Analysis-of-Anxiety-in-English-Language-Learning

1、青岛理工大学琴岛学院毕业论文用纸摘 要 正如大家所知，当英语作为外语学习时，焦虑通常在学习过程中有重要影响。焦虑可以被描述为不安、沮丧、紧张和担心。学习者的情绪和态度可能会影响学习的效率，目标和自信心。焦虑的产生通常和人怕失败的恐惧心相关联。本文介绍了焦虑和语言焦虑的定义和克服焦虑的方法，在开篇就对英语学习中的焦虑做简要介绍。第部分着重焦虑和语言焦虑的定义；第二部分集中讨论令英语学习者产生焦虑的原因和焦虑所产生的影响；第三部分就如何避免产生焦虑对学习者和指导者提出建议；本文最后以总结性的建议结束。关键词：英语学习，焦虑，影响，原因ABSTRACTAs everybody knows, anxi

2、ety plays an important affective role in English as a foreign language. Anxiety could be described as feelings of uneasiness, frustration, nervousness, and worry. A learners emotional feelings or attitudes might affect learning efficiency motivation, and self-confidence. Anxiety is also often linked

3、 to fear that one will feel in some way.This paper is devoted to the analysis of anxiety in the English language learning and on how to overcome it. It begins with a short introduction of anxiety. The first part of this paper probes into the definition of anxiety and explains the meaning of language

4、 anxiety. The second part of this paper focuses on causes and influences of anxiety of English learners. Moreover, this paper puts forward many suggestions on how to avoid this kind of anxiety for learners and instructors. The paper ends with some suggestions and acknowledgements.KEY WORDS: English

5、learning, anxiety, influence ,causeContentsIntroduction(9)Chapter One Theoretical Bases of Anxiety in English Learning .(10)1.1 Definitions of anxiety  (10)1.2 Classifications of anxiety  (10) 1.2.1 State anxiety, trait anxiety and situation specific anxiety.(10)1.

6、2.2 Facilitating anxiety and debilitating anxiety .(11)Chapter Two Causes and Influences of Anxiety of English Learners.(12)2.1 Causes of English learning anxiety .(12)2.2 Influences of anxiety on English learning.(13)Chapter Three Ways to Cope with English Learning .(14)3.1 Instructors ro

7、les in anxiety reduction.(14)3.1.1 Build up students confidence.(14)3.1.2 Recognize students learning background(15)3.1.3 Pay attention to classroom questioning (15)3.1.4 Create relaxing and harmonious class atmosphere .(16)3.2 Students roles in anxiety elimination (16) 3.2.1 Coo

8、perative learning.(16)3.2.2 Develop students self-adjustment ability(17) 3.3 Other strategies.(17)Conclusion.(18)Acknowledgements.(19)Bibliography(20)IntroductionDuring the process of foreign language learning, a large number of learners have been bothered by the feeling of anxiety. On English

9、class, such questions often be heard as “How can I study English well?” “How can I memorize vocabulary?” “How to develop listening and speaking abilities?”, so on and so forth. These words show that  although most students have strong motivation to study English well, they don't know w

10、hich strategies or skills can help them to be successful. As a result of this feeling, they usually have anxiety in English learning.Anxiety in English learning is fear or apprehension occurring when a learner is expected to perform in the second or foreign language. This anxiety is linked directly

11、to performing in the target language, so it is not just a general performance anxiety. Language anxiety ranks high among factors influencing language learning, regardless of whether the setting is informal (learning language on the stress) or formal (in the language classroom).To solve these problem

12、s, we must find out the causes and influences of this kind of anxiety.In this paper, we shall first briefly introduce the theoretical bases of anxiety in English learning. Details on causes and influences of anxiety are discussed in later sections. Based on these sections, ways to cope with English

13、learning anxiety will be introduced in detail.Chapter One Theoretical Bases of Anxiety in English Learning1.1 Definitions of anxiety  Anxiety is a part of normal human experience. It is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not kn

14、own. As early as 1973, H.D. Brown predicted that the construct of anxiety was intricately intertwined with self-esteem, inhibition, and risk-taking, and that it plays an important affective role in second language acquisition. The definition of anxiety is difficult as it can range from an amalgam of

15、 overt behavioral characteristics that can be studied scientifically to introspecting feelings that care epistemologically inaccessible. Common to anxiety is its generally unpleasant nature and its similarity to fear (Lader, 1975).Horwitz and Cope (1986:45) defined anxiety as a state of uneasiness a

16、nd apprehension or fear caused by the anticipation of something threatening. They describe foreign language anxiety as a distinct complex of belief, feeling, and behaviors related to foreign language learning and using for communication beyond the language classroom. It is “the subjective feeling of

17、 tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system”.1.2 Classifications of anxiety        1.2.1 State anxiety, trait anxiety and situation specific anxiety Trait anxiety: this form of anxiety is

18、a relatively stable aspect of the personality. In their behavior, individuals who present an anxiety trait will tend to have an attitude reflecting their perception of certain environmental stimuli and situations as dangerous or threatening. In practice, the anxious perceptive style of these persons

19、 will eventually become pervasive, extending to and influencing other areas of experience, and in effect finally becoming a characteristic of the personality.State anxiety: State anxiety manifests itself as an interruption of an individuals emotional state, leading to a sudden subversion of ones emo

20、tional equilibrium (Spielberger, 1983). State anxiety involves activation of the autonomous nervous system and the consequent triggering of a series of physiological reactions and conditions. High levels of state anxiety are particularly unpleasant, disturbing and can even be painful to the point of

21、 inducing the person to engage in adaptive behavior aimed at ending these sensations. However, these adaptive reactions may not be successful in attaining their goal and other behavior patterns may become manifestthis time of the maladaptive type which can result in the opposite effect: a further in

22、crease of anxiety, which can trigger a pathological vicious circle.Situation Specific Anxiety: state of apprehension, discomfort, and anxiety precipitated by the experience of new or changed situations or events. Situational anxiety is not abnormal and requires no treatment; it usually disappears as

23、 the person adjusts to the new experience.1.2.2 Facilitating anxiety and debilitating anxiety Language anxiety has been further divided into facilitating anxiety (which produces positive effects on language learner performance)and deliberating anxiety (which produces negative effects on learning ach

24、ievement).Facilitating anxiety keeps you motivated to succeed. This type of anxiety does not hinder test preparation and test taking abilities. In fact, this type of anxiety may help to improve performance (Spolsky, 2000).Debilitating anxiety has a negative affect and impact on a student's test

25、preparation and test taking abilities. When someone has testing anxiety, they are feeling the influences of debilitating anxiety. Chapter Two Causes and Influences of Anxiety on English Learners2.1 Causes of English learning anxiety    There are many causes or factors that lead t

26、o English learning anxiety. The first is fear of negative evaluation. Students fears are brought on by the environment of the foreign language classroom, where they are constantly being evaluated. The evaluation from the only fluent speaker in the room, the teacher, is crucial to a second language s

27、tudent (Horwitz et al., 1986). However, the evaluation or criticisms from peers is also a major cause of anxiety. Anxious learners thought their skills in language were weaker than their peers and they were looking down at them. They are afraid to speak out loud in front of the class, during speakin

28、g practice. Another cause of foreign or second language learning anxiety is learners self perception of speaking ability in the target language. Horwitz et al. (1986) claims that most of the learners anxiety comes from their self-concept of ability. They are also comparing their skills with native s

29、peakers of the target language, which lead to embarrassment and sham that they are not pronouncing exactly like the native speakers. Of all the skills taught in the foreign language class, students perceive speaking ability the most important. Hence, learners low self perception of speaking ability

30、is a cause or source of anxiety in second language learning.A source of anxiety can also come from the fear of testing. There is a great deal of students who experience test anxiety. When many grammar items must be remembered, Horwitz et al. (1986) state that many students report that knew the gramm

31、ar but forgot it while taking the test. Anxiety is produced when students remember, after the test, that they made a mistake and put down a wrong answer because of their nervousness during the test. Test anxiety can also be brought on by the question types that are on the test. If the student has ne

32、ver seen that specific question format he or she might experience test anxiety during that test and future tests. Young (1991) states that, “In language testing, the greater degree of student evaluation and the more unfamiliar and ambiguous the test tasks and formats, the more the learner anxiety is

33、 produced”. Studying can cause test anxiety as well. Some students may study a lot if they received a poor grade on a previous test or are anxious about making mistakes on an upcoming test. If the material that the student studied is not what is on the test, fear and anxiety could produce. This may

34、lead to studying avoidance. Horwitz et al. (1986) states that, “Anxious students may avoid studying and in some cases skip class entirely in an effort alleviate their anxiety”. There are some other factors,such as Learners competitive natures, teachers' questions, lack of a relaxed second langua

35、ge environment.2.2 Influences of anxiety on English learning  Many researchers have found that language anxiety has influence on language learning. There is a negative relationship between foreign language anxiety and English proficiency.Differences between students who have more or less anxiet

36、y are followed back to see what caused the negative effects. The thoughts of the anxious individuals were negative and put themselves down. The less anxious could concentrate on the task better that the anxious because they did not have such negative self-awareness as the others did.It showed that t

37、he less anxious and more relaxed the learner is, the better language acquisition proceeds. Furthermore, some researchers indicated that anxiety is an important factor in foreign language reading difficulties. In addition, another study was conducted by Sellers in 2000. He explored the relationship b

38、etween language anxiety and reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. The results indicated that more highly anxious students tend to recall less passage content than the students with lower anxiety. In short, the studies reviewed above focus on listening, speaking and reading comprehe

39、nsion. Chapter Three Ways to Cope with English Learning AnxietyHow to overcome the anxiety of students English learning. Students and instructors are both playing important roles in anxiety reduction.3.1 Instructors roles in anxiety reduction   3.1.1 Build up students confidence  

40、;   The instructors should help students build up Self-confidence to avoid anxiety in English learning. Self-confidence is an attitude which allows students to have positive views of themselves and their situations. It is usually based on how well or not so well people have done in previou

41、s situations. Self-confident people trust their own abilities, have a general sense of control in their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be able to do what they wish, plan, and expect. People, such as students who are not self-confident depend excessively on the approval of others i

42、n order to feel good about themselves. They tend to avoid taking risks because they fear failure and generally do not expect to be successful. Moreover, they often put themselves down and tend to discount or ignore compliments paid to them. Self-confidence is closely related to second language devel

43、opment is generally acknowledge by scholars. Some complains of the students are often heard like that: “I want to learn English well as soon as possible. I spend most of my spare time on English learning, but my English achievement didn't get any progress. Perhaps I am not good at English and do

44、n't have English aptitude.” From these words, it could be found that students' lack of self-confidence is due to their previous unsuccessful experience. When they spend most of time on learning while get no successful result, they will be suspicious about their own abilities. On the contrary

45、, some other students are confident towards their English learning because they have successful experience. They are interested in English learning and take an active part in class activities. Therefore, they get good achievements and have a sense of success. From the result of this study, it could

46、also be found that students who have more confidence about their performance capabilities tend to have lower anxiety. Some techniques can be used to build up students' self-confidence so as to lower their level of anxiety. First, get to make the students who have higher level of anxiety aware th

47、at other students have the same anxiety as they do and other students are lack of confidence as they are.  The problem of anxiety is not only he or she should be faced with. Secondly; give praise and encouragement to students who have higher level of anxiety for their achievement and progress,

48、and show satisfaction and admiration to them for their language learning aptitude so as to strengthen their confidence.3.1.2 Recognize students learning background The instructors teaching should be primarily based on students' language learning background. For example, some students have b

49、een used to the traditional way of English teaching and learning. As Crookall and Oxford suggest, students who have been brought up in very formal educational systems may not feel very comfortable in classrooms in which they are encouraged to communicate informally with their peers .These students w

50、ould feel unaccustomed to college English and were anxious in English class because they could not understand teacher's talk and were unable to express themselves freely in English. In this case, language teachers should not expect too much and too soon, otherwise, these students will feel too d

51、iscouraged to continue with their study if they cannot do as what their teacher has expected （Cohen,1998）. Therefore, during the process of teaching, teachers need to take into consideration of students' subjective factor, recognize their previous knowledge and learning background information so

52、 as to teach efficiently.3.1.3 Pay attention to classroom questioning  Teacher questions have always had a dominant role in primary classrooms. A key element in classroom discourse is teacher questioning (Dillon,1990). However, teacher questioning in front of students has been implicated i

53、n the generation of anxiety (Beeman Phillips,1978).When the students answers were correct or close, instructors can praise them by saying “Excellent”, “Great”, “Fantastic”, “Wonderful”, or “Very Good”. When their answers are incorrect or not specific, instructors could try to give them prompts or su

54、ggestions so that they could get to the right answers.3.1.4 Create relaxing and harmonious class atmosphere    The teachers can do something in the classroom to make students feel relax and reduce the anxiety. Before the lessons were started, talking about different topics,

55、such as the weather, what the students had done on the weekend, or telling funny stories was taken from five to ten minutes. In order to encourage the students to participate in many activities in the classroom, instructors should learn all the students names. They can prepared an index card for eac

56、h student with their names and other useful information on the left and their picture on the right. They can flip through these cards every day during the weeks, and tried to use the students names in and out of the class as much as possible. At the same time, greeting students warmly and individual

57、ly at the beginning of class was also used. The instructors can give a general greeting to the class and observe her students carefully for subtle differences. Then teacher can greet two or three of them individually. They can greet them by commenting on what they are wearing, asking a question abou

58、t what they had done the night before, or similarly. 3.2 Students roles in anxiety elimination 3.2.1 Cooperative learning        In cooperative groups, learners have much time and many opportunities to think about the tasks. Learners do not only get more

59、opportunities to talk, but also become less anxious than speaking in front of the whole class. Anxiety level can be influenced by the size of audience because the evaluations of many people have the potential for greater impact on the performer than those of a few. Therefore, learners can be more nervous