A Study On The Anxiety Of Middle School Underachievers In English Learning

As a kind of affective factors,English learning anxiety prevents students from learning English effectively to some extent.As a special group,the anxiety suffered by underachievers is worthy of being explored.Guided by the theoretical framework of emotional filtering hypothesis and the humanistic psychology,this thesis adopts the case studies,questionnaires,and interviews to answer three questions: 1)What is the current situation of English learning anxiety for underachievers in junior high school? 2)What is the academic performance of underachievers on different anxiety levels? 3)What are reasons causing English learning anxiety for underachievers? First,the author conducts a questionnaire survey in 10 classes in the second grade in a middle school in Xi'an.According to the average scores of three English tests and consultation from these English teachers,41 underachievers are selected,so their current situation of anxiety and the relationship between English learning anxiety and their learning difficulties are analyzed with SPSS 19.0.In addition,the author talks with an English teacher for many times.Combing the results of questionnaires students completed,the author selects 3 students from high,moderate and low anxiety levels to observe their condition of English learning anxiety,times of answering questions in English class,homework,and grades comprehensively to find out the differences of their learning performance.Finally,15 underachievers are interviewed to explore the reasons of their English learning anxiety.In the first place,the author finds out that students have high test anxiety,followed by negative evaluation fear,communication apprehension and the general anxiety with the study.At the same time,there is a positive correlation between English learning anxiety and learning difficulties.In the second place,underachievers on high degree of anxiety are anxious in many aspects in general,their grades are low relatively,they seldom take the initiative to answer questions in English class,but they just finish their homework carefully.However,underachievers on low anxiety levels perform oppositely.Underachievers on middle level of anxiety are anxious toward tests.In the end,the author illustrates that lack of sufficient English knowledge,poor learning habits,low psychological quality,and high pressure of attending high schools are causes of underachievers' English learning anxiety.