Dr. Stephen Krashen, quoted in "Using ELL Best Practices in Every Classroom," states that, "Learning a new language requires public practice. Speaking out in a new language can result in anxiety, embarrassment, and anger. These negative emotions can create a kind of filter that blocks the learner's ability to process new or difficult words." Thus, language anxiety affects both the quality and quantity of participation in situations involving the non-native language. Language anxiety reduces the efficacy of time spent acquiring the foreign language, because it limits factors contributing to the learner's confidence in and facility with the second language.
Language anxiety can affect anyone, no matter how confident or well-functioning that person might be in other situations. Prior language experience is a significant predictor of potential language anxiety: an individual possessing some experience having communicated publicly in a second language is less likely to suffer anxiety than a person who has not. The positive or negative nature of this prior language experience will also affect the non-native speaker's susceptibility to language anxiety.
Cultures that promote risk-seeking behavior are more likely to produce students more willing to take risks and perform publicly in a non-native language. On the contrary, cultures that discourage risk-taking are more likely to produce the opposite: students unwilling to risk their own comfort or the comfort of those around them in a non-native language situation.
David Kondo and Yang Ying-Ling list four strategies students typically employ to cope with language anxiety: "Preparation (e.g. studying hard, trying to obtain good summaries of lecture notes), Relaxation (e.g. taking a deep breath, trying to calm down), Positive Thinking (e.g. imagining oneself giving a great performance, trying to enjoy the tension), Peer Seeking (e.g. looking for others who are having difficulty controlling their anxiety, asking other students if they understand the class), and Resignation (e.g. giving up, sleeping in class)."
No consensus exists within the large body of research for how a student may avoid this anxiety or how a classroom may be managed to completely eradicate language anxiety. The reason for this is that language anxiety is a highly personal, individual reaction, and any strategy for overcoming this anxiety will depend greatly on the personality of the non-native speaker.