A Study Of Correlation Between Tolerance Of Ambiguity And Reading Anxiety Of English Majors

In recent years,tolerance of ambiguity(TOA),as one of the cognitive factors,and foreign language reading anxiety(FLRA),as one of the emotional factors,have attracted wide attention from scholars at home and abroad.However,although scholars have done a lot of studies on TOA and FLRA respectively,there are few studies on the correlation between them.Therefore,this study aims to probe into the correlation between TOA and FLRA of English majors in order to help them effectively reduce their reading anxiety.In this study,the Foreign Language Tolerance of Ambiguity in Reading Scale(FLTARS)and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale(FLRAS)are used to investigate the correlation between TOA and FLRA of 140 English majors.Meanwhile,this study also explores whether gender and grade lead to some significant differences in the levels of TOA and FLRA.The collected data is processed by SPSS 22.0.The research indicates:(1)Most respondents have a mid-low level of TOA,and there is no statistically significant difference in TOA between male and female respondents.In addition,there are significant differences in TOA between the lower and higher grades,and in the reading process,the TOA of the lower grade students is significantly lower than that of the higher grade students.(2)Most respondents have a mid-high level of ERA(English Reading Anxiety).There is no significant difference in ERA between male and female respondents.Their reading anxiety is mainly attributed to five factors: lack of cultural background information,poor reading ability,difficulties of reading materials,lack of reading confidence and lack of reading interest.There are significant differences in ERA between the lower and higher grades,and the lower grade English majors are more anxious than the higher grade English majors in the following three factors: difficulties of reading materials,poor reading ability and lack of reading confidence.(3)Through the Pearson correlation analysis,the study finds that on the whole English majors' TOA is significantly negatively correlated with their ERA.The result of regression analysis shows that TOA can predict ERA,and 48.7% of the variation in ERA is caused by TOA.Based on the study results,this study gives several suggestions.First,teachers should select appropriate reading materials,and pay attention to the teaching of students' cultural background knowledge and the cultivation of students' reading strategies.Then,teachers themselves should understand the relevant knowledge about TOA and FLRA,and introduce the two concepts to students.As for the lower grade English majors,because of their low TOA of new words,complex grammar and long sentences,they should learn more basic knowledge of English to enhance their TOA in reading.As for the higher grade English majors,they should learn more cultural background knowledge and read more articles with different topics to increase their TOA in reading.