This came as a shock to me some time ago but when I thought about it I realised that it is just like an actress freezing on stage or a footballer missing a vital penalty.

The human brain can operate well whilst experiencing high levels of anxiety, even stress. In fact, a little stress is good for performance. Rugby commentators say that someone is 'up for it' and really mean that the player is at the optimal level of nervous stimulation to perform at their very best.  

But it is a fine line that we all tread when the adrenalin kicks in.  That feeling of nervous anxiety and anticipation coursing through our veins is often the difference between doing something well and not doing it properly at all.However, under-stimulation is not the only way you and I can fail to perform. Over-stimulation, or over anxiety about what we are about to try and do can get so powerful that beyond a certain point our performance drops like a stone and we fail miserably. We miss the crucial injury time penalty, we lose our temper and get sent off, and when we are put on the spot we fluff our lines or forget what to say completely.

Some scientists have even created a law, the Yerkes-Dodson law that explains the relationship between arousal and performance. Over arousal for a task such as speaking a foreign language without the right mental preparation and support can lead to a complete drop-off in performance and the memory will falter. Check out the wikipedia entry on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerkes-Dodson_law This anxiety or stress when trying to speak has another name, lathophobic aphasia, which is defined as the failure to speak a new language for fear of making a mistake.  Sound familiar anyone?Mario Rinvolucri wrote about it in an IATEFL newsletter a few years ago. Lathophobic aphasia is a term that Earl Stevick used and adapted to describe his experiences of trying to speak foreign languages. The fear of making mistakes is also linked to the issue of correction and Stevick wrote an article for IATEFL some time ago that explained his thoughts on correction. It goes on the state how learners react to correction but also quite superbly describes how we remember language and rather pleasingly follows the path of an Out There lesson.This all links to Krashen's theory of the 'output filter', which is described as a psychological device that, the higher it is raised by levels of anxiety, the more language production it blocks (i.e. interferes with memory). Is the lathophobic aphasia that Stevick described the same thing or a more extreme version of a raised output filter?  It sounds to me like it might be.So, what can be done about it? How do you improve your ability to speak when you have been afraid to do so, often despite years of English tuition and a good ability to read and write the language? The current boom in online language exchange and practice is testament to the fact that learners are desperate to improve their speaking skills, look at any forum online and you will see English learners acknowledging the problems they have.I would argue that this is a typical scenario in the lives of millions of English learners and that they are not getting what they really need from conventional english language lessons and materials. I'm biased, of course, but anxiety and stress, in fields of activity outside of language learning, are commonly and actively 'managed' by mental and physical processes put in place to help the person to overcome the fear that so paralyses them.  It can be done but the mainstream English teaching world has not gone there yet. Cheers  Jason      

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