A Correlative Study On Students' English Learning Anxiety And Use Of Learning Strategy In Senior High School

On the foundation of the affective filter hypothesis and Ellis' s model,this study aims to explore the relationship between English learning anxiety and use of learning strategy.Students' English learning anxiety and use of language learning strategy were investigated through questionnaires in senior high school.All the participants' data were analyzed by SPSS(version 21.0).And interviews were to support the quantity study and to investigate the causes of English learning anxiety.Based on the data analysis,some suggestions from the perspective of learning strategies for alleviating English learning anxiety are proposed.Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale designed by Horwitz and Strategy Inventory for Language Learning developed by Oxford were applied to this study to collect data.The relationship between English learning anxiety and use of learning strategy was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis,and the difference of strategy use among students from high and low anxiety group was analyzed by Independent-samples T test.Six students from high anxiety group were interviewed to support the quantity study and to find the causes of anxiety.The results show that,firstly,senior students are sill more or less interfered with English learning anxiety.More precisely,most senior students belong to a moderate anxiety level.Among four English learning anxieties,communicative anxiety ranks the first,followed by questioning anxiety,general English anxiety and class anxiety;the mean of overall strategy indicates a moderate frequency of use.Among all six strategy categories,compensation strategy ranks the first,followed by meta-cognitive strategy,cognitive strategy,affective strategy,social strategy,and memory strategy;secondly there is significantly negative correlation between English learning anxiety and use of learning strategy.The higher anxiety students experience,the less likely they use English learning strategy and vice versa.Compared with students from highanxiety group,students from low anxiety group make use of strategy and each strategy category more frequently.And there are significant differences in the use of memory,cognitive,meta-cognitive,affective,and social strategy,but there is no significant difference in the use of compensation strategy among students with different levels of English learning anxiety.Based on the data analysis and the interview,the causes of anxiety caused by learning strategies are summarized and some suggestions from the perspective of learning strategies are proposed.That is,the use of meta-cognitive strategy should be strengthened;the level of cognitive strategy should be improved;the use of memory strategy should be various;the level of social strategy should be enhanced and the awareness of affective strategy should be cultivated.