Language Learning Anxiety And Its Effect On English Learning Among Chinese Junior Middle School Students

Affective factors in foreign language learning have attracted more and more attention from foreign language educators and researchers abroad since 1970s. It is generally realized that affective and cognitive sides are not opposite with each other in language learning. On the contrary, if they are combined, not only can the success of language learning and teaching be enhanced, but also the aim of educating the whole person will be realized. According to Krashen's affective filter hypothesis, learners are affected by various kinds of affective factors in the course of second language acquisition. Among those affective factors, anxiety probably is one of the most pervasive factors that obstruct language learning. From Krashen's input hypothesis and affective filter hypothesis, we can easily understand that anxiety links directly with affective barriers and is regarded as one of the most pervasive factors that obstruct language learning which is related with such feelings as uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension or worry.Based on the theories and achievements of language learning anxiety in western countries, some linguists and English teachers in China have made empirical researches on language learning anxiety. However, those researches are mostly aimed at college or graduate students. Few researches have studied the effect of anxiety on junior middle school students and most studies in China use only the quantitative analysis. Therefore, this paper aimed to discover the influence of language learning anxiety on English learning among Chinese middle school students. The author chose 74 third-year students from the Middle School of Mengzhou, Jiaozuo as subjects, combining quantitative analysis with qualitative analysis, that is, the revised FLCAS and individual interviews, to investigate the situation of language learning anxiety among middle school students in China and try to find out some effective and feasible ways to reduce middle school students'English learning anxiety by the analysis of the results of investigation.Through the investigation, the following results are discovered. In the first place, the investigation shows that the test anxiety is positively related with learning achievement. The fear of negative evaluation has a negative relation with learning achievement and the correlation between communication apprehension and learning achievement is not significant. Secondly, figures show that male and female learners feel similar level of language learning anxiety. As a result we can conclude that there isn't gender difference as far as language learning anxiety is concerned. Thirdly, according to the result of investigation, communication apprehension makes a great contribution to the production of language learning anxiety and the test anxiety also plays a major part in producing language learning anxiety. However, the fear of negative evaluation is relatively not significant in comparison with other two factors.On the basis of above investigation, the author puts forward some suggestions for pedagogical implications, such as creating relaxing and enjoyable learning atmosphere in English class, offering comprehensible input and guiding students to change views about language learning in order to help students to enhance their English learning proficiency.Since affective factors as anxiety go through English learning from beginning to end, every English teacher should learn to make full use of the relevant theories about affective factors and try to eliminate the affective barriers in language learning so as to get the more efficient teaching and learning effect.