The Authenticity-anxiety Paradox: The Quest for Authentic Second Language Communication and Reduced Foreign Language Anxiety in Virtual Environments

In this amplification of an earlier comparative study into technical and foreign language anxiety in a virtual environment and the traditional classroom, the authenticity of the virtual environment and of the communicative interaction that occurs within that environment stand out as a significant factors associated with reduced foreign language anxiety. Students’ feelings about the authenticity of typed text-chat and of communication with their non-player character interlocutors in the virtual environment in comparison to real world communication is highly related to the foreign language anxiety they experience: the more similar they perceive these two contexts, the more likely they are to transfer feelings of anxiety related to speaking a foreign language to the virtual environment, even though perceived similarities between the real and virtual world were found to lead to greater engagement in learning in the virtual environment.