The Analysis of Anxiety in Englsih Learning.docx

The Analysis of Anxiety in Englsih Learning.docx

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TheAnalysisofAnxietyinEnglsihLearning

TheAnalysisofAnxietyinEnglishLearning

Abstract:

Languagelearninganxietyisdescribedasfearorapprehensionoccurringwhenalearnerisexpectedtoperformtheforeignlanguage.Thispapertriestoanalysisitandgivessomestrategiesagainstit.

KeyWords:

Anxiety;EnglishLearning;Strategies

1.Introduction

Since1960speoplehaveshiftedthefocusonlanguageteachingtolanguagelearningwiththeprosperityofHumanisticpsychology.Teachersacknowledgethattheyneedtoknowmoreaboutlearningprocessto:

improvethesuccessofclassroomteaching.Thesocio-educationalmodelproposedbyGardnerthenraisesresearchersandteachers’sattentiontoaffectivefactorsinforeignlanguageleamingprocess.

Anxiety,asoneofthemajoraffectivefactors,isconsideredtohavepervasiveimpactatlanguagelearningandproduction.Moreandmorestudentsreportthattheyfeeltenserandmorenervousinforeignlanguageclassthaninanyotherclass.

Researchersandteachersthenhaveshownanincreasinginterestinexploringlanguageanxietyfacedbylanguagelearners.

2.AnxietyandTheoriesRelatedtoIt

2.1OneAffectiveSideofLanguageLearner-Anxiety

Childrenareexpectedtogrowuphappilyatschool,butactuallythestudentsgetmoreblamethanpraises.Exposedtothenewlanguage,theyarepuzzledbythepronunciation,wordsandrules,thustheiranxietyarises.Inordertohelpthestudentstogrowuphappily,Englishteachersneedtohaveabroadunderstandingofaffect.Attentiontoaffectiveaspectscanleadtomoreeffectivelanguagelearning.Indealingwiththeaffectivesideoflanguagelearners,attentionneedstobegiventoanxiety.

Anxietyisoneofthemostimportantaffectivevariablesinlanguagelearning.Asacomplexphenomenon,anxietyhasbeenvariouslyconceptualizedasastimuluscondition.Asaprobabilityofaharmfulfutureoutcome,andresponsetoastressfulcondition.

MaclntyreandGardner（1994）saysthat“Anxietyinlanguagelearningcanbedefinedasthefeelingoftensionandapprehensionspecificallyassociatedwithsecondlanguagecontexts,includingspeaking,listeningandlearning.”

Atpresentwhenaffectisbroadlyconsideredasaspectofemotion,feeling,moodorattitudewhichconditionbehavior,anxietyisquitepossiblyreferringtotheaffectivefactorthatmostpervasivelyobstructsthelearningprocess,andisanessentialfactorrelatedtoforeignlanguagelearning.Anxietyisdescribedhereasastateofuneasinessandapprehensionorfearcausedbythatanticipationofsomethingthreatening.

InEnglishclassroom,foreignlanguagelearning,anxietyiscommonamongstudents.Languagelearninganxietyreferstothefactthatwhenlearnersusetheirtargetlanguagetolisten,speak,read,andwrite,theyfeelthattheyusuallycannotaccuratelyandeffectivelyexpresswhattheymeanthustheyfeel

nervousandupset.

Languagelearninganxietyisalsodescribedasfearorapprehensionoccurringwhenalearnerisexpectedtoperformthesecondorforeignlanguage（GardnerandMaclntyre,1993:

26）.Threecomponentsofforeignlanguagelearninganxietyhavebeenidentified:

1）communicationapprehension,arisingfromlearners’abilitytoadequatelyexpressmaturethoughtsandideas;2）fearofnegativesocialevaluation,arisingfromalearner’sneedtomakeapositivesocialimpressionuponothers;3）testanxiety,orapprehensionoveracademicevaluation.

2.2TheoriesRelatedtoIt

Inadditiontoitsrelationshiptovarioushumanbehaviors,anxietyisundoubtedlyadistinctivefeatureinsecondlanguageacquisition.Theretheoriesareparticularlyrelatedtotheconstructoflanguageanxiety.

TheAffectiveFilterHypothesisispartofKrashen’sInputHypothesis.TheconceptofanaffectivefilterwasproposedbyDulayandBurt,andKrashensummarizedstudiesonaffectivefactorstoconceptualizethisconstructintothreecategories:

motivation,self-confidence,andanxiety（Krashcn1982）.AccordingtotheInputHypothesis,languageacquisitionhappenswhentheinputiscomprehensible,andwhenthelearner’saffectivefilterislow.Therefore,Krashenhypothesizedthattheseattitudinalfactorsrelateddirectlytolanguageacquisition.Inotherwords,onlywhenlearnershavehighmotivationself-confidenceandlowanxietycantheyacceptcomprehensibleinputandacquirethetargetlanguage.

Schumannproposedthatlearners’degreeofacculturationintothetargetlanguagegroupdecidedtheirdegreeoflanguageacquisition.AccordingtotheAcculturationHypothesis,itisreasonabletotheorizethatwithdeeperidentificationandmorecontactwiththetargetculture,languagelearnersinvitemoreinputanddeveloploweranxiety.Therefore,thereseemstobearelationshipbetweenacculturationandanxiety.

Lambenhasdividedsecondlanguagemotivationintoinstrumental,integrativeorientation,andhefurtherdefinedintegrativemotivationasstudent’sdesiretolearnmoreabouttheotherculturalcommunityinordertobecomeapotentialmemberoftheothergroup.Infact,manystudiesconductedbyLambertandGardnerhavedemonstratedthatintegrativemotivationisstronglyrelatedtolanguagelearners’achievementandperformance.

TheconceptofintegrativemotivationcorrespondstothatoftheAcculturationHypothesis.Thelanguagelearners’degreeofacculturationandwillingnesstobecomepartofthetarget

languagegroupinfluencetheirlevelofanxietyinsecondlanguageacquisition.

3.DiscussiononAnxietyandLanguageLearning

Anxietyhasbeenpredictedasavariablenegativelyaffectinglanguagelearningsincethemid-1960sandalotofstudieshavebeenconductedtotestthishypothesis.

InBenjamin’s（1981）study,thestudentsofhigh-anxietygroupreportmoreproblemsonstudymethodsandtheycontributetheiranxiety/apprehensionoverexaminationstotheirineffectivestudystrategies.

Mulla（Benjaminetal.,1981）predictsthatforthecognitivestrategies（rehearsal,organizationandelaboration）overallpositiveassociationswithleamingwouldbestrongerforlow-anxietyindividualsthanforhigh-anxietylearnersandsuggeststhatthespecificroleofanxietyinrelationtotheuseoflearningstrategiesshouldbefurtherexamined.

Aida（1994）arguesthatlanguageteacherscanmakeitpossibleforanxiousstudentstomaximizetheirlanguagelearningbybuildinganon-threateningandpositivelearningenvironment,aswellasbyhelpingthemacquiringeffectivestudyandlearningstrategies.

Maclntyre,NoelsandClement（1997）examinetherelationshipbetweenlanguageanxietyanduseoflanguagelearningstrategies.Theresultsshowthatlanguageanxietyisnegativelycorrelatedwiththeuseofthreecategoriesoflearningstrategics:

cognitive,Meta-cognitiveandsocio-affectivestrategies.

WarrandDowning（2000）examinetheinteractionsbetweensomelearningstrategiesandanxietyandclaimthatlearnerswhoapplyparticularstrategiesaremoreable,moremotivatedorlessanxiousthanothers.

InChinatherearealsoattemptsmadeonthisissue.Han’s（2002）researchresultsindicatethatthreeanxietylevelsofstudentshavedifferentcharacteristicsinemployinglearningstrategies:

high-anxietystudentsaretheleastfrequentinusingbothcognitiveandmeta-cognitivestrategics;medium-anxietystudentsusesomelearningstrategiessuchaselaborationandpracticealmostasfrequentlyaslow-anxietystudents;lowanxiousstudentsusemeta-cognitivestrategiesfarmorefrequentlythanstudentsofotheranxietylevels.Althoughdetailedstudyhasbeenmade,itisstilldoubtfultoconcludestudents’anxietyinEnglishlearningmayresultfromtheirlowfrequencyintheuseoflearningstrategies.

AccordingtoChen（2006）,therelationshipbetweenEnglishclassroomanxietyandlearningstrategyisnegativeandinteractiveeffectofEnglishclassroomanxietyandEnglishlearningstrategiesonEnglishachievementisnotsignificantamongseniorgradethreehighschoolstudents.

InYang’s（2006）research,someofthelearningstrategiesarefoundtocorrelatewithELAforthejuniorandseniormiddleschoolstudents,butforthecollegestudents,thereisnocorrelationbetweenthem;withregardtothebestpredictorofEnglishachievement,arethecognitivestrategiesforthejuniormiddleschoolstudents,themeta-cognitiveandsocialstrategiesforthejuniormiddleschoolstudents,themeta-cognitiveandsocialstrategicsfortheseniormiddleschoolstudents,thememorystrategiesforthecollegestudents.

4.StrategiesAgainstLanguageLearningAnxiety

4.1BuildingupStudent’sSelf-Confidence

ThedegreeofEnglishlearners’self-confidenceinfluencestheirEnglishachievementdirectly.MaclntyreandGardneremphasizedtheimportanceof“self-confidence”.Hesuggestedthat“inbiculturalormulticulturalsettings,self-confidencewouldbeasecondarymotivationarisingfromthequalityandfrequencyofinteractionwiththesecondlanguagegroup”and“relativeself-confidencewasmorehighlycorrelatedwithmotivationtouseEnglishthanwithmotivationtolearnEnglish”（MaclntyreandGardner,199lb）.

Englishteachersplayaveryimportantroleinbuildingupstudent’sself-confidence.TheycouldprovidestudentswithmultipleopportunitiesforclassroomsuccessinEnglish,offerstudentswordsofencouragementandpraisethemevenfortheirunnoticeableachievementandprogress,payattentiontostrongpointsofeachstudentandarousetheirinterestinEnglishlearningandsoon.

4.2MakingProperExpectations

ItisveryimportantthatEnglishlearners,especiallythosewithlowEnglishproficiencyshouldmakerealisticexpectationsinEnglishlearning.Onlywhentheexpectationyoumakeiswellwithinyourlanguage