Anxiety in Ukrainian refugees learning Spanish as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The present research is based on the foundations of the humanistic approaches and analyzes the affective variables that take place in the Spanish as a Foreign Language learning process (SFL, henceforth). This paper focuses on both the study of the effects and manifestations of anxiety in a target group made up of Ukrainian refugees. The interest of this analysis is based on satisfying an urgent social need due to the situation and demand that the members of the target group require, and hence the conclusions provided will shed light on various areas of the world of teaching SFL to students of this nationality. Data were obtained through a questionnaire and analyzed from a mixed perspective. The results obtained show that anxiety is present in the target group at a low level, which may be caused by a series of endogenous and exogenous factors that come into play to varying degrees. The conclusions establish that the anxiety factor is relevant to the SFL acquisition process and, therefore, is a component that must be taken into account in multiple facets related to language teaching.