An Empirical Study On English Reading Anxiety Of Senior One Students

Reading,an important role in English learning,is the premise and basis to improve students’ listening,speaking and writing skills.However,during the process of English reading,the reading competence of students is impeded by some emotional factors,such as anxiety,pressure,inhibition and depression.Based on the NECS,“one of the important factors which can affect students’ learning and development is the emotional factors”.Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis also states that students’ attention can be detracted by some emotional factors.As one of the important emotional factors,anxiety can affect students’ English learning and reading.However,most studies abroad and in China are about college students,vocational college students,English majors and non-English majors,the English reading anxiety of senior high school students received little attention in English teaching,especially for senior one students.Although senior one students have some basic knowledge of English,what they confront now is the new environment and new challenge.Therefore,easing and alleviating senior one students’ English reading anxiety become increasingly important.Based on the Humanistic Psychology and Affective Filter Hypothesis,this study mainly discusses senior one students’ English reading anxiety in three parts: the current situation of senior one students’ English reading anxiety,the sources of English reading anxiety and its impact on students’ reading performance.By the methods of the questionnaire,interview and reading comprehension test,the author uses software SPSS 20.0 to analyze the collected data,and the major findings are as follows:(1)English reading anxiety level of senior one students is quite high.Females perceive the higher level of English reading anxiety than males.(2)The sources of English reading anxiety are English culture and history,full-page scripts and unfamiliar topics,different question types,the lack of basic language knowledge,the lack of interests and confidence and the lack of reading strategies.(3)A negative correlation exists between senior one students’ FLRA and reading performance.And there is a significant difference between different English reading anxiety levels and students’ reading performance.According to the research results above,the author provides the following suggestions for the teachers.First,teachers should know clearly about students’ FLRA level,and help students know the universality of English reading anxiety and the negative impact of FLRA on reading performance.Second,teachers should raise students’ interests and confidence in English reading to alleviate the pressure from parents and teachers.Third,teachers should enhance and expand students’ basic language knowledge to improve their reading speed within the limited time.Fourth,teachers should strengthen students’ cultural awareness of foreign countries and help students know more about foreign customs.Fifth,teachers must teach students different reading strategies to deal with the different types of question,such as skimming,scanning,guessing the meaning and so on.