Interaction-based research has been central to understanding how a second language (L2) develops over time through interaction (Mackey, Abbuhl & Gass, 2012). To date, SLA research has shown what some of the most favorable interactional conditions are for L2 learners to notice feedback and learn from it. However, given the same conditions, some learners are better than others at learning through interaction, as L2 development is mediated by learner-internal factors (e.g., affect) and external social factors. Affective factors in SLA have been investigated mostly as traits, and research on their state-dimension has been scant. With the current study, I further interaction research by investigating the in-the-moment development of foreign language anxiety during four task-based interactions and the possible impact anxiety has on interaction-driven learning. Twenty-one English learners of Italian were video-recorded as they carried out a spot-the-difference and a picture-story task, with both a native and a nonnative speaker of Italian. They subsequently watched the videos of their interactions and rated how their level of anxiety fluctuated during the interactions (idiodynamic rating, MacIntyre, 2012). Stimulated interviews based on the videos and the graphs of the dynamic rating provided insights into the reasons behind the fluctuations. Participants’ learning outcomes were measured through fluency and accuracy gain scores, and increased number of attempts in using two target structures (gender agreement and past tense) in oral pre-posttests. Findings show that L2 learning is a situated process, in which learner-internal and contextual factors interact in a complex and non-linear relationship. What differed between high, medium, and low anxiety learners was the frequency and intensity of the anxiety-inducing situations they experienced, which were in turn determined by learners’ assessment of their performance compared to the contextual challenges (e.g., task complexity and interlocutor variables) and their language learning beliefs. Participants’ significant improvement and increase in the number of attempts to use the target structures indicate that practicing and receiving feedback contributed to learning, and the high, medium, or low anxiety participants experienced was not significantly associated with their gain scores. These findings unveil the triggering role of learners’ expectations and beliefs in inducing anxiety during interaction, and also that abundant, personalized, and non-threatening feedback may counterbalance the cognitive interference of anxiety in interaction-driven learning.
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