Exploring Foreign Language Anxiety: a study on its impact with a focus on gender differences

Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) has been the subject of numerous studies across multiple disciplines. Research has shown how this pervasive psychological phenomenon affects the language learning process. It manifests as feelings of discomfort, inadequacy, and fear of failure in classroom-related contexts. The present thesis aims to investigate the perception of this phenomenon among a sample of 123 high school and university students, with a specific focus on the differing perceptions of FLA between males and females. The thesis is composed of three chapters, beginning with a theoretical framework on emotions and their essential role in the educational context. The second chapter provides a comprehensive description of anxiety in all its facets, along with an in-depth exploration of foreign language anxiety, including insights into its causes and effects. The final chapter presents the case study, offering details about the participants, the research instrument and the method used. Data collected through the administration of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) are presented, and finally, the results are discussed.