Exploring Language Anxiety Among Turkish Heritage Language Learners in Germany

Abstract

Summary Heritage language speakers may feel anxiety about using their heritage language in different settings due to monolingual ideologies, family attitudes, language proficiency, and many other factors. However, the experience of those enrolling in heritage language classes has yet to be known in detail. This study examined heritage language anxiety (HLA) toward speaking skills among Turkish heritage language learners (HLLs). A descriptive design was used to seek the HLA level and its relations with various variables such as the home language, communicative language with friends, self-perceived proficiency, age, gender, grade level, birthplaces of children and parents, age of acquisition (AoA), book-reading and movie-watching languages. Three hundred and three school-age bilingual Turkish children in Germany participated in the study. The results demonstrated that the HLA level of the target group was low. In addition, in-class HLA was significantly higher than out-of-class. Moreover, HLA levels significantly differed in terms of the father's birthplace, the communicative language with friends, self-perceived proficiency, and the movie-watching language. Despite evident differences regarding the book-reading language and birthplace of the mother, these were not statistically significant. Also, no relationship was observed between HLA and some variables: Age, grade level, and AoA. This initial study attempted to comprehend the complex patterns behind the language anxiety concept in the context of Turkish immigrants in Germany and heritage language education (HLE). In conclusion, interaction via heritage language (HL) and access to HLE may contribute to reducing HLA. However, paradoxically, while HLE may alleviate general HLA, it may cause more in-class anxiety due to sociocultural and pedagogical factors.