The Study Of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

Foreign language classroom anxiety is one of the important factors effecting the improvement of language learning. Therefore receive much attention from foreign language educators. Since Horwitz designed the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) in 1986, researchers have taken this scale as the study basis for the influence of foreign language classroom anxiety.Scovel (1978); Maclntyre & Gardner (1989; 1991a); Price (1991); Maclntyre (1995) all mentioned in their research findings about the complex influence this language anxiety has brought to the language learning. Maclntyre et al. (1997:279) pointed out that it pointed to "a reciprocity between anxiety and proficiency". Reid (1999:297) indicated: "even in optimum conditions, students can experience destructive forms of anxiety." Campbell & Ortiz (1991:159) estimated that up to half of all language students experience debilitating levels of language anxiety. As a college English teacher, the writer found the similar problems in her classroom. Especially in the reform of College English, the writer feels it is urgent to solve the problem of anxiety. More attention has been paid to the solution.In various discussions about the solution to the problem, western and eastern researchers have done many studies which prove that the factors in FLCAS ("speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation", "test anxiety", "comfortableness in speakingwith native speaker", and "negative attitudes toward the target language") have great effect on the learners. Based on this they designed various experiments mainly to solve anxiety problems in listening and speaking (MacIntyre & Gardner1991; Campbell & Ortiz, 1991; Young, 1991; Gardener, 1991; Aida, 1994; Reid, 1999; Chen Jie, 1997; Yang Jin, 2000; Hao Mei & Hao Ruoping, 2001; Lei Xiao, 2003). But all these studies take the foreign language classroom anxiety as a whole, neither study specific factor, design experiment pointing at this factor nor try to utilise popular cultural materials to reduce language anxiety. Popular culture is a new perspective in the solutions for anxiety. Though there have not so many theoretical studies on it, popular culture still has great impact on today's college students. Therefore, the breakthrough of this study lies in that it focuses on speech anxiety and test anxiety respectively and designs experiments by using popular cultural materials to discuss each factor. The action research is a one-year teaching experiments and investigation on 76 students in the History department of Southwest Normal University. The hypotheses are:1. Using the popular cultural materials can reduce the students' speech anxiety and improve their achievement (Ho: there is no significant difference in speech anxiety scores and achievement score before and after the experiment).2. Learning the test skills, modifying the attitudes towards test and using the popular cultural materials can reduce the students' test anxiety and improve their achievement (Ho: there is no significant difference in test anxiety scores and achievement score before and after the experiment).In the preliminary investigation the writer chose two typical studies from a foreigner and a Chinese researcher as the comparative counterparts. These two studies turn to be typical because they represent high similarity with the present study in terms of culture background of the subjects, the thinking mode and language learning settings. Based on the comparison of the three (see Chapter Two), these show a tendency that learners from East Asia have high speech anxiety and test anxiety. After several interviews the writer proposed the hypothesis 1. The first term of experiment was arranged according to the experimental / control group design (see Chapter Three). The final data analysis showed there was significant drop in anxiety but no significant improvement in achievement and...