A Study On Present Situation And Causes Of Foreign Language Anxiety Of Senior High Students

The famous Soviet educatorЛ.В.Занковpointed out:"Once teaching methodology involves students'affection and will, and spiritual needs, it can fulfill highly effective functions". In the late 1970s, language teaching scholars realized the importance of affective factors to language learning or acquisition. In the early 1980s, the American linguist Stephen D Krashen put forward the affective filter hypothesis, and considered anxiety as one of the three main affective factors affecting language learning or acquisition. In the mid 1980s, Horwitz and his peers started to delve into foreign language learning anxiety. From then on, foreign language anxiety has gradually become a hot field that language teaching scholars and practitioners focus on.This thesis intends to delve into foreign language anxiety, which is one of students'internal factors that influence second language acquisition or foreign language learning. The author tries to analyze the present situation and causes of senior high students'foreign language anxiety, and find out strategies to deal with foreign language anxiety. The analysis is based on the questionnaires filled out by 296 senior high school students and the interview conducted among eight students, under the guidance of theories relating to foreign language anxiety. It is the final goal that this research could benefit the author's future teaching practice.Through questionnaires and interviews, the study finds almost all the subjects have foreign language anxiety, although their anxiety degrees are different. Furthermore, the research finds four main factors influencing foreign language anxiety. These four factors are the preparation for speech, negotiation of meaning, views on language learning, and environment of learning language. Based on the results and analysis of research data, the author proposes five suggestions. Firstly, teachers should focus on questioning strategies. Secondly, teachers should pay attention to the functions of negotiation of meaning during the process of teaching and learning. Thirdly, teachers should help students construct proper views on language learning. Fourthly, teachers should improve a harmonious environment for language learning. Finally, teachers should enlighten students as to students'own anxiety...