（英语语言文学专业论文）外语学习焦虑研究——对地方性院校英语专业学生外语学习焦虑现状的考察.pdf

abstract in chinese i 摘 要 摘 要 焦虑在医学上被称为心理异常，是变态情绪之一，一般指个体由于预期不能 达到目标或者不能克服障碍的威胁，使得其自尊心与自信心受挫，或失败感和内 疚感增加而形成的紧张不安，带有恐惧感的情绪状态。心理学家从临床的观点把 焦虑反应描述为个体对包含着危险，威胁和需要做出特别努力但对此又无能为力 的苦恼的强烈预期。美国心理学家 horwitz (1986) 对外语学习焦虑的定义是：外 语学习焦虑是一种产生于外语学习过程和课堂外语学习相联系的有关自我知觉， 信念，情感和行为的独特的综合体。 在外语学习的过程中，焦虑可能是语言学习中最大的情感障碍之一，对外语 学习带来了不可忽视的影响，国内外对外语学习焦虑进行了大量的研究。“外语学 习焦虑”或“语言学习焦虑”这个概念最早在 20 世纪 60 年代由 horwitz 提出，有关 外语学习焦虑的研究涉及：外语学习焦虑的定义（horwitz and cope, 1986） ，外语 学习焦虑的性质界定 (spieberger, 1983)，外语学习焦虑的组成 (horwitz and cope, 1986)，外语学习焦虑的分类 (albert and haber, 1960; scovel,1991)，外语学习焦 虑的相关因素 (daly and buss, 1984; richmond and maccroskey,1988)，外语学习焦 虑的个体差异性（ellis，1994） ，外语学习焦虑的测量工具 (howitz and cope, 1986; spieberger, 1983)等，研究表明外语学习焦虑度与学习成就之间呈相关性 (young， 1991； gardner，1985；chastain, 1975; kleinmann, 1997; phillips, 1992; cheng et al., 1999; aida,1994; horwitz et al., 1986), 以上发现都对于外语教学有所启示( 王才 康，2001，2002)。中国作为全世界学习英语人数最多的国家之一，对中国语境下 外语学习焦虑的研究也有一些 但大多还停留在比较宽泛的层面，对由于地域差 异和学习者个体差异引起的外语学习焦虑还缺乏更深入的研究。本文试图从地域 差异的角度，研究中国沿海地区地方性院校的英语专业生的外语学习焦虑状况。 基于以上理论，本文研究的是广东省地方性院校之一的惠州学院的英语专业 学生的外语学习焦虑状况。惠州学院属于国家高等院校扩招后出现的新升本的地 方性院校，在广东省共有同类学校五所，它们有诸多相同之处，但唯独惠州学院 处于经济较活跃的大亚湾地带（珠江三角洲的一部分） ，对外语人才的需求强烈， 所以，惠州学院外语系的学生有强烈的学习动机和对未来的良好展望。本研究旨 abstract in chinese ii 在展示处于这种特殊的地理和经济形势下的省属地方性院校的英语专业学生的外 语学习焦虑状况。 本研究包含定量和定性两部分。定量研究部分首先是调查外语系学生的整体 外语学习焦虑状况，研究对象是每个年级的一个自然班(共 126 人)； 同时，再针 对二年级中学习成绩的前 40 名（快班）和后 40 名学生（慢班）进行调查，以研 究外语学习焦虑与学习成就之间的关系。这两个定量研究均采用已经被广泛证明 具有较高可信度的外语课堂焦虑量表 （horwitz et al., 1986） ， 问卷结果被输入 spss 软件进行分析。定性研究部分是对二年级的 80 名受试中焦虑程度的前 10 名和后 10 名进行采访，采访问题由作者自行编制，目的是研究学习者在焦虑方面的个体 差异，从而探索外语学习焦虑产生的原因。 定量调查的数据显示： (1) 英语专业学生中确实存在着一定程度的外语学习焦虑。 (2) 男女学生之间焦虑情况有显著差异，特别是在低年级阶段。 (3) 年级间的焦虑度差异明显，高年级的整体焦虑度低于低年级。 （4）学生整体焦虑度最高的项目是“口语焦虑”和“考试焦虑”。 （5）成绩好的学生的整体焦虑度明显低于成绩差的学生。 (6) 成绩好的学生与成绩差的学生之间差异最大的焦虑项目是“负面评价焦虑”。 定性调查结果显示： (1) 大多数学生都存在着把英语学习目标理想化的现象。 (2) 低焦虑度学生的语言模糊容忍度明显大于高焦虑度学生。 以上现象的产生原因可能有如下几点： (1) 社会和文化因素。 (2) 学习者的一般性个体差异。 (3) 学习者的学习理念和学习策略。 (4) 教师的教学方式。 (5) 学生的就业前景。 最后，作者以此调查结果为根据，从心智和实际操作两个维度提出建议，探 讨在中国语境下（特别是在经济活跃地区）如何能减轻衰弱型焦虑，使学生以正 常心理进行卓有成效的外语学习。 关键词：焦虑; 外语学习焦虑; 外语课堂焦虑量表; 学习者个体差异 abstract in english iii abstract anxiety, as a part of human mental experience, is referred to as a kind of abnormal psychology. psychologists define it as a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is unknown. horwitz (1986) describes foreign language anxiety as a distinct complex of selfperception, belief, feeling, and behaviors related to foreign language learning and using for communication beyond the language classroom. during the process of foreign language learning, a large number of learners have been bothered by the feeling of anxiety which has brought much influence on their learning achievement. the concept of “foreign language anxiety” or “language anxiety” was first proposed by horwitz in 1960s. research on foreign language learning includes the definition of foreign language anxiety (horwitz and cope, 1986), the categorization of foreign language anxiety (spieberger, 1983), the components of foreign language anxiety (horwitz and cope, 1986), the classification of foreign language anxiety (albert and haber, 1960; scovel, 1991), the correlates of language anxiety (daly and buss, 1984; richmond and maccroskey, 1988), the individual learners difference of foreign language anxiety (ellis，1994)， the measures of foreign language anxiety (horwitz and cope, 1986; spieberger, 1983). research concerned has shown that there is a correlation between foreign language anxiety and foreign language learning achievement (young， 1991； gardner， 1985；chastain, 1975; kleinmann, 1997; phillips, 1992; cheng et al., 1999; aida, 1994; horwitz et al., 1986). all these findings may bring some pedagogical implications ( wang caikang， 2001， 2002， etc.), so far, some researches on language anxiety in chinese context have been conducted. however, they still remain at a general level without paying enough attention to regional difference and individual learners difference. since china is the country with the largest foreign language learning population, it is worthwhile to do more research in chinese setting so as to further the study on foreign language anxiety. based on the above theories, this thesis attempts to carry out an empirical study on abstract in english iv the overall state of foreign language anxiety among english majors in one of the local-run colleges huizhou college from the perspective of regional difference. it was not until 2000 that huizhou college began to enroll its first group of degree students. sharing many similarities with the other four colleges in guangdong province, huizhou college is special in its geographical location and advanced local economy. in huizhou, a city situated in the center of daya bay economically active region (a part of pearl river delta), there exist many foreign companies and joint ventures. as a result, graduates majoring in english are in urgent need. thus graduates of foreign language department in huizhou college usually have high motivation and good employment prospects. thats why a part of the students in this department are chosen to be the subjects in order to see the overall state of foreign language anxiety of the english majors in such a particular situation. this study involves both quantitative and qualitative researches. quantitative research includes two parts: the first part is the sampling of one class from each of the fours grades (126 students altogether) in order to study the overall state of anxiety of the english majors in huizhou college; the second part is the sampling of 80 students of grade 2 including the first 40 and the last 40 students according to course grades. the instrument adopted is the well-known horwitzs foreign language classroom anxiety scale whose high credibility and validity have already been proved. qualitative research involves the interview with 20 subjects out of the 80 students of grade 2 including the first 10 and the last 10 students according to their flcas scores for the purpose of exploring the source of anxiety from the perspective of individual learners difference. results of quantitative research show: (1) there does exist a certain level of foreign language anxiety among the english majors. (2) there is significant difference of foreign language anxiety between genders, especially in lower stages. (3) there is significant difference among grades. students of lower grades suffer higher level of anxiety than those of higher grades. (4) the biggest anxiety is “speech anxiety” and “test anxiety” for the students of all abstract in english v grades. (5) students of higher proficiency are much less anxious than students of lower proficiency. (6) the biggest difference between moderately anxious students and highly anxious students is “fear of negative evaluation”. results of qualitative research show: (1) most subjects tend to idealize their learning goal. (2) most moderately anxious subjects have more ambiguity tolerance than those highly anxious subjects. the causes of the above phenomena maybe: (1) social and cultural factors. (2) general individual learners difference. (3) learners belief about english learning and their learning strategy. (4) methods of instruction. (5) prospects of employment. accordingly, the author puts forward some suggestions on how to improve english learning by alleviating debilitating anxiety. key words: anxiety; foreign language anxiety; flcas; individual learners difference 湘潭大学湘潭大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取 得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其 他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。 对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个 人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果 由本人承担。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学 校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版， 允许论文被查 阅和借阅。 本人授权湘潭大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关 数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位 论文。 涉密论文按学校规定处理。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 chapter i introduction 1 chapter i introduction 1.1 thesis topic language experts and researchers used to pay much of their attentions to foreign language learning from the teachers perspective. but when they find that not all of the problems or difficulties derive from teachers, they begin to shift their attention to learners. they notice that even with same teachers and same methods of teaching, the students achievement differs a lot, which means the learners individual factors play an important role in the process of language learning. this leads to a rise of research on individual learners difference including language aptitude, cognitive styles, learning strategies, learning achievement and etc. according to ellis (1994), individual learners difference research consists of three groups of variables: (1) individual learners difference (2) learners strategies (3) language learning outcomes. the first group of variables includes three elements: learners beliefs on language learning, learners affective attitude and general individual difference. the second group refers to different tactics used by learners in the process of language learning. the last group concerns the outcomes of language learning. this thesis attempts to study one of the most important individual factors of language learners: anxiety. anxiety is one of learners affective attitudes besides motivation, empathy, self esteem, self-image, etc. most research on anxiety has shown that anxiety plays an important role in second language acquisition either directly or indirectly. there seems to be a bi-directional negative correlation between high degree of anxiety and language learning achievement. in other words, high degree of anxiety may lead to poor linguistic performance while the learners awareness of their poor language competence may bring about certain degree of anxiety which further impedes their language cognition. macintyre (1995：90-99) has indicated that foreign language anxiety is weakest for children and strongest for adolescents and adults. the three components of foreign language anxiety exist in different environments: communication apprehension in natural environments outside chapter i introduction 2 the classroom, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation appears inside the classroom (macintyre 1995：90-99; young 1991：57-64). the focus of this thesis is first to show the total anxiety state of the subjects, then to find the relationship between language anxiety and language achievement, and last to explore the source of language anxiety. 1.2 objectives this thesis intends to achieve three objectives. first is to provide an overview of the literature concerning the influence of anxiety on language learning. at present, researchers, instead of having arrived at any definite conclusion on the correlation between language anxiety and language learning, have only achieved some general theories. so far, some researches on language anxiety in chinese context have been conducted. however, they still remain at a general level without paying enough attention to regional difference and individual learners difference. since china is the country with the largest foreign language learning population, it is worthwhile to do more research in chinese setting. more researches from different perspectives (different region, different group of learners and etc.) may provide a further insight into the theories concerned and enables instructors to have a better understanding of the state of language anxiety in chinese setting so as to modify their way of teaching accordingly. the second objective is to conduct an investigation on the state of anxiety of foreign language learners in local-run colleges according to elliss theoretical framework of individual learners difference research in order to see how those variables concerning language anxiety work and what influence they have on language performance in chinese setting. the third objective is to discuss some implications obtained from this empirical study. based on the findings obtained from this study, this thesis attempts to offer some operational suggestions on how to improve forging language learning in chinese setting by alleviating deliberating anxiety and to propose some new directions for further research in this field. chapter i introduction 3 1.3 methodology this study adopts both a quantitative and a qualitative approach. horwitzs foreign language classroom anxiety scale is employed to get the quantitative data and another questionnaire made by the author herself is used to get the qualitative data so as to further justify the former findings. the samples for the first investigation are obtained from the four grades of english majors in huizhou college with the number of approximately 126 students. the second survey focused on english majors of grade 2 with the number of 80. all the data analysis is performed with the system of statistical package for social science (spss 11.0). the subjects of the follow-up interview consist of 20 students selected from the former 80 students. the information of the interview is put down in details in order to arrive at an overall conclusion. chapter ii literature review 4 chapter ii literature review in this chapter, we will have a global idea of anxiety research by reviewing relevant literature including the difference between anxiety and language anxiety, classification of anxiety, the well-known measures of anxiety, the correlates of anxiety, the impact of anxiety on language learning, etc. 2.1 anxiety and language anxiety 2.1.1 anxiety anxiety is a part of normal human experience. psychologists define it as a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. according to scovel (1978：129-142), anxiety is a state of uneasiness and apprehension or fear caused by the anticipation of something threatening. anxiety is generally seen as a psychological element and has been explored by researchers. spielberger (1966: 3-20) describes anxiety as subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by or associated with activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system. frequently, people with anxiety experience have symptoms such as tightness in their chest, a racing or pounding heart, and a pain in their stomach. anxiety causes some people to get a headache, to sweat, and to have the urge to urinate. many people have the feeling of anxiety in their daily life but the level of anxiety differs. moderate anxiety may warn us of the oncoming danger and sometimes can activate us to get ready for the fight. however high degree of anxiety may have negative effects on people by interfering with their daily work. there are some ways to describe anxiety feeling when people are threatened by something such as “to become stiffened on seeing a snake”, “to have some butterflies in the stomach before making a public speech”, “to get weak-kneed in front of the opposite sex or looking over a high chapter ii literature review 5 building”, “to freak out around spider”, etc. these feelings of anxiety are common, understandable and normal because they are an inevitable part of our biology, embedded into our brain during the process of evolution. but some people suffer from uncommon anxiety that may last longer and has become something more than mere occasional nervousness. as a result, this anxiety has become a constant and dominating force that severely disrupts the quality and reduces the enjoyment of their lives. 2.1.2 language anxiety language anxiety is one of several types of anxiety that have been identified by psychologists. most teachers are familiar with test anxiety or public-speaking anxiety. in addition, certain individuals seem to be generally anxious as a part of their personality. in general, there are two approaches to the description of language anxiety (horwitz and young, 1991): (1) language anxiety may be viewed as a manifestation of other more general types of anxiety. for example, test-anxious people may feel anxious when learning a language because they feel constantly tested, or shy people may feel uncomfortable because of the demands of communicating publicly. (2) language anxiety may be seen as a distinctive form of anxiety expressed in response to language learning. that is, something unique to the language-learning experience makes some individuals nervous. language anxiety includes second language and foreign language anxiety. according to horwitz and cope (1986:127-132), language anxiety belongs to situation-specific anxiety. it refers to the fact that when learners use their target language to listen, speak, read, and write, they feel that their limited language level cannot accurately and effectively express their meanings, so they feel nervous and scared. language anxiety is described here as a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to using a foreign/second language for communication beyond the language classroom. many researchers have found that language anxiety has influence on language learning. language anxiety has been further divided into facilitating anxiety (which produces positive effects on language learners performance) and deliberating anxiety (which produces negative effects on learning achievement) (albert and haber, 1960: 207-215). chapter ii literature review 6 while anxiety prevents some people from performing successfully in science or mathematics, many people find that foreign language learning, especially in classroom situations, are particularly stressful. when anxiety is limited to the language-learning situation, it falls into the category of specific anxiety reactions. researchers have