English Language Anxieties Of Chinese College Students In EFL Classroom

Since 1970s, the focus of second language acquisition has shifted from the way that teachers teach to the way that learners learn. It is more and more realized that the success of second language acquisition depends largely on the learner him/herself. Krashen's Affective Filter Hypothesis (1985) suggests that learners are distracted by affective factors in language learning process. A large number of studies show that anxiety is possibly the most pervasive obstruction in second/foreign language learning.In western countries the studies on language anxiety began in 1970s, with Scovel, Maclntyre, Gardner, Lambert, Howitz, and Young being the representatives. They have adopted a variety of methodologies and focused on several different target languages in different contexts, but few studies have been carried out in the Chinese context In China language researchers and teachers have used the related achievements in West for reference. The representatives are Liu Runqing, Wu Yian, Dai Manchun, Wen Weiping, Zhu Mingyu, and Wu Dinge. These studies are of great help for promoting English teaching and learning in China. However, they are mainly theoretical illustration on the important role affective variables play in English learning. Few studies have been conducted about students' exact experiences of anxiety in EFL classroom. It is owing to this that the author studies language anxieties of Chinese college students in EFL classroom, so that there can be a better understanding about Chinese college students' difficulties in learning the foreign language.With this in mind, this study focuses on four aspects, involving students' different levels of anxiety in EFL classroom, the possible reasons for these differences, the potential sources and effects of anxiety. The 51 subjects are non-English sophomores from one regular class at Shannxi Normal University. The research includes both quantitative and qualitative studies. In the quantitative study,a questionnaire was designed to investigate both students' background information and their anxiety levels. In the qualitative study, the students were required to keep diaries and to participate in the interview.The results show that generally, students are more or less interfered with language anxiety in EFL classroom. To be more specific, about a quarter of the students are distracted by feeling highly anxious in EFL classroom. Besides, a number of personal variables, such as gender, family background, attitudes, motivation, self-esteem and language proficiency can result in the different anxiety levels among the students. Thirdly, English anxiety can be caused by many sources, like tests, classroom communication, teaching materials and classroom atmosphere. Finally, English anxiety can be very harmful in language learning process, which may lead to avoidance of attending English class and classroom participation, concentration failure and a greater affective filter.Based on the above findings, the author makes three suggestions. Firstly, EFL instructors need to be aware of the students' individual difference, trying to create a secure classroom atmosphere, training students to take learning strategies purposefully and improving their self-esteem. Secondly, educational administrators need to reconsider the relationship between test grades and objective evaluation on an individual student and to compile textbooks with proper difficulty so as to avoid students' unnecessary anxieties. Thirdly, students themselves need to rebuild self-confidence by making extra efforts out of class and forming the habit of taking effective learning strategies in English learning.This paper provides both quantitative and qualitative data, which may be helpful for Chinese language instructors and researchers to be more aware of the negative role that anxiety plays in EFL classroom. The identified factors affecting English language anxiety levels and the recognized potential sources of anxiety in this study would be warning signals for Chinese college English teaching and learni...