Dissertation
Post-secondary ESL learners’ foreign language anxiety and management strategies in an intensive English program
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2021
DOI: 10.17077/etd.005982
Abstract
Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) – the feeling of worry, nervousness and apprehension when learning a foreign language – has been studied by researchers in various settings (Horwitz et al., 1986; Aida, 1994; Sila, 2010; Mak, 2011). However, its context and culturally specific nature make it worth investigating with different ethnic groups in different contexts, as different linguistic demands and socio-cultural factors can contribute to students’ FLA in different ways. The current research, therefore, aims to investigate post-secondary ESL students’ FLA (including its level, contributing factors, and how it correlates with other learning variables) and management strategies in an intensive English program, an under-explored context in previous studies. Specifically, it employs the explanatory sequential design within mixed-methods research. For the first, quantitative phase, a questionnaire consisting of three parts (background, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and commonly used/recommended coping strategies) was created and issued online to 112 ESL students from the University of Delaware’s English Language Institute. After the reliability of the scale was established, questionnaire data were analyzed through SPSS and exploratory factor analysis. Results indicate that 1) 2/3 of the participants experience mediate to high level of FLA, 2) FLA negatively correlates with participants’ English proficiency level; Visual learners and individual learners tend to experience higher levels of FLA than their kinesthetic and group counterparts, 3) major factors responsible for students’ FLA are communication apprehension and peer pressure, fear of personal failure and negative evaluation, fear of communication breakdown when interacting with the teacher, and negative perception and attitude towards the class, 4) among the list of coping strategies generated from the literature, the teacher cultivating a sense of humor, having a positive and friendly general attitude, and providing positive reinforcement for students’ performance were considered by participants as the most effective strategies in alleviating their FLA, whereas the teacher avoiding over correcting their mistakes and students being allowed to use their first language were the least effective. The aforementioned results were corroborated and further explained in more depth by the second, qualitative phase, in which the researcher invited 5 questionnaire respondents who experience high level of FLA to participate in a 15-minute semi-structured interview via Zoom, and conducted thematic content analysis with the collected interview data.
Overall, this research builds on existing literature in terms of when and why anxiety is experienced in foreign language classrooms and complements scholars’ recommendations about its management strategies.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Post-secondary ESL learners’ foreign language anxiety and management strategies in an intensive English program
- Creators
- Yafei Ye
- Contributors
- David C. Johnson (Advisor)Pamela Wesely (Committee Member)Lia Plakans (Committee Member)Catherine Welch (Committee Member)Stephen Dunbar (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Teaching and Learning (Foreign Language and ESL Education)
- Date degree season
- Summer 2021
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.005982
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- x, 133 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2021 Yafei Ye
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- color illustrations
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-120).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Employing mixed-methods research, this study explores post-secondary ESL students’ Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and management strategies in an intensive English program, an under-explored context in previous studies. It demonstrates the extent to which students experience FLA in foreign language classrooms, how FLA differs in terms of their different English proficiency levels and learning preferences, major factors that contribute to their FLA, as well as students’ belief about the effectiveness of commonly recommended strategies in reducing their FLA.
- Academic Unit
- Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9984124358802771
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