A Study On English Learning Anxiety Of Third-year English Majors In A University

With application of humanistic psychology in the study of second language acquisition since the 1960s, researchers and teachers have been showing growing interest in the affective variables affecting students'language learning. Anxiety, as one of the most important affective variables, has drawn quite a lot researchers'attention both abroad and at home.The present study, by reviewing the relevant studies on foreign language learning anxiety, examined English learning anxiety of the third-year English majors in a Chinese university. It utilizes the theoretical model raised by Horwitz (1986) as a research framework, trying to explore English learning anxiety from the four aspects: (1) the general trend of English learning anxiety among the third-year English majors; (2) the distribution of the three aspects of English classroom anxiety (communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation); (3) the relationship between students'English learning anxiety and their language proficiency; (4) the differences in English learning anxiety between male and female English majors. The purpose of the study is to have an objective and full understanding of the nature of language learning anxiety and its effect on English majors'English learning, so as to help both EFL teachers and students find ways to alleviate English learning anxiety.The subjects involved in the present study were 150 third-year English majors in Jiangxi Normal University. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative study, the questionnaire consists of personal information part and the FLCAS designed by Horwitz(1986). The quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0: Descriptive Statistics,Correlation Analyses and Independent Sample T-test were used respectively to analyze the data for answering research questions. In the qualitative study, 6 selected students were invited to participate in a one-to-one interview in order to supplement and verify the findings from the quantitative study. The study has yielded several findings: (1) all the third-year English majors are more or less affected by English learning anxiety in the process of English learning; (2) among the three aspects of English classroom anxiety, communication apprehension ranks the highest and test anxiety the lowest; (3) students'English proficiency is negatively related with their English learning anxiety, that is, the lower their proficiency, the higher their anxiety, and vice versa; (4) there is a significant correlation between students of different gender and students'English learning anxiety, with male students suffering from English learning anxiety more than their female counterparts.On the basis of the above findings, we can draw several implications for English teaching and learning. To help students alleviate their English learning anxiety, teachers should try to create relaxed classroom atmosphere, make proper classroom evaluation, help students recognize their language anxiety, build up students'self-confidence, and at the same time, enhance the interaction between male and female students. Only in this way will teachers be able to help their students improve their English learning efficiency.