Help to follow a French chicken (6)
I believe the answer is:
afraid
'chicken' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'help to follow a french' is the wordplay.
'help' becomes 'aid' (synonyms).
'to follow' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go after or follow others).
'french' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation).
'a'+'fr'='afr'
'aid' put after 'afr' is 'AFRAID'.
(Other definitions for afraid that I've seen before include "feeling scared" , "cowardly" , "with butterflies" , "Nervous" , "Timorous" .)