scholarly journals Predictors of Foreign Language Anxiety: A Study of College-Level L2 Learners of Chinese

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Han Luo

AbstractThis study investigated seven learner variables (i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in the Chinese class, and perception of the importance of the Chinese language) as potential predictors of Chinese language learning anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that all seven variables were significantly correlated with anxiety level in isolation. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language and age were found to have positive relationships with anxiety, whereas the remaining five variables were reported to have negative relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed that all the variables except self-expectation in the Chinese class and perception of the importance of the Chinese language contributed significantly to the prediction of Chinese language learning anxiety when examined simultaneously. The five significant predictors altogether explained 34.7% of the variance in anxiety. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language was found to be the best predictor and self-perceived achievement the second-best predictor, followed by self-perceived foreign language learning ability, age, and motivation.

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Luo

This study examines Chinese language learning anxiety and its associated factors among heritage learners. Heritage learners are those who have at least one parent whose native language is a variety of Chinese. They form three sub-groups: heritage learners without a Chinese language background, heritage learners with a background in Mandarin, and heritage learners with a nonMandarin variety background. Chinese heritage learners were found to experience lower levels of anxiety compared to foreign language learners in previous studies and to be more anxious about reading and writing than about speaking and listening. The three sub-groups of Chinese heritage learners’ anxiety experiences in Chinese classes were different. Heritage learners without a Chinese language background were the most anxious, followed by heritage learners with a non-Mandarin variety background, with the Mandarin group being the least anxious. The Mandarin group was significantly less anxious about speaking and listening than the other two groups. The three sub-groups’ anxiety experiences associated with reading and writing tended to be more similar. Correlation and multiple regression results showed that motivation, perceived difficulty level of Chinese, perceived language learning ability, and self-perceived achievement in Chinese classes were significant predictors of anxiety.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Luo

AbstractAs the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), the most widely used measure for foreign language anxiety, is a generic instrument that mainly addresses speaking anxiety and does not take into consideration of the characteristics of target languages, this study attempts to develop a Chinese Language Learning Anxiety Scale reflective of anxieties associated with the four skills. The initial pool of items approved by five experts were administered to 447 Chinese language learners from two large public universities in the U.S. Exploratory factor analyses yielded a three-factor solution of the scale, i.e., Speaking Anxiety, Listening Anxiety, and Reading & Writing Anxiety, lending support to the construct validity of the scale. Results of reliability analysis and correlation analyses indicated that the Chinese Language Learning Anxiety Scale and its three sub-scales have good internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1584
Author(s):  
Gökhan Baş ◽  
Mehmet Özcan

This research aimed to identify the differences in foreign language learning (FLL) anxiety levels between high school and university students based on some variables such as gender, current educational status, parents’ (father and mother) educational status, and monthly income of families.  The survey model was adopted in the research.  The research included high school (n = 333) and university (n = 341) students from Nigde and Afyonkarahisar provinces. In the research, “Foreign Language Learning Anxiety Scale” (FLLAS) was used in order to collect data. For the analyses of the data, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were performed. The results of the research indicated that gender, fathers’ educational status and monthly income of family variables did not have a significant impact on foreign language anxiety levels of high school and university students. It was also found that students’ educational status as well as their mothers’ educational status variables influenced their FLL anxiety significantly.


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