Higher Vocational Non-english Majors Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety In Learning

With the advent of humanistic psychology, foreign language educators and researchers have been paying more attention to learners "affective variables" in language learning since the 1960s. They have increasingly recognized affective variables as the significant factors in accounting for the independent difference in foreign language learners. Of all these factors, language anxiety is possibly the most pervasive obstruction in foreign language learning. Foreign language learning is a specific situation, which is filled with self-threats and is prone to cause anxiety. Foreign language anxiety, as one variable of the most important emotional factors, is a combination of many kinds of negative emotional states. As an important variable of learners affective state, the studies on foreign language anxiety (FLA) began in the 1970s in western countries, with Scovel, Horwitz, MacIntyre, Gardner, Young, etc being the representatives. They have adopted a variety of methodologies and focused on several different target languages in different learning contexts. They conclude that anxiety produces negative effects on language learning. Therefore it is necessary to identify learners experiences of anxiety and the potential sources of anxiety in EFL classroom. However, few empirical studies on language anxiety have been carried out in foreign language classroom.The higher vocational colleges in most parts of our nation have been developing fast in recent years. As is concerned, the education of the higher vocational college is extremely different from any of the higher education in China, which is supposed to train high-qualified and applied technical employees to meet the needs of industries and enterprises. On the one hand, they are assuming the task of our socialist economic construction. On the other hand, most vocational college students don't have a good command of English. Moreover, they often go through discomfort in the course of language learning. In addition, they are usually in confusion and discomfort amid the whole English learning process. As the popularization course of higher education is accelerating, the number of this special group account for over 50% of the total number of the college students in China. Most of the students are from the countryside, and their entrance requirements are much lower than those of other college students, and there are thin chances for them to get desired jobs after graduation. Besides, they have relatively weak learning motivation and vague learning goals, lack of sufficient knowledge and have little confidence in themselves for the future, especially feel no interest in learning the foreign language. Therefore, it is necessary to make a research on vocational college students experience of anxiety and the potential sources of anxiety in EFL classroom in order to offer some effective teaching practice and for the future studyBased on above, the author devotes the present study to exploring some questions in the field. The thesis starts by reviewing the previous research on anxiety at home and abroad. An empirical investigation of language anxiety was conducted in the Trade Union College. The research methods in this study consisted of both quantitative and qualitative surveys. The quantitative research was carried out by using Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) which was designed by Horwitz et.al in 1986. Altogether 50 students majored in International Trade participated in the study. The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Science 13.0 (SPSS 13.0).Individual interviews were conducted among 13 chosen subjects to supplement and testify the results of quantitative study. Results indicated that: 96% students are anxious. Among the three aspects of English classroom anxiety, communication apprehension anxiety is supposed to be relatively on top of the obvious barriers to English learning, followed by fear of negative and test anxiety. It is also found that female students perceive higher foreign language anxiety than male students. Besides, and what can be drawn from this study is that speaking is the most anxiety-producing factor among all. And language teachers are believed to play a vital role in diminishing students foreign language anxiety.The study aims at conducting complete and objective understanding of anxiety influences as affective fact on the students in vocational colleges in order to search for anxiety sources, and create a low-anxiety and supportive classroom environment, help them overcome language learning anxiety. Thus, based on the results of this study, suggestions for pedagogical practice are made to help teachers to cope with students anxiety and promote the teaching effect.