The Influences of Foreign Language Anxiety on English Majors’ Oral English Expression in Class and Countermeasures

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1、外语焦虑对英语专业学生课堂口语表达的影响及对策The Influences of Foreign Language Anxiety on English Majors Oral English Expression in Class and CountermeasuresAbstract: Foreign language anxiety refers to the negative emotion that resulted from certain foreign language learning environment, which is very prominent in oral

2、English class. Studies have shown the influences of foreign language anxiety in English majors oral English expression in class are communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. Research indicates that foreign language anxiety is caused by students competitive natures, s

3、elf-esteem, personality and so on, which ultimately hamper the proficiency in oral English expression. This thesis illustrates that in order to reduce foreign language anxiety, both students themselves and teachers should try their best English majors should conquer themselves, build up confidence a

4、nd practice more, while teacher should establish a free and equal atmosphere for students to communicate and set up a right evaluation system. In this way, English majors can decrease their foreign language anxiety and improve their ability of oral English expression in class. Key words: foreign lan

5、guage anxiety; English majors; oral English expression; in class; countermeasures摘要：外语焦虑是指学生在课堂这一特定的外语学习环境中所产生的紧张、担忧、和恐惧等负面情绪，在口语课堂上尤为明显。研究表明，由外语焦虑引起的英语专业学生在课堂的口语表达方面所存在的影响有：交际恐惧、考试焦虑、以及对否定性评价的惧怕。研究还发现，引起外语焦虑的原因有：学生的竞争意识、自尊心，以及个性特点等等。这些原因最终阻碍了口语表达的输出。本研究结果表明，为了降低英语专业学生的外语焦虑，需要从学生自己和教师两方面做起。首先，英语专业学生

6、要克服自身因素、建立自信心、并增加练习；而教师则要为学生建立自由、平等的交流气氛，建立正确的评价体系。这样，英语专业学生的外语焦虑才能够得到有效降低，从而使得他们在课堂上的口语表达能力得到提高。关键词：外语焦虑；英语专业学生；口语表达；课堂；对策ContentsI. Introduction.1II. Literature Review.2A. Concept of foreign language anxiety.2B. The influences of foreign language anxiety.31. Communication apprehension.32. Test anx

7、iety.33. Fear of negative evaluation.4C. The factors that cause foreign language anxiety.4III. Experiment and Data Analysis.6A. Subjects.6 B. Method.6C. Data analysis.8IV. Countermeasures to Reduce English Majors Foreign Language Anxiety.10A. From English majors point of view.11B. From teachers poin

8、t of view.11V. Conclusion.12Works Cited.14Appendix.15I. IntroductionMost Chinese college students may comprehend English articles or write excellent articles, however, they still find it hard to speak English. And foreign language anxiety appears whenever they communicate in English, especially in E

9、FL classroom. While our English majors, especially the freshmen, have the following characteristics in oral English expression “Do not dare to speak, low voice, anxious, and not fluently”. Maybe this is deeply influenced by the traditional teaching methods, whose main character is teacher says mostl

10、y in class while students are just listening and taking notes. For many English majors, oral English class can be more anxiety-provoking than any other courses. In oral English class, most students, especially the freshmen, always keep silent. When asked to answer questions or act something, they al

11、ways feel very anxious, and have difficulty in oral English expression. This perhaps is due to the limited vocabularies and grammar. However, anxiety stands out as one of the main blocking factors for effective language learning. “Anxiety is the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousne

12、ss, and worry associated with an arousal of the automatic nervous system” (Oxford 39). The research on anxiety suggests that, like self-esteem, anxiety can be experienced at various levels (Oxford 39). The main component of the feeling of anxiety is the cognitive one, characterized by the individual

13、 s concern for himself or for herself, excessive self-consciousness, and doubts regarding his or her ability and self-esteem.While foreign language anxiety is one of the most important predictors of foreign language achievement (Onwuegbuz 217). Research (Young 441) has consistently revealed that anx

14、iety can impede foreign language production and achievement. Foreign language anxiety can be a psychological state, or a psychological quality. It is a kind of anxiety that appearances when the learners in a specific situation or at a specific time (Zhang 93). Foreign language anxiety is experienced

15、 by learners of foreign language and poses potential problems, “because foreign language anxiety can interfere with the acquisition, retention and production of the new language” (Maclntyre and Gardner 26). A review of the literatures has now given us useful information on foreign language anxiety.

16、Most of these studies conclude “foreign language anxiety can be distinguished from other types of anxiety and that it can have a negative effect on the language learning process”. Phillips even warns that language anxiety in the classroom causes negative affective reactions and can induce negative a

17、ttitudes and discourage students from continuing their language study (Phillips 2). Whats more, Liu Conghui thinks that the influence of foreign language anxiety can even extend to the outer classroom activities, and their option of the occupation (Liu 6). Sometimes it can disappear with the time go

18、es by, but not all the students could overcome it. Our foreign language teaching practice also proves that foreign language anxiety affects students ability to acquire and understand the language (Hu 287). If English majors cant reduce their foreign language anxiety effectively, they will suffer fro

19、m it deeply. It will not only influence their performance in oral English class, but also influence their future life, such as job-hunting. Therefore, it is an urgently need that we help them to reduce their foreign language anxiety. Given these, the purposes of this thesis are:1. to let English maj

20、ors know what cause their foreign language anxiety.2. to give both English majors and teachers the effective countermeasures to reduce English majors foreign language anxiety according to the data analysis of the questionnaire, so that English majors can improve their ability of oral English express

21、ion in class.II. Literature ReviewA. Concept of foreign language anxietyOf all the concepts and theories in foreign language teaching and learning, effect in EFL classroom is one of the most important issues in foreign language learning and teaching. As one of the negative affective factors, foreign

22、 language anxiety has been the issue to be concerned by theorists and teachers. Foreign language anxiety is one of the most important predictors of foreign language achievement (Onwuegbuzie 217). Maclntyre and Gardner (291) define foreign language anxiety as such: “a feeling of apprehension and nerv

23、ousness associated closely with foreign language contexts (including listening, speaking and learning)”. In the book Affect Language Learning, which was wrote by Arnold, Oxford (478) defines foreign language anxiety not as a general state, but as a feeling of apprehension produced because of student

24、s communication using the target language. While Horwitz et al. (128) said “we conceive foreign language anxiety as a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process.” In a word

25、, foreign language anxiety has a negative effect on the language learning process. This thesis mainly uses Horwitzs concept of foreign language anxiety and part of her theory.B. The influences of foreign language anxietyIn oral English classes, students are more easily asked to do pair-work, group w

26、ork, and acting work. Students who suffer from foreign language anxiety are more reluctant to converse or interact with others, therefore, they tend to avoid communication or withdraw from it as soon as possible. For English majors who have foreign language anxiety, tasks teacher gives are really ha

27、rd for them to finish. Such psychology seriously influences students oral English expression. Krashen (39) maintains that foreign language anxiety inhibits the learners ability to process incoming language and short-circuits the process of acquisition. Research has shown the influences of foreign la

28、nguage anxiety in English majors oral English expression are as following:1. Communication apprehension Communication apprehension is arising form learners inability to adequately express mature thoughts and ideas (Horwitz et al. 126). People who suffer from communication apprehension are more reluc

29、tant to converse or interact with others; therefore, they tend to avoid communication or withdraw from it as son as possible. English majors who have communication apprehension always feel shy, do not dare to answer teachers question loudly, and even have difficulty in answering it fluently. Some of

30、 them are afraid of looking at teachers eyes directly. And some of them try to avoid participating in the pair-work, group work, and acting work. In a word, such students are afraid of using English to express their ideas and answer teachers question. One frequently cited anxiety provoking factor am

31、ong students is simply being called on in class, whether prepared or not 2. Test anxietyTest anxiety is an apprehension over academic evaluation (Horwitz et al. 126). English majors with test anxiety often fear testing, particularly in connection with oral testing or 1istening exercises. English maj

32、ors with test anxiety frequently experience cognitive interference and have a difficult time focusing on the task at hand. They are afraid of tests because of previous experiences of failure and will be anxious or tremble with anxiety during the testing. And such students always feel uncertainty to

33、their test results. In language testing, the greater the degree of student evaluation and the more unfamiliar and ambiguous the test tasks and formats, the more the learner anxiety produced.3. Fear of negative evaluationFear of negative evaluation is arising from a learners need to make a positive s

34、ocial impression in others (Horwitz et al. 126). Fear of negative evaluation is a sense of fear of others evaluations. Students with foreign language anxiety also fear being negatively evaluated by them. Studies have show that these students who have foreign language anxiety always pay too much atte

35、ntion to the evaluation from others. In oral English class, when asked to communicate in English, they often feel their performing is not as correct and fluent as in Chinese or they are worried about that teachers or classmates will evaluate them negatively. To avoid this, they may stop their answer

36、s consciously. When communicate with others, they never take the initiative in starting topics, and when asked to say something, they usually say little words or even keep silent, or just smile politely. C. The factors that cause foreign language anxietyThe factors are complicated, but two main aspe

37、cts are discussed here: internal factors and external factors.1. Internal factorsa. Learners competitive natures The learners competitiveness is prone to causing a sense of anxiety (Liu 6). Even if the students get low grades, they wish to learn English well. When they compare themselves with other

38、students or to an idealized self-image (which they can rarely attain) and find either that other students get higher grades than themselves, perform class activities better than themselves, or consider that they perform not ideally, they will feel anxious.b. Learners self-esteem Self-esteem is a sel

39、f-judgment of worth or value, based all feelings of efficacy, a sense of interacting effectively with ones own environment (Liu 6). Unsuccessful language learners often have lower self-esteem than successful language learners. Self-esteem is vulnerable when the learner perceives himself or herself a

40、s very competent in the native language and totally inadequate or limited in the target language. c. Learners personality There is some evidence to show that extroverted learners are advantaged in the development of the kind of language associated with basic interpersonal communication skills (Liu 7

41、). Extroverts are often stereotyped as being outgoing and talkative and, therefore, better language learning, since they are more likely to participate openly in the classroom and seek out opportunities to practice. Introverts, by implication, might be considered less apt language learners, since th

42、ey seem to be too reserved or too self-restrained.2. External factorsa. Need of communication Communication is the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information (Hornby 330). For English majors, communication is particularly important, because they need to use

43、English to communicate with each other no matter in class or out class. But some English majors are reluctant to converse or interact with others in class. Therefore, they tend to avoid communication or withdraw from it as son as possible. Terrell (331) found that more than half of their subjects re

44、ported oral skits and oral presentations in front of the class as the most anxiety-producing activities and that oral quizzes and being called on to respond orally were also anxiety-producing. Indeed, one of the main worries is, when asked to speak, they constantly feel they are presenting themselve

45、s badly, showing only some of their real personality and only some of their real intelligence. In addition, they express that performing in an oral English class is somehow more stressful than performing in other subject classes. b. Need of a test A test is an examination of someones knowledge or ab

46、ility, consisting of questions for them to answer or activities for them to carry out (Hornby 1824). For English majors, a test on oral English expression is a must. However, uncertainty of the tests result is one of the causes of foreign language anxiety. Participation in an examination on which on

47、e is sure to be successful or fail will cause low test anxiety. Other causes are: lack of preparation for the exam; cramming the night before the test; poor time management; worry about past performance; classmates performance and consequences of poor grades. c. Need of being appreciatedAs for Engli

48、sh majors, they need both teachers and their classmates appreciation to let them know they have done well in oral English expression. But for teachers, besides appreciation, objective evaluation is a must to make students know what their strengths and weaknesses are. Of course, the objective evaluat

49、ion contains both positive and negative evaluation. It is a good and direct way to help them to make progress. But some students are sensitive to the negative evaluations of their performance. Additionally, a few seemed to project negative thoughts on to the teacher. Thus excessive negative evaluati

50、on do great harm to English majors self-confidence and aggravated their foreign language anxiety. III. Experiment and Data Analysis A. SubjectsSince foreign language anxiety can have profound effects on oral English expression in class, it is important to be able to identify those students who are p

51、articularly anxious in foreign language class. In this research, English majors of Foreign Language College, Shihezi University have participated in answering the questionnaire. There are 40 students of Grade 2008, over one-third of its Grade (129 English majors in Grade 2008). And the questionnaire

52、s were finished in class individually at the first class of the first and the second semester. B. MethodIn this research, the questionnaire was designed, based on Horwitz et al.s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the authors experience as a learner. The questionnaire is designed t

53、o find out the problems of foreign language anxiety for English majors oral English expression in class, which is benefit to the author to find the effective countermeasures to reduce foreign language anxiety so that English majors can improve their ability of oral English expression in class.The qu

54、estionnaire consists of two parts: part A has 20 questions about foreign language anxiety. Among these, question 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20 concern about communication apprehension; question 3, 6, 8, 13, 19 are about test anxiety; while question 2, 7, 11, 16, 18 concern about fear of negativ

55、e evaluation.On the other hand, each question has 5 levels of the answer: 1.strongly agree; 2. agree; 3. neither agree nor disagree; 4. disagree; 5. strongly disagree. If one selects strongly agree, he can get 5 score, and agree is 4, neither agree nor disagree is 3, disagree is 2, and strongly disa

56、gree is 1. But question 2, 3, 5, 13, 14, and 15 are negative ones and the way of calculating the score is totally contrary to the others. The scores are from 20 to 100. The higher mark one gets, the more serious one has on foreign language anxiety. Part B has two open questions about their views of

57、how to reduce foreign language anxiety and their expectation for spoken English teacher.Table 1 the answer of part A of the questionnaire in first semester:No.strongly agreeagreeneither agree nor disagreedisagreestrongly disagree15178912510118632108146441658757174 93611061767513 810 4826416129520113

58、11011951321151788212268254131615153141119127152121871162148133173225100188171041194151083203138151Table 2 the answer of part A of the questionnaire in second semester:No.strongly agreeagreeneither agree nor disagreedisagreestrongly disagree1115101312714910035141092441210113510207 30603720107210 1313

59、 28141213109217106510115910511110138812032287132106102142121013315101312501611210125172161012018251283190210235203106165 C. Data analysis1. Data analysis of part ATable 1 and table 2 illustrate the different attitudes towards foreign language anxiety in the first semester and second semester of Engl

60、ish majors. Since the questions are designed based on communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation, the analysis will be discussed from these three parts.First, from the questionnaire, we can see that English majors with foreign language anxiety fear they will not unders

61、tand all language input and are not prepared are also consistent with communication apprehension. English majors endorse statements like “It frightens me when I dont understand what the teacher is saying in the foreign language”(22); “In spoken English class, I can get so nervous that I forget thing

62、s I know”(25); “It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my English class”(20); “I get nervous when the English teacher asks questions which I havent prepared in advance”(25).They believe that if they are asked to say something in Spoken English class, they must understand every world that is spoken and well prepared. But the number of the students with communication apprehension has decreased in the second semester. Especially the question 9 and 17,