Tension and anxiety are my drug of choice, second only to caffeine. On page 61, Lightbrown and Spada discuss how some students may respond better to certain levels of tension and anxiety, and also to certain levels of relaxation. Also, a technique mentioned in class (I think we all know to which one I'm referring) was studied for lowering inhibition in second language learners, although this may only demonstrate a performance increase in second language learners, and not actual acquisition.
Returning to my original point, tension and anxiety are the thread that hold me together, especially during times when focus is necessary. I will often have friends and family ask me if I can understand people speaking Spanish in the mall or grocery store or something, and I never can, because there is no tension keeping me focused on what is being said. If I'm in a conversation where I need Spanish, I'm always able to perform well, since the situation provides me with a small amount of tension that I can use to keep myself focused. It's interesting reading about these ideas and seeing them fleshed out and put into words.
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I agree with what you said about almost everything. However, I do think that there is a threshold or a thin line as to when tension is helpful and conducive and to when it is paralyzing or debilitating. By the way, I like caffeine too!
Actually, I guess thanks to tension and anxiety I got a very high score on the TOEFL test. But not on all sections. It helped me to concentrate during the listening and reading sections. But I did the worse on the Speaking section, which actually was because of the anxiety... So I have to agree with Stephanie, that everything is good, but just to a certain extent. There must be limits to everything!
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