scholarly journals Foreign Language Anxiety of EFL Students: Examining the Effect of Self-Efficacy, Self-Perceived Proficiency and Sociobiographical Variables

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Elias Bensalem

The present study aims to explore the link between foreign language anxiety (FLA) and self-efficacy, English self-perceived proficiency, and three sociobiographical variables (gender, knowledge of a third language, and experience abroad) among 261 Arabic university students learning English. Data were collected using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and an Arabic version of the Foreign Language Self-Efficacy Scale (Torres & Turner, 2016). The findings revealed that this sample of Arab English as a foreign language (EFL) students experienced an average level of anxiety with female learners suffering more from anxiety than their male counterparts. Regression analyses revealed that self-efficacy, self-perceived proficiency in English, and gender were predictors of FLA. The results suggest that participants who were self-efficacious and felt more proficient in English were significantly less likely to suffer from FLA. However, even though knowledge of a third language and experience abroad were correlated with FLA, they had no effect on participants’ anxiety.

Author(s):  
Atta M. Hamamorad

The current study investigates foreign language anxiety among Kurdish EFL students and its consequences on their communicative performance. An investigative quantitative approach was used to conduct this study. A Total number of two hundred (200) EFL learners with different language proficiency levels from three different universities; University of Halabja and Sulaimani university in Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and University of Kurdistan in Iran, were selected to participate in this study. For the purpose of obtaining necessary information and data, a face-to-face assessment, in small groups of 4 was conducted during students’ class time in which their communicative performance based on accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, and pronunciation was evaluated and recorded. Additionally, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire was adapted and the target population were requested to respond to the statements presented in the questionnaire. The findings of the research taken from a structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated that all components of Communicative Performance were in a negative and significant correlation with anxiety.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emre Debreli ◽  
Seren Demirkan

<p>Although foreign language anxiety is a widely explored subject in the area of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), studies that focus on the speaking anxiety in EFL, as well as the gender and language proficiency level–anxiety relationship, are rare. The present study investigates the phenomenon in an EFL context and analyzes the levels of EFL students’ speaking anxiety and the sources that make them anxious. It also explores whether there is any relationship between anxiety and students’ language proficiency level and gender. Data were gathered from 196 Turkish and Turkish Cypriot students through questionnaires (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale), as well as through semi-structured interviews with 10 students who participated in the questionnaires. The findings indicated that the students generally had low level of speaking anxiety, although students with a higher level of language proficiency had a higher level of anxiety compared with that for students with a lower level of language proficiency. No statistically meaningful difference was observed with regard to students’ gender and anxiety levels. Factors that caused anxiety—such as difficulty in pronunciation, being asked immediate questions by the teacher, not understanding the question asked by the teacher—not found in the current literature also emerged from the present study. Implications for teacher education are also discussed.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hie Ling Ting ◽  
Jiin Yih Yeo ◽  
Vicky Chin

Learning Mandarin as a foreign language or third language can be very difficult for non-Chinese learners. In the process of learning Mandarin, non-Chinese learners may experience certain level of foreign language anxiety. The objectives of this study are to investigate Mandarin language anxiety level and its associated factors among non-Chinese learners. This study involved 221 non-Chinese learners who enrolled in Introductory Mandarin Language in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Sarawak. The instrument for this study included the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986). The collected data were analysed using Statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) 22. The results of the study indicated that most of the non-Chinese learners experienced a moderate level of anxiety while learning Mandarin. The main factor that contributed to their language anxiety was communication apprehension, followed by fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety.


Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Abood ◽  
Nadia Ahouari-idri

This study investigated the effectiveness of a training program, based on themodification of negative self-statement, to reduce foreign language anxiety (FLA) among EFL students at university in Jordan. To achieve this goal, the foreign language classroom anxiety scale was used. Participants were 30 male and female students from Ajloun National University, who scored high in FLA, and randomly dispensed to one of the two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group received a pilot programme to modify the negative self-statement and the control group did not. Results showed that the modification of negative self-statement program (MNSP) was effective in reducing FLA. A statistically significant difference (.05) was found between the two groups in the effectiveness of the self-statement programme.


Author(s):  
Elias Bensalem

The present study focuses on the link between foreign language anxiety (FLA), self-perceived proficiency, and multilingualism in the under-explored EFL context of Saudi Arabia. Ninety six Arabic learners of English (56 males, 40 females) answered the Arabic version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLACS; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). The analyses revealed that Saudi multilinguals suffered from low to moderate levels of FLA with female participants experiencing more anxiety than their male counterparts. Multiple regression analyses revealed that gender and self-perceived proficiency explained over a quarter of variance in FLA. Furthermore, the study did not find any role of experience abroad in predicting FLA.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Jung Jee

Abstract This study investigated Korean-as-a-foreign-language (KFL) students’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) in relation to five affective variables (i.e., unwillingness to communicate, classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation, and self-efficacy) as well as to self-rated Korean proficiency. One hundred and fifty-two KFL students who were enrolled in Korean classes in a large public university in Australia completed survey items for the study. Overall, KFL students in Australia showed moderate levels of anxiety (M = 2.79) and unwillingness to communicate (M = 2.58). Additionally, their levels of motivation (M = 3.92) and self-efficacy (M = 3.41) were high. Five affective variables were proven to be significantly related with FLA: a positive correlation between FLA and unwillingness to communicate; and negative correlations between FLA and classroom risk-taking, classroom sociability, motivation and self-efficacy. Among the variables, self-efficacy and self-rated overall Korean proficiency were found to be the best predictors of FLA.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilek Cakici

<p class="Default">The main aim of this study was to investigate the correlation among test anxiety (TA), foreign language anxiety (FLA) and language achievement of university preparatory students learning English as a foreign language. The sample of the research consisted of 301 (211 females, 90 males) attending a one-year EFL preparatory school at Ondokuz Mayıs University, School of Foreign Languages. The TAI (Test Anxiety Inventory) developed by Spielberger (1980), FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) developed by Horwitz (1986) and the students’ language achievement scores were used to collect data. In addition, this study aimed to determine the effect of gender on both TA and FLA. The findings of the study revealed that there was no relation between students’ TA and their language achievement. It was also found a significant positive correlation between students’ TA and FLA. Besides, the result demonstrated that there was a significant reverse correlation between students’ FLA and their language achievement. Following t-test results, it was found out that females exhibited higher mean scores than males in both TAI and FLCAS. Finally, certain suggestions were set for EFL teachers to reduce text anxiety and language learning anxiety in foreign language classroom settings.</p>


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