Study On English Classroom Anxiety Of Non-english Major Freshmen In Independent Colleges

With the development of the humanistic psychology in the1960s, affectivefactors have drawn much attention. Anxiety is one of the factors that have a profoundimpact on the language development. Thus, there is not only the theoretical value ofstudying the foreign language anxiety, but also the practical guidance of relieving theanxiety and improving the foreign language learning.On the basis of Krashen’s “Input Hypothesis” and “Affective Filter Hypothesis”,the research intends to examine the main reason of English classroom anxiety andgender differences of the English classroom anxiety of the freshmen in theindependent colleges. The thesis aims at answering these questions: What is thegeneral situation of English classroom anxiety for the non-English major freshmen inindependent colleges and what is the main cause of it? Is there significant differencein English classrooms anxiety between male and female freshmen in independentcolleges? Among the three components of language anxiety (communicationapprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation), which is the main reasonthat causes the gender difference in the English classroom anxiety? The researchinvestigates the179participants in the Haojing College of Shaanxi University ofScience and Technology using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale(FLCAS)(Hortwiz,1986). The raw data is analyzed by Statistic Package for SocialScience17.0(SPSS17.0). The general tendency of the English classroom anxiety ofthe freshmen and the difference of the English classroom anxiety between the maleand female subjects is analyzed. Then, an interview of12subjects is conducted.Three conclusions are drawn: in general, the freshmen of the independent collegeexperience moderate and high level of English classroom anxiety and the test anxietyis shown to be the major cause of English classroom anxiety; although the meanscores of male freshmen are higher than those of female, there is no significantdifference in the English classroom anxiety between the male and female subjects onthe whole; with regard to the33items of FLCAS, there are significant differencesbetween the male and female subjects in “fear of negative evaluation”. In the follow-up interview, it further reveals the causes of the test anxiety and the attitudestowards the negative evaluations and the freshmen’s expectations for the Englishclassroom. On the basis of the results, some suggestions for the relieving the Englishclassroom anxiety are proposed.