A Correlative Study On Senior High School Students' English Learning Anxiety And Language Learning Strategies Use

Previous studies indicated that individual learner differences(beliefs, affective states and previous learner experiences) together with various situational factors(the target language being studied, formal or informal setting, the nature of the instruction, and tasks performed) determine the learners‘ choice of learning strategies. And the quantity and type of learning strategies then influence the rate of acquisition and the ultimate level of L2 achievement. The success that learners achieve and their level of L2 proficiency can affect their choice of strategies as well. Therefore, anxiety as an important factor in affective state, can affect learners‘ choice of language learning strategies.Senior high school students in grade two from Guangzhou NO.2 Foreign Language School were involved in this survey. The author tried to answer three questions by analyzing the collected data.1. What is the actual situation of senior high school students suffering from foreign language anxiety?2. What language learning strategies are chosen by senior high school students?3. What are the correlations between foreign language anxiety and language learning strategies use?Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scales and Strategy Inventory for Language Learning were applied to the study. All the participants‘ scores were analyzed by SPSS(version 18.0).The first result of the study indicated that: most of senior high school students experienced language anxiety. There was no significant difference between male and female students. When participants were divided into high, average and low English proficiency groups, it showed that there was significant difference between the every two of groups. Fear of communication and fear of negative evaluation were two main reasons that gave rise to language anxiety.The second result of the study indicated that: senior high school students applied language learning strategies to English classroom learning in a moderate frequency. They inclined to apply compensation strategies, cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies to English learning. For the overall strategies, there was no significant difference between male and female students while significant difference between low and average proficiency groups, low and high proficiency groups, but no significant different between average and high proficiency groups.The third result of the study indicated that: language anxiety and language learning strategies were negatively correlated. The higher level language anxiety students experienced, the less likely they would employ language learning strategies and vice versa. When the participants were divided into two gender groups and three proficiency groups, negative correlations were still presented in their language anxiety and language learning strategies.This study gives teachers some pedagogical implications in four aspects, teachers should 1) create a harmonious and supportive instructional environment for learners; 2) change learner‘s beliefs about language learning; 3) offer more ways to learners‘ language learning strategies training; 4) cultivate learners‘ language learning strategies targetedly.