety and stress during the language learning process. If a learner even thinks about potential mistakes or errors they may make, their language anxiety can increase tremendously and thus, affect their ability to even begin to communicate in whatever language they are learning (MacIntyre et al., 2002, p.539). These predictive anxieties are not reflective of the actual level of competence a learner has (MacIntyre et al., 2002, p.540) and in turn, many language learners do not communicate to the level of fluency which they are capable of.
The purpose of this resource is to attempt to chip away from that negative perception of competence by using correction tools, conversation tools and more to increase a learner's confidence, which will hopefully lead to an increase in their willingness to communicate (Baker & MacIntyre, 2000). The increased willingness to communicate will eventually lead to learners feeling less anxiety related to their abilities in the language.