A Tentative Study Of The Relationship Between Foreign Language Anxiety And Language Learning Strategy Use

Since 1970s, the focus of the research in language teaching has turned from how the teachers teach to how the learners learn, and the individual learner differences which researchers have identified as influencing learning outcomes have received great attention.As an important variable of learner's affective state, the studies on foreign language anxiety (FLA) began in 1970s in western countries, with Scovel, Horwitz, Maclntyre, Gardner, Young, etc being the representatives. They have adopted a variety of methodologies and focused on several different target languages in different learning contexts. They're almost of one mind that anxiety produces negative effects on language learning. So it is necessary to identify learners' experiences of anxiety and the potential sources of anxiety in EFL classroom.Language learning strategies (LLSs) are behaviors or actions which learners use to make language learning more successful, self-directed and enjoyable (Oxford, 1989, cited in Ellis, 1994). Language learning is not only a process of learning and using the language, but also a process of employing language learning strategies. Developing effective language learning strategies can improve learners' learning efficiency and help them become an effective and autonomous learner for their lifelong learning. Therefore, language learning strategies have also received considerable attention.Ellis (1994) and Maclntyre (1994) pointed out that anxiety may have some effect on choice of language learning strategies. Despite various researches into the factors related to choice of language learning strategies, few studies at home and abroad have explored the possible relationship between foreign language anxiety and language learning strategy use, two of the individual learner differences that are closely related to language learning.In an attempt to gain some insightful information in this field, the survey was conducted to investigate: 1) potential factors affecting Chinese college students' anxiety in EFL classroom; 2) types of language learning strategies Chinese college students under investigation tend to employ; 3) relationship between foreign language anxiety and language learning strategy use.Two questionnaires were employed as the instruments in the present study, in which 188 second-year undergraduate students participated. One is the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope, 1986, and another is the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) by Oxford, 1990. The major findings are as follows:For the first research question, five factors were extracted from the FLCAS, which are the major predictors of learners' anxiety in the EFL classroom: 1) communication apprehension and fear of negative evaluation, 2) negative attitudes toward the English class, 3) low self-perceived competence in English, 4) fear of failing the class, and 5) instructor-learner interactions. The results were also confirmed by the qualitative data collected from the participation-observation.For the second question, the descriptive statistics of six strategy categories were compared to get the general idea about the frequencies of strategy use of learners. It was found that, in general, all six types of learning strategies were used at a moderate level. The most frequently used strategies were compensation strategies, followed by metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, affective strategies, memory strategies, and with social strategies as the least used group.And then for the third question, the results of Pearson's product-moment correlation found the foreign language anxiety significantly and negatively correlated with the overall language learning strategy use, as well as with the use of all six strategy categories. The analysis of variance indicated that a significant difference exists for overall strategy use among the three groups of high anxiety, moderate anxiety and low anxiety. High-anxiety learners reported use of strategies less frequently than the moderate-anxiety learners, who in turn reported use of strategies less frequently than the low-anxiety learners. Concerning the six strategy groups, the negative variation was also found which was most likely to be significant when the learners of lower anxiety were compared with the high-anxiety group.The pedagogical purpose of this study was aimed at: applying the present findings to English teaching in China so as to create a low-anxiety and supportive classroom environment; assisting teachers in better understanding learners' strategy use and adjusting their teaching methods to narrow the gap between learning and teaching; making learners more aware of the importance of strategy use, and the broad range of strategy choices; and helping learners to become an independent and effective language learner by using appropriate strategies.