Investigation And Research On The Current Situation Of English Learning Anxiety Among Rural Junior High School Students

For a long time,students from rural middle schools generally have a certain degree of anxiety in English learning due to great pressure of examination,great expectations from both parents and teachers,comparatively poor learning environment and unscientific teaching methods there.In 2001,with the Opening of the Eighth Basic Curriculum Reform,the teaching reform put forward a deeper requirement to the practice of English teaching,which made the focus of English teaching change from "how to teach" to "how to learn".The reform paid not only more respect for the subject status of students,but also more attention to the emotional altitude of students.English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2011 Edition),subsequently issued by the Ministry of Education,clearly states that "emotional attitudes are an important part of developing students' ability to use comprehensive languages." Therefore,English learning anxiety,as an important emotional factor in language learning,highly deserves to be studied deeply.In recent years,there have been more and more researches on English learning anxiety in China;however,very few of them were specifically aimed at rural middle school students.In view of this,this study selected 300 second-year students from three rural middle schools in Hechuan of Chongqing as the research object to investigate their current situation of English learning,so as to study the English learning anxiety among the rural middle school students in Chongqing,even across the whole country.This research was supposed to find out answers for the following questions: 1.What is the current situation of English learning anxiety among the rural middle school students? 2.What are the factors that affect English learning anxiety among them? 3.How to relieve English learning anxiety among them?Based on Affective Filtering Hypothesis and Humanism Theory,and by using Horwitz's Foreign Language Learning Classroom Anxiety Scale for reference and combining literature,questionnaire and interview methods,this study conducted a comprehensive study on English learning anxiety of rural middle school students from the three dimensions of English communication anxiety,test anxiety and negative evaluation anxiety.In this study,300 second-year students from three rural middle schools were selected as the survey subjects,and 10 students,10 teachers and 10 parents as the interview subjects.This study mainly investigates and analyzes the factors affecting English learning anxiety of rural middle schools from 3 aspects: 1.four factors on the student's side,including learners' own abilities and interests,learners' own personality,learning methods and pressure relief methods;2.four factors on the teacher's side,including teachers' evaluation methods,communication methods,teaching methods and classroom atmosphere factors;3.four factors on the parent's side,including parent's educational level,achievement expectations,family companionship and educational philosophy.The survey results are as follows: 1.English learning anxiety of rural middle school students is at a moderate level as a whole.2.The factors that affect the English learning anxiety of rural middle school students are mainly from students themselves,their teachers and parents.Based on the analysis of the results of questionnaire and interview,this study reveals the factors influencing English learning anxiety of students from rural middle schools,and put forward targeted measures to alleviate their anxiety in English learning from the perspectives of students themselves,their teachers and parents,in the hope of cultivating students' interest in English learning and enhancing the learning effect.