There are several concepts describing the state of mind when entering foreign language communication with fear. Some of them are communication apprehension, communication anxiety, communication shyness, or communication reticence. Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) focused particularly on learning a foreign language in a classroom setting. They defined their concept of a foreign language classroom anxiety as „…a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process “(Horwitz et al.,1986, p. 128). Foreign language classroom anxiety can in certain situations deeply influence communication Yashima (2002). Factors profoundly influencing the fear of communication in a classroom are e.g. the fear of making a mistake in from of classmates (Tum, 2015; Yan & Horwitz, 2008), teaching style and teachers´ talk (Ballester, 2015), the classroom´s dynamics (Yashima et al., 2016) or learning styles and strategies (Yan & Horwitz, 2008). However, many researchers focused on e.g. studying the relationship between the foreign language classroom anxiety and self-evaluation of one´s communicative competence (Lee, 2018; Marzec-Stawiarska, 2015; Matsuda & Gobel, 2004, Yashima, 2002) brought inhomogeneous results.

In my study, which constitutes a part of a study exploring students´ attitude to classroom L2 communication, I focus on university students. For this purpose, I adapted one of the most used instruments measuring self-reported communication apprehension – the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986). The validated instrument would the international comparison of data and thus contribute to the international research and insight into the interesting matter.

The original Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986) measures 3 components (communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation in the foreign language classroom) with 33 items on a 6-point Likert scale. The Czech adaptation of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) measuring the students´ self-reported fear of speaking in the classroom included re-designing the instrument for university students and for the Czech conditions and was based on the recommendations of the European Federation of Psychologists´ Association (2013). Especially the clarity and content consistent with the original items in English were assessed. The adaptation included independent parallel translations, multiple cultural and linguistic adaptations, multiple expert reviews, and cognitive interviews with relevant respondents. In contrast to the original FLCAS, some of the items were reformulated from negative wording to positive wording. In order to ensure the instrument equivalence validity and reliability, I applied: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in JASP version 0.14.1, item analysis, estimation of scale reliability, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The convenience sampling was conducted twice in the academic year 2018/2019 in language courses at the university level (ISECD 6). The sample included 252 respondents. Their participation in the questionnaire survey was anonymous and their participation or non-participation did not affect the evaluation of their course evaluation. None of the students refused to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed in a paper form in the second half of the semester by four teachers. After the elimination of incomplete questionnaires, the total sample consisted of 238 respondents. Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2007) mention in their book Bryman and Cramer (1990), who set a minimum of 5 respondents for each item tested for FA purposes. A total of 238 respondents is therefore sufficient to identify individual factors using FA.

This work deals with the adaptation of FLCAS for Czech university students. The CFA did not completely comply with the original FLCAS. The EFA in STATISTICA 13.3 was applied to find out the saturation of individual items. Based on the results of EFA, one-factor model should be considered as was suggested by Tóth (2008, s. 70), who states that a foreign language anxiety is „…a unidimensional construct, a unique combination of different performance anxieties arising in the process of L2 learning and communication.“. The innernal consistency (.82) is comparable to previous results (Horwitz et at., 1986; Aida, 1994; Tóth, 2008). This study brings information about the process and the results of adaptation to a different socio-cultural environment. It will offer a validated and reliable tool for measuring the concept of foreign language classroom anxiety.

Cohen, L., Manion L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. 1. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-02905-4. EFPA. (2013). EFPAreviewmodelfor thedescription and evaluation ofpsychologicaland educational tests: Test review form and notes for reviewers, version 4.2.6. Retrieved from www.efpa.eu/download/650d0d4ecd407a51139ca44ee704fda4 Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.