英语专业新生英语学习焦虑研究的中期报告

英语专业新生英语学习焦虑研究的中期报告IntroductionEnglishisagloballanguageanditsimportancecannotbeoverlookedintoday’sworld.Withtheincreasingglobalization,theneedforEnglishproficiencyisgrowingdaybyday.InChina,Englishisconsideredacriticalsubject,especiallyforstudentswhoarepursuinganEnglishmajor.However,learninganewlanguagecanbechallenging,especiallywhenthestudentisnotfamiliarwiththelanguageandtheculture.ManystudentsfacedifferenttypesofanxietiesandchallengeswhilelearningEnglish,whichmayaffecttheirlearningoutcomesandpsychologicalwell-being.ThisstudyaimstoexploretheEnglishlearninganxietylevelamongnewEnglishmajorstudentsinChinaandthefactorsthatcontributetotheseanxieties.LiteratureReviewLearninganxietyisoftendefinedasanegativeoruncomfortablefeelingthatoccursinresponsetolearninganewlanguageorskill.Manystudieshaveexploredtherelationshipbetweenanxietyandlanguagelearningandhavefoundthatlanguageanxietycanaffectanindividual’smotivation,confidence,andoveralllanguageperformance(Horwitz,Horwitz,&Cope,1986;Phillips,1992).Additionally,variousfactorshavebeenreportedtocauseanxiety,suchaspoorself-esteem,lackofconfidence,negativeself-talk,andfearoffailure(Young,1991).Moreover,studieshaveshownthatlanguagelearners'beliefsandattitudessignificantlyimpacttheirperformanceandmotivation.Forinstance,Meenakshi(2015)foundthatlanguagelearners'attitudestowardslearningEnglishhadasignificantinfluenceontheirlanguageproficiencylevel.Similarly,astudyconductedbyBao(2018)foundthatstudentswithamorepositiveattitudetowardslearningEnglishachievedhigherlanguagescores.Finally,MurakamiandHashimoto(2014)reportedthatstudentswhoperceivedthemselvesasnon-linguisticorlessproficientinEnglishtendedtoexperiencemorelanguageanxiety.MethodologyThisstudyusesamixed-methodsresearchdesign.ThequantitativepartincludesadministeringaquestionnairetodeterminethelevelofanxietyamongnewEnglishmajorstudentsinChina.ThequestionnaireisadaptedfromHorwitz's(1986)ForeignLanguageClassroomAnxietyScale(FLCAS)tomeasurethestudents'anxietyaboutlearningEnglish.Thequalitativepartinvolvesinterviewingselectedparticipantstogaininsightintothefactorscontributingtotheanxiety.ResultsThepreliminarydataanalysisindicatesthatnewEnglishmajorstudentsinChinaexperiencemoderatetohighlevelsofanxietywhilelearningEnglish.Amongthefactorscontributingtoanxietyareafearofmakingmistakes,classmates'academicpressure,andlowconfidenceinEnglishspeakingandwritingabilities.Thequalitativedataprovidesmoredetailedinformationaboutthespecificfactorsthatcontributetoanxiety,suchaspeerpressure,lackofinterestinEnglish,andchallengesinadaptingtotheEnglishlearningenvironment.ConclusionThestudyhasfoundthatnewEnglishmajorstudentsinChinaexperienceanxietywhilelearningEnglish.Thestudyhighlightstheneedforpracticalmeasurestoreduceanxietyandimprovestudents'Englishproficiency.Educatorsmayadoptvariousstrategieslikecreatingasupportivelearningenvironment,encouraginginteractionamongstudents,andusingvariousteachingtechniquestoalleviateanxietyamongnewEnglishmajorstudents.Additionally,thestudy'sfindingscouldinformteachersofthechallengesstudentsfaceandstrategiestoadopttoalleviatestudentanxiety.ReferencesBao,M.(2018).AstudyontherelationshipbetweenattitudeandperformanceinEFLlearning.EnglishLanguageTeaching,11(8),161–167.Horwitz,E.K.,Horwitz,M.B.,&Cope,J.(1986).Foreignlanguageclassroomanxiety.ModernLanguageJournal,70(2),125–132.Meenakshi,S.(2015).AttitudeandAptitudeinSecondLanguageAcquisition.LanguageinIndia,15(4),40-49.Murakami,M.,&Hashimoto,Y.(2014).Afurtherexaminationoftheimpactoflanguageanxietyontertiary-levelforeignlanguagelearners.JournalofMultilingualandMulticulturalDevelopment,35(1),44–61.Phillips,E.M.(1992).TheeffectsoflanguageanxietyonstudentsofJapan