| The study was designed to investigate the foreign language reading anxiety of Chinese university students learning English as a foreign language. A total of 236 students enrolled in Freshman English classes in Taiwan participated in the study.{09}Foreign language reading anxiety was measured using the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS, Horwitz et al., 1999) and a background questionnaire, developed by the researcher, both of which were translated into Chinese and administered to the subjects.; First, there was the evidence that the Chinese subjects studied reported experiencing foreign language reading anxiety. Secondly, subjects who responded that they read English for interest or leisure, had studied English for a longer time, and planned to visit an English speaking country in the near future tended to have lower FLRAS scores. The subjects who had no plans to go to an English speaking country in the future tended to have higher FLRAS scores. These findings provide evidence that learners' personal reading purposes, length of time studying English, and life plans are significantly related to the subjects' degrees of foreign language reading anxiety.; Third, a comparison of the Chinese students in this study to those in Horwitz et al.'s (1999) study revealed the groups had differences in perspective---such as perception of reading a target foreign language as being more difficult than other language skills. Further differences included familiarity with the target foreign language culture, reading enjoyment in the target foreign language, the linguistic features of reading in the target foreign languages, and the comprehension of the overall meaning of reading material.; It appears from the findings that the degree of foreign language reading anxiety may differ due to learners' cultural or educational backgrounds. Different teaching and learning circumstances, societal and cultural environments, or foreign language proficiency levels, etc. may result in different factors that may influence learner' foreign language reading anxiety levels. |
