A Study On English Learning Anxiety Of Elementary School Students In Grade Six

Anxiety as a significant affective variable in language learning has attracted more attentions and interests in the past few years. Numerous studies on foreign language anxiety focused on adults, the empirical studies on children are very sparse. This present study is expected to provide an investigation on anxiety from learners in primary schools. The study aims to contribute a better understanding of children's anxiety in English class in primary schools and to help English teachers in primary schools to reflect on their attitudes, behaviors, teaching methods and so on from the perspective of learners'emotional states. The thesis attempts to analyzes the 6th grade students'anxiety based on the theoretical framework of Krashen's Affective Filter Hypothesis, Humanism Education Theory and Social Interactionism Theory.This study is conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively. The research questions can be listed as follows: 1) What's the general tendency of 6th grade students'anxiety in primary schools? 2) What are the differences in language anxiety between 6th grade students in common primary school and those in key primary school and between boys and girls, and Why? 3) What's the correlation between language anxiety levels and 6th grade students'English achievements? 4) What are the factors that can provoke students'language anxiety? In the quantitative study, 61 participants from two primary schools are chosen; In the qualitative research, 8 interviewees are selected. The Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 11.0) is employed for the data collection and analysis.Major findings of the study can be summarized as follows:Firstly, among 6th grade students in English class in primary schools, there does exist English learning anxiety. The majority of the subjects, 54.10%, have anxious feeling at an average level,42.62% of the subjects scarcely feel anxious,and only 2% of the subjects are highly anxious.Secondly, there is no significant difference in language anxiety between students in key primary school and in common primary school. The result can be explained through the reason that many of the students in key primary school, for the better comprehensive quality and learning atmosphere, have no much anxiety, while some of the students in common primary school have no urge to make progress in English learning process because of their comparatively poor learning performances, they are indifferent to English bad scores and therefore have no much anxiety too. Gender, as a static individual variable, is a factor that contributes to different levels of English learning anxiety: male students are far more anxious than their female counterparts, possibly because boys pay more attention to maintaining their own self-image than girls to and they are unwilling to reveal their weakness before other people.Thirdly, language proficiency, as a dynamic individual variable, is found to be a vital factor leading to different levels of English learning anxiety among the 6th grade students. The result of the quantitative study show significantly negative correlation between students'English proficiency and anxiety. The correlation coefficient was r = -.728. It indicates that the lower the students'English proficiency, the higher their English learning anxiety will be.Fourthly, English examination, self-esteem, fear of negative evaluation and communication apprehension are some causes that provoke students'language anxiety.Findings from the study show the following pedagogical implications:1. Teachers should pay more attention to the boys'performances in English class for their anxiety levels are obviously high than girls'and help them to master efficient learning methods and strategies so as to improve their confidences.2. There was a significant negative correlation between the scores of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and the joint English examination scores. That is, the lower the English learning achievement was, the higher the learners'anxiety level would be. Therefore, to the students with poor academic performances, teachers should give them more concerns and encouragements, don't emphasize the accuracy of language excessively.3. Examination is one of the factors that provoke learners'anxiety. In order to relieve learners'anxiety and build up their confidences, teachers should adopt various evaluation modes, for instance, formative evaluation,summative evaluation,self-evaluation and preceptor-evaluation.4. Teachers should use cooperative learning method. In the process of cooperative learning, learners can depend on each other,overcome one's weaknesses by acquiring others' strong points.5. Teachers should improve learners'cross-cultural communicative consciousness. Each language has its own cultural characteristics. Most of the time, learners feel anxiety not because they couldn't master language well but for the lack of cultural knowledge. Therefore, it's important to cultivate learners'cross-cultural communicative consciousness.