Under Pressure: Taking the Stress out of Language Learning

Join Britta and Chris as they talk about the stressful parts of language learning. What makes learning a language so stressful? What can we do as language learners (or language teachers) to reduce language-learning anxiety? Our hosts explore these questions in detail, and provide practical advice for ways to make language learning a positive, motivating experience.

This week's guest host is Chris Ashton. Chris is an ESL Teacher at ACA and also a Psychology teacher at an English-speaking college in Quebec City, where he gives lectures on the development of language and first language acquisition. 

In the show, we discussed 

• the sociocultural theory of language learning. Bonny Norton’s article Identity and Language Learning: Back to the Future was a useful resource in preparing for this episode. Alan Firth and Johannes Wagner are often referenced as pioneers of this theory as well, particularly their article On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research
• Life in Pieces, Chris’ recommendation for a comedy featuring short segments which are great for listening practice. 
• Britta has been learning French by watching Le Meilleur Pâtissier and recommends it for other French learners who love cooking! 

Come check out our website, at lesbonsmots.ca. You can see our language learning videos, and read our blog posts on news, culture and language learning. We will also have our episode transcript available there. We’d love to hear from you at [email protected].