语言焦虑对中学生英语听力的影响.docx

1、语言焦虑对中学生英语听力的影响AbstractSince the 1970s, the second language acquisition has gradually aroused peoples interest，and great progress has been made in this fieldMany teachers and researchers have paid much attention to learners affective variables，shifting from the focus on external factors of teaching

2、and learning to internal factors of learnersThen, the problem of emotion has become the focus of attention on the progress of language acquisitions. In the study of language acquisition, many researchers have paid much attention to foreign language anxiety. Foreign language anxiety, as one of the mo

3、st important affective variables，is a kind of complicated mental phenomenon specific to language learningThe studies in the past three decades have repeatedly showed that foreign language anxiety has a negative effect on language learning process and is one of the best predictors in accounting for i

4、ndividual differences in language learning successTherefore，on the premise of previous studies, this thesis try to explore the effect of language anxiety on middle school students listening comprehension and the tragedies to facilitate language anxiety, the relation between listening anxiety and the

5、 factors of individual learners and the cause of listeners listening anxiety, which helps learners have a better understanding of their language anxiety level and provides useful evidence for teachers to improve their listening teaching and learning. Key words: language anxiety; listening comprehens

6、ion anxiety; strategies for alleviating anxiety中文摘要20世纪70年代以来，第二语言习得研究的重点从关注学习者外部因素转到了对学习者内部因素的研究，即对造成学习结果差异的学习者个体因素的研究。语言学习中的情感问题由此也成为研究者们关注的焦点。在对情感因素的研究中，许多研究者把目光投向了对外语学习焦虑情绪的研究。外语学习焦虑是在语言学习过程中产生的一种显著的自我意识，信念和情感情结，是与外语语境有着特殊关系的紧张和畏惧感觉。国外30年的研究结果表明：语言焦虑时预测学习者学习成败与否的关键因素之一；焦虑与学习者的成绩呈一定负相关。因此，在吸取前人研究

7、成果的前提下，本文尝试分析初中生英语学习者的听力焦虑情绪对听力理解的影响，以及焦虑情绪在不同性别，学习英语时间长短是否有差别也做了探讨；通过对听力焦虑问卷以及课堂焦虑问卷的形式，进一步探讨语言焦虑对听力的影响和消除焦虑的方法。关键词：语言焦虑；听力焦虑；解决方法Chapter One Introduction1.1 IntroductionLanguage anxiety and its effect on English learning have been a hot topic worth peoples attention. Reviewing some researchers stu

8、dies, we can find that they mainly focus on the following topics: the definition and characteristics of language anxiety, the effect of language anxiety on language proficiency, the effect of language anxiety on the study of single language introduction, such as the effect on oral English and the ef

9、fect of language anxiety on writing, and so on. Many people do not consider that reading comprehension associates with language, however, the researchers claim that the language anxiety will come if one is not familiar with the materials or culture, which will influence the score. Not many researche

10、rs study on the correlation between language anxiety and listening proficiency, not to mention the articles about it. Krashen(1992)suggested that language anxiety will come easily in the progress of listening comprehension and not many studies showed that language anxiety actually influence learners

11、 listening.The purpose of the present study is to find out the correlation between language anxiety and listening anxiety and how they influence learners listening proficiency. It is hoped that the result of the present study can provide insights and guidance for teaching and learning.This dissertat

12、ion consists of five chapters. Chapter One introduces the research topic. Chapter Two reviews the theory of listening comprehension and language anxiety; its cause; embodiment as well as the effect on learning. Chapter Three then focuses on the methodology of the study and displays the research ques

13、tions, subjects, procedures and instruments. Chapter Four demonstrates the results of the analysis of collected data. Chapter Five further discusses in more depth the results presented in the preceding chapter and conclude some strategies for alleviating language anxiety and the limitations of the p

14、resent study and the suggestions on further research. Chapter Two Literature Review2.1ItroductionA brief introduction has been presented in the preceding sectionAccording to the arrangement of the thesis，this chapter will give a literature review of the topics concerned，which includes the definition

15、 and classification of listening comprehension, studies on foreign language anxietyContributions and shortcomings of the previous findings will be reviewed so as to give a general picture of FLLAS studies in the second language acquisition research area LC: listening comprehensionFLLAS: foreign lang

16、uage listening anxiety scaleFLCAS: foreign language classroom anxiety scale2.2. Listening Comprehension2.2.1 Definition of Listening ComprehensionAccording to Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics(2000：269)，listening comprehension(LC)means “the process of understanding spee

17、ch in a second or foreign languageAccording to Dai Junreng, LC refers to “the activity of human brain processing the information heard consciously and actively”(1998，quoted from Yah Jm,2000：54)And Larry Vandergrifl(1999)viewed that“listening is an active and complex process in which the listener mus

18、t discriminate between sounds，understand vocabulary and grammatical structures，interpret stress and intonation, retain what is gathered in all of the above，and explain it within the limmited time as well as the larger socio-cultural context of the utterance”OMalley and Chamot (1989)defined it as the

19、 followings: “Listening comprehension is viewed theoretically as an active process in which individuals focus on selected aspects of aural input, construct meaning from passages，and relate what is heard to existing knowledge”All the definitions above have one thing in common that listening comprehen

20、sion is an active process that demands the listeners full involvement2.2.2 The Classification of Listening Comprehension（i） Intensive ListeningIntensive listening is a listening practice which requires students to understand every word and the exact meaning of the article with no missing words and u

21、ncertainty of the meaning.（ii） Extensive ListeningCompared with intensive listening, extensive listening is relatively easier, which only aims at understanding the general meaning of the whole article. Losing a word, a phrase or even a sentence is acceptable only if it does not influence the compreh

22、ension of the text.（iii） The Combination of Intensive Listening and Extensive ListeningIt is very important for people to learn English well, not only improving the level of listening comprehension but also enabling students to learn more about lexis and grammar. Intensive listening exercise demands

23、 students to have a good grasp at the foundation of English and to be persevering in learning it. While extensive listening exercise, which helps students meet the requirements of examination and cultivate a sense of English, aims at cultivating students ability of understanding the general meaning,

24、 so, extensive listening is based on intensive listening.Intensive listening and extensive listening affect each other, so the most effective way is combining both. When we practice listening comprehension, we must do it according to the rule: intensive listening first and extensive listening second

25、. Do this way unremittingly, and you will make a great progress in listening. 2.3 Language Anxiety 2.3.1 Definition of Foreign Language AnxietyVarieties of definitions of language anxiety have been suggested in the fields of psychology and education. Davis and Hutching (1981) proposed that anxiety a

26、ssociated with two elements, “worry” and “emotionality”. Emotionality is related to disagreeable sensations that usually last for a short time while worry relates to cognitive components, such as negative expectations and difficulties. Later, Levitt (1980) and Sarason (1980) suggested that anxiety c

27、ould occur when a threat is not delineated clearly and that anxiety should be proportional to the threat.Among the affective explanations，recent attention has been paid to the role of anxiety, which is pervasive in language learning and considered to be one of the most important and influential affe

28、ctive variablesFLA is linked directly to performing in the target language, so it is different from the one in general senseArnold(1999：8)holds that language anxiety is possibly the affective factor that most pervasively，obstructs the language learning processFrom second language acquisition perspec

29、tive，MacIntyre and Gardner(1989，see Arnold，2004)see FLA as the apprehension experienced when a situation requires the use of a second language with which the individual is not fully proficient；which has been characterized by derogatory self-related cognitionsfeelings of apprehension, and psychologic

30、al responses such as increased heart rate”Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope(1986：31) conceptualize FLA 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 other words，it refers to the

31、 anxiety occurring when a learner is exposed to a foreign language situationIt ranks high among factors influencing second language acquisition, regardless of whether the setting is informal (learning language outside the classroom)or formal(inside the language classroom)2.3.2 Causes of Foreign Lang

32、uage Listening AnxietyThere have been only a few studies about why student listeners feel anxious. Scarcella and Oxford (1992) mentioned that language learners are likely to feel anxious when the listening materials are too difficult or unfamiliar to them. Listening comprehension is a combination of listening and understanding. It requires the listeners to use various knowledge of technique, if a student does not have a good command of language, he will be affected by the speed of listening comprehension which will make him feel nervous, in other words, language anxiety. L