An Attribution Theory Perspective Survey On The English Learners’ Anxiety

In this research project, English learners from four classes in different grades and majors have been selected to be the subjects of the survey, providing feedbacks to the questionnaires for two rounds. FLCAS(foreign language classroom anxiety questionnaire) and MMCS(the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale) have been applied in the two rounds of surveys respectively. After selection and handling of the data in their feedbacks, 67 English learners have been identified as valid respondents in both rounds of surveys. In addition, these 67 learners have been given interviews which cover three parts, namely, learners’ understanding on anxiety, the knowledge of anxiety reduction, and the attribution of success and failure.The data of the survey indicates the following findings: 1. with α=0.8, the validity of the questionnaires has been proved reliable, 2. the anxiety levels of the subjects tend to be moderately high, and have a negative correlation with their English acquisition performance. 3. English learners of Grade One and Two have not been trained for attribution, therefore, no significant differences can be found in their anxiety levels, and attribution methods, but their negative assessment, communicative anxiety and English acquisition anxiety, as well as partial attribution method have been found with significant difference. This study also reveals the facts that the subjects lack proper understanding on English acquisition anxiety and attribution methods, as the result they simply mix them up with anxiousness or stress. In terms of attribution methods, some of the subjects only have the command of a single method, while others can only resort to evasion. On the basis of this study, the writer of this thesis, put forward the following suggestions:1. English teachers have to give guidance to students on appropriate attributions, 2. given the fact of positive correlation between contextual attribution and anxiety, the contextual difficulty has to be dealt with reasonably.