The Development and Validation of the Language Competencies Anxiety Scale (LCAS): Measuring reading, writing, listening, and speaking anxiety in any learning context

While language anxiety (LA) has received much attention in applied linguistics, existing tools for measuring LA are overtly focused on oral language competence-related anxiety experienced by traditional foreign language learners. To fill this gap, we have developed a Language Competencies Anxiety Scales (LCAS), to measure LA in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in any context in- and outside of the foreign language classroom. Three language learning groups were included in the study: (1) Traditional foreign language learners, (2) heritage language learners, and (3) online language learners. Online language learners consisted mainly of self-driven learners not enrolled in language classes. The 20 strongest items were selected based on item analysis and principle component analysis and included in the final LCAS. Results of the LCAS demonstrated significantly lower LA levels for heritage language (HL) learners compared to traditional- and online language learners. Differences between online language learners and traditional language learners could also be observed, though only significant for the reading and writing sub-scales. Our findings suggest that LA levels vary between different language learning groups, both with respect to context and language competencies. The LCAS can be used as a tool to expand our understanding of LA by targeting a diverse group of language learners.