外語學(xué)習(xí)中的焦慮--畢業(yè)論文.doc

【標(biāo)題】外語學(xué)習(xí)中的焦慮 【作者】賴姝廷 【關(guān)鍵詞】外語學(xué)習(xí)；焦慮；語言焦慮；建議 【指導(dǎo)老師】李天梅 【專業(yè)】英語 【正文】I. IntroductionMany researchers had witnessed a lot of occasions on which students have suffered from language anxiety: some students are so frightened in class that they choose to run away; some have a great difficulty in understanding what the teacher is saying even if there are no new words; some low their heads and avoid contacting the teachers eyes in fear of being asked questions; some students keep being volunteers while others choose to keep silent all the time in class. English teachers are also quite familiar to such statements as“I just know I have some kind of disability: I cant learn a foreign language no matter how hard I try”;“When Im in my English class I just freeze! I cant think of a thing when my teacher calls on me. My mind goes blank”. Many people claim to have a mental block against learning a foreign language, though they may be good learners in other situations.Early in the 1940s and 1950s, teachers and researchers in Europe and America began to attach great importance to anxiety and it became focus of the research and practice of educational psychology. Some perspectives have been investigated in a number of different areas: State Anxiety or Trait Anxiety, Debilitating Anxiety and Facilitating Anxiety. Just as anxiety prevents some people from performing successfully in science or mathematics, many people find foreign language learning, especially in classroom situations, particularly stressful. Second or foreign language researchers and theorists have long been aware that anxiety is often associated with language learning. In China, quite a lot of teachers and researchers also attach great importance to the effects of foreign language anxiety. Anxiety has negative effect on achievement of students, then how should it be avoided or alleviated in English teaching? The avoidance or reduction of anxiety is vital because, as Neville states dramatically:“the anxious classroom is toxic” 1. So to create a low-anxiety, relaxed and friendly English language classroom environment is very important. This paper will give some implications to the foreign language learning and teaching on the foreign language anxiety.II. Anxiety and Language AnxietyA. AnxietyAnxiety is part of normal human experience. Anxiety is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. Anxiety is described here as a state of uneasiness and apprehension of fear caused by the anticipation of something threatening. Anxiety is generally seen as a psychological concept and has been explored by researchers. Spieblerger describes anxiety as,“subjective, consciously perceived feelings of apprehension and tension, accompanied by or associated with activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system.” 2 Frequently, people with anxiety experience have tightness in their chest, a racing or pounding heart, and a pit in their stomach. Anxiety causes some people to get a headache, to sweat and/or to have the urge to urinate.B. Language AnxietyLanguage anxiety includes second language anxiety and foreign language anxiety. According to Horwitz and Cope, foreign language anxiety belongs to situation-specific anxiety. 3 Language anxiety refers to the fact that when learners use their target language to listen, to speak, to read and to write, they feel that their limited language level cannot accurately and effectively express what they mean, 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. Language anxiety has been said by many researchers to influence language learning. Whereas facilitating anxiety produces positive effects on learners performance, too much anxiety may cause a poor performance.The role of anxiety in language learning is not put much emphasis before, because previous studies usually generate contradictory results and are hard to interpret. Gardner and MacIntyre believe that using general measures of anxiety is the reason to generate contradictory results. Based on the situation-specific perspective, recent studies have focused on anxiety, which is specific to language situations. After examining the concept of language anxiety empirically, researchers find language anxiety is distinct from any other type of anxiety and is not merely a composite of other anxieties.Horwitz and Cope describe three components of foreign language anxiety: communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. 4 According to McCroskeys definition, communication apprehension is an individuals level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with other persons. Horwitz and Cope submit the construct of communication apprehension to their conceptualization of foreign language anxiety. They think interpersonal interactions are the major emphasis in the English class. In a foreign language classroom, language learners oral tasks include performing the language. Therefore, communication apprehension in a foreign language context is different from that in other context. Oral communication consists of two components: listening and speaking. Daly and Young find that most students are particularly anxious when they have to speak to a foreign language in front of their class. As to listening, it is a problem for language learners, too. Foreign language learners usually have difficulty understanding others. Because of the lack of control of oral communication, communication apprehension emerges.Test anxiety can be part of social anxiety, particularly in an evaluation situation where the students are asked to communicate in the target language. However, test anxiety can occur in no communicative situation, too. Test anxiety is“the tendency to become alarmed about the consequences of inadequate performance on a test or other evaluation”. 5 No matter of the fears are realistic. Students with test anxiety frequently experience cognitive interference and half a difficult time focusing on the task at hand. A little nervousness can actually help motivate people; however, too much of it can become a problem, especially if it interferes with our ability to prepare for and perform on tests.C. Researches on Language Anxiety1. Relevant Studies AbroadAs early as 1970s, some researchers began to pay attention to the effects of anxiety on foreign language learning. Most of the studies have shown persistence negative correlations between anxiety and performance.Study conducted by Backman on anxiety and language learning among Venezuelan students learning English in the U.S. didnt find a significant correlation between anxiety and students language progress.In a study by Young testing whether oral proficiency was negatively affected by anxiety in French, German, and Spanish, no relationship was found between anxiety and performance on an oral proficiency interview with ability controlled. In another study, Young found that anxiety did not exert as much influence as ability on foreign language oral proficiency score.6In comparing the relationships between oral as well as written proficiency scores and general anxiety, communicative anxiety, MacIntyre and Gardner found that significant correlation existed only between communicative anxiety and foreign language proficiency.ManIntyre emphasizes that being a cognitive activity, language learning relies on encoding, storage, and retrieval processed, and anxiety can interfere with each of these by creating a divided attention scenario for anxious students. However, most of research to date has examined output and so little is known about the effects on input and the process of learning.Oxford investigates whether language anxiety is a short-term or lasting trait, whether it is harmful or helpful, which factors correlate with language anxiety, and how anxiety can be identified in the language classroom.MacIntyre& Gardner state that anxiety plays little part in the learners first experience with the foreign language, when language aptitude and motivation are the dominant factors in learning, and that language anxiety develops if subsequent experiences are not positive.2. Relevant Studies at HomeWhat is presented above is just a brief review of the studies abroad. In recent years, there are quite a number of studies concerning the same topic in the Chinese context. Most of them are consistent with the results abroad. Liu xuehui chose Junior and Senior High school students as her subjects and found that foreign language anxiety was significantly and negatively correlated with course grades in three language skills(listening, speaking and reading). Chen Jie also found foreign language anxiety was significantly associated with language oral proficiency. Qian Xujing chose those foreign students who studies Chinese in China as her subjects and wondered if there would be association between Chinese learning anxiety and Chinese proficiency. Her study showed that only oral proficiency was significantly negatively correlated with Chinese learning anxiety. In addition, there are some other studies which indicate that foreign language anxiety has negative effect on foreign language learning. In a specific situation such as language learning, a fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, communication apprehension, and threats to ones sense of self can reduce feelings of self-efficacy and increase the chances that a second language situation will be seen as threatening. Therefore, it becomes an indispensable quality for language teachers to be able to diagnose language anxiety among students and help them to alleviate anxiety to a low level.III. Implication of Language Anxiety on Foreign Language Learning and TeachingA. Suggestions for Alleviating Anxiety from the Students Point of ViewClasses generate considerable anxiety. Therefore, it is anticipated that the students themselves would offer concrete suggestions for alleviating this anxiety.1. A Sense of CommunityOne common thread running through the responses is that of communality or connectedness. It is suggested that students be encouraged to get together outside the classroom and know each other personally. When students feel alone with no friends, they are more self-conscious. A lunch group is suggested as one way for students to interact. It should be suggested working in groups or having study partners. Properly structured, group work and study groups appear to reduce anxiety for some.2. Pedagogical Practices and Classroom EnvironmentThe desire for a feeling of community is also reflected in suggestions regarding seating in the class. Suggestions are made that the students should sit in a semi-circle or oval because in a circle you are kind of like one in a crowd. According to the study of many researchers, the participants state having a relaxed classroom environment as paramount in reducing anxiety. It appears that a relaxed environment or atmosphere is likely related to how the teacher conducted the class. Several students mention that having a more“personal relationship” with the teacher is helpful. The teachers attitude toward the language itself also appears to play a role in reducing anxiety. For example, someone reports,“personality is what makes the class.” Similarly, somebody reports that they are less anxious with teachers who“made the class fun,”“made it fun to like learning,” or“makes the class more animated,” and with“teachers who make it interesting by using interesting situations.”According to many researchers, many people mention that“not being put on the spot” in class would help them to be less anxious. When asked to explain, some says,“Um, I guess not just abruptly calling on someone.” Another responds, that being“put on the spot” would“l(fā)et everyone stare, which makes everything worse.” As someone points out, gentle error correction or modeling the correct response“helps to relieve anxiety.”Some classroom activities named as anxiety reducing are skits, plays, and games. However, it should be noted that some are uncomfortable in these kinds of activities. Some mention that they might feel more comfortable if the instructional materials are more relevant to their life or goals. Someone suggests that the teacher do a short presentation on anxiety the first day of class to let people know that it is a common problem. This paper also suggests that a target-language-only approach may be distressing for lower level students without some English reference points. There are three other suggestions:1) to speak slowly.2) to use English to clarify key points and for homework assignments.3) to make sure that everyone understands by a continuous layering and reinforcing of the materials, other than using of videos, error correction, excessive homework assignments, and immersion techniques, few students articulate clear references to instructional materials and methodology.B Implication of Language Anxiety on Foreign Language teachingAs long as foreign language learning takes place in a formal school setting where evaluation is inextricably tied to performance, anxiety is likely to exist. Therefore, there are some implications for language teaching. Language teachers should be aware of this and be very careful when dealing with high anxious level students and some effective anxiety-reducing methodologies in teaching.1. Teacher InterventionsBrophy suggests teacher interventions. In 1995 Brophy surveyed effective teachers to find out how they respond to shy students. The most commonly mentioned responses include:(1) changing the social environment(e.g., seating them among friendly classmates or assigning them to a partner or small group).(2) encouraging or shaping increased responsiveness.(3) minimizing stress or embarrassment.(4) engaging shy students in special activities.(5) involving them in frequent private talks.There are seven measures, which should be taken to reduce anxiety in classrooms:(1). Students should not be punished for communicating in classrooms.(2). Students, teachers as well as student teachers experiencing high levels of anxiety should be identified and helped to overcome this.(3). McCroskey indicates that levels of anxiety increase if students are forced to speak in classrooms therefore this practice should be avoided.(4). Let students choose their seats in a classroom so that those with high levels of anxiety could sit where they feel safe.(5). Create a warm and supportive classroom climate, where students feel free to speak out and where they are allowed to make mistakes(6). In teacher training particular attention should be paid attention to developing the cummunication skills of teachers to be, because of the fact that they are going to serce as role models for students.(7). The value of practical teaching should not be underestimated for it seems that the practical experience student teachers obtain help to reduce levels of anxiety.2. Helping Learners Increase Their Self-confidenceMany students admitted that their lack of self-confidence in learning English successfully was a very important cause for them to be anxious in English learning. This indicates that self-confidence is a very important determinant of language students anxiety, self-confidence of proficiency and actual performance. While the relationship between anxiety and self-perception of proficiency and actual the relationship between self-perception and actual proficiency are reciprocal, and the conclusion drawn from Hebrees(1988) investigation of the relationship between ability and anxiety shows that students who start out with a self-perceived low ability level in a foreign or second language are the likeliest candidates for language anxiety, or any other type of anxiety for that matter.7 Some researchers claims that, self-confidence(with a concomitant absence of situational relevant anxiety) develops as a result of positive experiences in the context of the second language and serves to motivate individuals to learn the second language. So raising students self-perception of proficiency is necessary. Changing a persons self-perception is not an easy job, but the benefits of improving the self-image of language students seem worthwhile.There are five approaches that purport to help to maintain and increase the learners self-confidence. Firstly, in order to increase self-confidence among students, teachers can foster the belief that competence is a changeable aspect of development, and that not a single language expert is so competent at the initial stage. Secondly, favorable self-conceptions of L2 competence can be promoted by providing regular experiences of success. A language teacher could provide students with multiple opportunities for classroom success in English(e.g., encourage students to use simple sentences to express their ideas in English speaking and writing) and teach students to emphasize their own successful experience. Thirdly, everyone is more interested in a talk if they feel that they make a contribution. It is necessary to let the students to have something to say in classroom activities. Fourthly, students lacking self-confidence particularly need encouragement. Only a few words of encouragement might be sufficient for them. Gardner suggests that by encouraging students to assess their performance in a more positive or even optimistic way. Teachers could raise learners level of motivation and effort, possibly leading to better language learning outcomes. A related strategy would encourage the students to concentrate on their ability to accomplish the task at hand. Finally, teachers ca