A Study On Foreign Language Anxiety Of Chinese High School Students

Foreign language anxiety is a complex phenomenon that has been scrutinized in many previous studies either qualitative or quantitative. With advance in both theory and measurements, research on anxiety has enabled more consistent findings as to its nature and effects. Nevertheless, anxiety in the Chinese contexts has fallen into neglect and studies have been meager, hence making it a fertile field for the researchers.For the purpose of exploring the characteristics of the foreign language anxiety experienced by the English learners in Chinese high schools, This current study examined 350 subjects who were selected from the third year in senior high schools in Guangdong province. The author attempted to find out answers to two questions: What are the characteristics of foreign language anxiety experienced by Chinese high school students? How will foreign language anxiety affect their English learning and eventually their NMET performances? It is proposed that the students possess certain features pertain to the particular circumstances in Chinese high schools.The anxiety scale applied in the study was the Foreign Language Anxiety Scales by Horwitz et al and the measurements for language achievements of the students were the NMET scores of both the overall NMET I and its subsections (Oral Test in the NMET II was also included). The FLCAS was distributed to the students in seven middle schools in June 2001 and collected as soon as they finished. Raw answers of the 350 subjects to the NMET were obtained in September 2001 and then scores were calculated for statistical analyses later.Results of the statistical analyses showed that Chinese high school students experienced greater anxiety than those learning such foreign languages as French, Spanish or German in western countries. And foreign language anxiety was foundto attenuate students' performances of the NMET and its subsections respectively. However, multiple regression analysis revealed that the negative effects upon the six subsection performances were not the same: anxiety had stronger negative associations with reading and writing. Besides, anxiety did not seem to impair performances in any conditions but rather could assist achievements when it was at a low level.Upon interpreting the findings, the author proposed that the Chinese contexts under which the subjects learned English played a crucial role in the influences of anxiety upon them. The considerable pressure exerted by the NMET and the ELT in high schools were supposed to permeate through both students' learning of English over the years at schools and their performances of the NMET in the end. Data on the FLCAS responded by the subjects also supported some other general sources of anxiety summarized in the previous studies.The findings as well as the discussion of the present study pave way for more in-depth study on anxiety and its more subtle effects upon English learners in the Chinese contexts. Furthermore, they can well serve as practical references for educators and instructors and provide useful insight as to understanding the foreign language anxiety of Chinese high school students.