Foreign Language Anxiety: Translating and Validating a Scale

The purpose of this study was to validate one of the most frequently used tools for assessing anxiety associated with foreign languages. The researcher translated it into Arabic because there was no Arabic literature on such an instrument. To achieve the goal, a committee approach was followed (Brislin, 1980) to ensure the validity of the translation. A sample of 102 students was purposefully selected from International Islamic University Malaysia. The instrument consists of 33 items to measure communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was run to validate the instrument; initially, the PCA produced ten-factor solutions, accounting for 71% of the total variance explained. However, the last nine factors had only two or three loadings each, and they had cross-loading as well. Therefore, only one factor was used in the final, which accounted for 51% of the total variance. The researcher took this factor due to its importance for the Arabic literature, which is also in need of a valid instrument to measure communication apprehension. Due to the lack of convergent validity in the other items, the researcher suggests validating the original instrument.

Communication Apprehension and Psychological Well-Being of Students in Online Learning

The current pandemic has modified how education, learning, and technology interact with one another inside universities. The usage of technology for instructional purposes raises the question of whether learning that happens in an online environment is as effective as traditional classroom models. Within this context, this study explores the psychological well-being of students during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an online cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from 246 university students currently studying at a private university in India. Hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modelling were used to study the mediating effects between communication apprehension, perceived learning, and psychological well-being under the moderating effects of intention to use social media and psychological stress. Results show that higher intentions to use social media alleviated the negative effects of communication apprehension on perceived learning. Interestingly, it was also found that perceived learning had a significant positive relationship with psychological well-being when students experienced higher levels of psychological stress (eustress). Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the transactional theory of stress and coping, we attempt to integrate the findings related to these theories, which can be considered distinct to previous studies. Implications, limitations, and future directions for research and practice have also been discussed.

Exploring Students’ Speaking Anxiety Factors in an Online EFL Classroom

Due to pandemic covid-19, the learning setting has changed from face-to-face to an online learning environment to prevent the further spread of infection. This change mostly affected the state of psychological, specifically anxiety issues. Specific anxiety called Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) appears as anxiety affiliates with foreign language learning. Despite foreign language anxiety is evidenced to be hinder students’ achievements, there are only a few studies that have explored FLA in an online setting. Therefore, by using a case study, this research paper tried to investigate the factors of speaking anxiety of 5 students from different anxiety levels. These students were selected from a total of 30 students using the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), which later be interviewed and asked to write a reflective journal. The result showed that some sources of each categorical factor (communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation) can be classified as inter-lingual or intra-lingual factors. Moreover, some sources of factors have developed to new manifestations due to learning setting’ shifting. Additionally, as a part of communication apprehension, teachers’ bad teaching habits appeared as the most common factor to arise students’ speaking anxiety. Therefore, this study suggests teachers to evaluate their teaching habits, to reduce the influence of bad teaching habits on the students’ speaking anxiety.

EFL Teachers' Apprehension and L2 Students' Classroom Engagement

Teachers' apprehension is an indispensable part of the educational context since it impacts the amount to which students are engaged in class activities. Although several studies have been carried out considering the role of students' stress in their engagement, it seems extremely vital to conduct such studies among teachers to measure the link between these two variables. In this study, the author has made endeavors to define one of the apprehension's categories named communication apprehension and the antecedents of teachers' apprehension. Then classroom engagement is discussed. Following that, the relevance between the two variables of this research is discussed. Finally, both implications and suggestions for further studies are dealt with.