A Study Of Senior High School Students’ English Classroom Anxiety

With a rapid upsurge of humanistic psychology in the1950s and1960s, researchers and experts on Language education have been aware of the influence of various affective factors on language acquisition, among which English classroom anxiety (ECA) has been regarded as one of the most significant affective variables. The present study aims at surveying the English class anxiety of senior high school students, and getting to know the causes of English classroom anxiety situation in senior high school students as well as putting forward resolutions which have practical and theoretical significance.This study tries to treat English learning as a whole and analyze the English classroom anxiety level of the students in senior high schools, the relationship between English classroom anxiety and English achievement, and the influences of factors on English classroom anxiety. The study includes both questionnaires, observation and interviews. It utilizes the software SPSS19.0, the FLCAS designed by Horwitz et al as research frameworks and open interviews as an elementary to explore English classroom anxiety among113students in the senior high schools at Wuhan No.49middle school. The results are most of the students experience highly-level of anxiety. Among the five aspects of English classroom anxiety scale (ECAS), speech anxiety and test anxiety are supposed to be the most obvious barriers to English learning, followed by lack of confidence, low self-efficacy and intolerance for ambiguity. The students in the senior high schools worry about speaking and listening most. The students of low English achievement are generally more anxious than the ones of high achievement.There is a negative correlation between learner’s English classroom anxiety and their achievement. The male students have higher level of English classroom anxiety than the females. It is conflict with the previous studies:the females are in higher anxiety than the males. The students with low self-efficacy are more anxious than those with high self-efficacy and have lower English achievement than those with high self-efficacy. In the qualitative and quantitative study, the potential sources of English classroom anxiety of the Chinese students in the senior high schools are probed:serious learning atmosphere, inappropriate evaluation, and incomprehensive input from the teacher, as well as other personal factors such as personality, self-efficacy, tolerance of ambiguity are factors that lead to English classroom anxiety to a greater level. Basing on the findings, the writer puts forward some suggestions for the teachers to reduce students’English classroom anxiety:relieving learning atmosphere; reducing speaking and listening anxiety; giving proper evaluation; promoting students’ self-confidence; offering comprehension input. The suggestions for students are as follows: transforming the beliefs; being well prepared for the class; establishing reasonable goals and utilizing suitable learning strategies.