scholarly journals An investigation into Spanish EFL learners' anxiety

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 829-851
Author(s):  
Juan de Dios Martínez Agudo

This research article reports the results of a study designed to measure and analyse Spanish students' perceived anxiety when learning and using EFL inside the classroom. This article first includes a review of the literature on foreign language anxiety. Then it describes the participants of the investigation and the research methodology procedures. This is followed by the presentation and discussion of the results and, finally, the conclusions derived from this study. The resulting data revealed interesting information about the anxiety levels present among Spanish EFL learners. While relatively high levels of speaking anxiety have been identified, somewhat lower levels of listening anxiety associated with error correction, by contrast, have also been found. More specifically, the results suggested that the level of listening anxiety seems to slightly increase when error correction is somehow involved in the process.

Author(s):  
Dyas Intan Rachmawati ◽  
Jurianto Jurianto

Anxiety during a speaking performance is a common phenomenon experienced by any EFL learners, including students majoring in English. Focusing on the issue, this study investigates the correlation between students’ foreign language speaking anxiety and speaking achievement. Moreover, this study also observes the levels and the sources of the speaking anxiety among the English Department’s fifth-semester students of Universitas Airlangga. This study used the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) by Öztürk and Gurbuz (2014). The FLSAS questionnaire was distributed to 114 students in order to explore the correlation between speaking anxiety and speaking achievement, the speaking anxiety levels, and the speaking anxiety sources. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed with SPSS 25.0. Pearson Product Moment Correlation isused to determine the correlation, while descriptive statistic alanalys is isused to investigate the levels and the sources for speaking anxiety. Horwitz, Horwitzand Cope’s(1986) theory and Horwitz and Young (1991) about the source and the levels of foreign language speaking anxiety are also used in this study. This study found that there is a significant negative correlation between speaking anxiety levels and speaking achievement. This means the higher the speaking anxiety they experience, the lower the achievement score they get. Most of the students have moderate levels of speaking anxiety, which is mainly due to the fear of negative evaluation.This study indicates that although the EFL learners are often exposed to English, they still experience speaking anxiety. These findings suggest that the lecturers should be more aware of students’ anxiety and use strategies that might encourage the students to speak more confidently.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-90
Author(s):  
Rabia Borekci ◽  
Fatih Yavuz

Among the skills, listening has a remarkable effect on learning a foreign language, and it is a keystone for communication. Foreign language anxiety is an internal factor, which has several effects on learners’ performance during the learning process. There are various types of FLA and listening anxiety is one of them. The aim of this research is to identify the level of foreign language listening anxiety among Turkish EFL learners’ experience, and whether there is a significant difference between the school types and proficiency level. This research consists of 110 students from two different types of high school in the Turkish National Education System: vocational and public. Students were chosen randomly and the FLLA Scale was conducted; then the results were analysed with SPSS. According to the results, all these students experience FLLA and although their academic proficiency level is quite different, there is no difference between the school types.   Keywords: Listening, listening comprehension, FLA, FLLA.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Tuan Muhammad Hanif Tuan Ab Hamid ◽  
Faizah Idrus

English proficiency amongst Malaysian is debatably on a decline. Possible causes of this phenomenon are extensively argued. Thus, renewed interest towards English language anxiety, an internal factor of learners’ level of intensity in listening and speaking skills, can sometimes be overlooked. An investigation was conducted on selected secondary schools' students in Selangor, a state in Malaysia. The schools lacked facilities and meagerly equipped with basic resources and facilities. A total of 311 non-national examination takers students from three different schools were selected. A set of questionnaire were distributed which adopted a composite of foreign language anxiety surveys, measuring their level of anxiety towards the English language classroom according to the four language skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing). The results were measured and the scores were tabulated. A correlation was established between the listening anxiety and speaking anxiety skill from the scores. This finding explored the possibility of reducing language anxiety in two skills by intervening in only one instance which can be helpful in reducing the time spent on managing the English language classroom anxiety. However, further studies should be conducted in order to improve the validity of this result.


ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-160
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Bárkányi

AbstractThis paper examines the role of motivation, anxiety, and self-efficacy beliefs and their interplay with regard to speaking on beginners’ Spanish LMOOCs. It answers three research questions: (1) what are learners’ motivations and goals for joining these LMOOCs and how do these relate to foreign language speaking anxiety; (2) how do learners’ self-efficacy beliefs and anxiety levels change as a result of course completion; and (3) is there a correlation between motivation, foreign language speaking anxiety, and self-efficacy beliefs in this context? A mixed-methods research design used quantitative and qualitative data gathered from self-reflective questionnaires and forum discussions. The results reveal that learners with intrinsic motivation are more likely to complete the courses than those who sign up to manage a personal situation or advance in their career or studies. No direct correlation was, however, found between motivation and the other variables under scrutiny. Learners present higher self-efficacy beliefs at the end of the courses than at the beginning, while anxiety levels are affected to a much smaller degree by course completion. Although spoken interactions in this learning environment are not synchronous, apprehension and anxiety prevent many learners from fully participating in the speaking activities.


Author(s):  
Van Huynh Ha Le ◽  
Huy Ngoc Nguyen

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has a debilitating influence on the oral performance of EFL speakers. Over the past decade, most research in MALL has emphasized the use of mobile applications on improving language skills, but little research has explored the impact of using video recording tool to decrease foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA). Hence, this study examines the effect of using video recording tool on students' EFL speaking anxiety. Twenty-eight pre-intermediate freshmen at Van Lang University, Vietnam, participated in a seven-week project. In this research, mixed method was used in combination with three data collection instruments: questionnaire, observation notes, semi-structured interview. The results indicated that video recording tool significantly lowers EFL speaking anxiety. Therefore, this study makes a major contribution to research on FLA by exploring freshmen's anxiety causes and its impacts on learners' oral performance and offering a technique to help them overcome that phobia: mobile phone video recording.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Siham BOUZAR

Speaking as a skill constitutes a real hurdle to overcome by both the teacher and the learner. In other words, the teacher has to find appropriate procedures to help the learner with while the latter has to find a way to master the language. Thus, this article attempts to highlight the concept of speaking; likewise, it tries to deal with the issues relevant to the appropriate teaching of speaking to learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) such as consciousness-raising strategies and oral error correction.


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