Communicative anxiety among Korean immigrants in Australia

Abstract

This study investigated levels of communicative anxiety (CA) among three generations of Korean immigrants (i.e., first, 1.5, and second generation) in Australia. A survey asking about their levels of CA in Korean (i.e., heritage language) and in English (i.e., majority language) was completed by 137 Korean immigrants. Some of the survey respondents participated in the open-ended questions and interviews, which asked about anxiety-arousing situations and coping strategies. Overall, all three generations of Koreans showed very low levels of CA in Korean. Regarding CA in English, the first-generation group showed a moderate level of anxiety whereas the second-generation group showed a very low level of anxiety. The 1.5-generation group revealed relatively low levels, but still ‘some’ degree of CA in both Korean and English. Among many contexts, public speaking provoked the most anxiety, both in Korean and English, and for all three generations. Various linguistic and socio-emotional reasons interplayed, and strategies similar to those used by successful foreign or second language learners were reported.