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1、A Research Design of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety in Chinese High School English Classrooms雷涵彧1.IntroductionSinceMacIntyreandGardner1991identifiedthatlearnersfeelingsandattitudestowardsstudycanaffecttheirlearningability,oneofthemostsignificantaffectivevariablesinthelearningprocesshasbeenprovedt
2、obeanxiety.Meanwhile,researchershaveshowngreatinterestinanxietyinlanguagelearning,whichmanyofthembelieveisthemostpervasiveobstructiontothelanguagelearningprocess.Amongallthetopicsrelatedtoanxietyinlanguagelearning,foreignlanguageanxietyFLAhasattractedthemostattention.FLAisimportantandnecessaryforres
3、earcherstoexploreasitisnotjustatheorystudiedinlaboratorybutalsoarealityformanystudentsLiu,2020;Tran,2020.ManyresearchersalsoindicatethatFLAisalwaysrelatedtospeakingactivitiesinclassandfunctionsasaninhibitorinforeignlanguelearningMak,2020.AlthoughthereisagrowingneedforproficientspokenEnglishinChina,t
4、heattentiononspeakinganxietyinChinesesecondaryschoolsisnotenough.2.LiteraturereviewSinceKrashens1982“affectivefilterhypothesispublished,anincreasingattentionhasbeengiventoaffectivefactorsinlanguagelearningprocess,amongwhichlanguageanxietyisviewedasapowerfulpredictorandoneofthemostimportantaffectivev
5、ariablesonlearnerslanguageperformance.Inthe1970s,generalanxietyincludedtwodimensions,thatis,stateanxietyandtraitanxiety.Theformerclaimsthatasubjectivefeelingoftensionorworryarousedbynervoussystem,andthelatteremphasisesastableindividualdifferenceinanxiety.Whileinthe1980s,Horwitzetal.1986pointedouttha
6、tFLAisarousedinspecificsituationsandshouldberegardedassituation-specificanxiety.Itmostlyhappenswhenlearnersarerequiredtocompletealearningtaske.g.speakingbyusingaforeignlanguage.Besides,inordertoexploretherelationshipbetweenforeignlanguageanxietyandforeignlanguageachievementwithapropermeasurementmeth
7、od,theycreatedthewell-knownFLCASForeignLanguageClassroomAnxietyScale.Asfortheanxietythatlearnersexperiencewhenspeakingaforeignlanguageinclass,anumberofstudiesshareanagreementthatlearnerswillfeelanxiouswhenspeakingEnglishinfrontoftheclasssuchasmakingpresentationsandroleplay,andtheiroralperformanceish
8、ighlycorrelatedwiththedegreeofFLA.InChina,studentspaymoreattentiononrotelearningandteacherinstructionsMak,2020,reasonsoftheirspeakinganxietyshouldbedifferentfromstudentsinwesterncountriese.g.Americanstudentswithfocusonself-expression.IntheChinesecontext,Liu2020investigated24universitystudentsforonet
9、ermandfoundpossiblefactorsleadingtotheirspeakinganxietyandreticenceinoralEnglishclassroomssuchasChinesemodestculture,lowEnglishproficiency,pasteducationalexperience,lackofpractice,fearoflosingface,etc.Thegapofaforementionedstudiescanbesummarisedintwoaspects.OneisthatthoughFLAisacomplicatedphenomenon
10、toinvestigate,fewstudiesinthisfieldhaveadoptedmixedmethods,andmostofthemmainlyemployedthedataofself-reportFLCAStomeasurethedegreeofFLA,whichmightnotbeenoughtoexplorethecomplexfactorscontributingtoFLAindifferentculturalbackgrounds.TheothergapisthatlittleresearchhasfocusedonEnglishspeakinganxietyamong
11、highschoollearnersinChina,especiallyindevelopingregions,althoughaccordingtoWangandDing2020,thelanguageanxietyindexofsecondarystudentsinChinesedevelopingareasandruralarease.g.SouthwestChinaactuallywasveryhigh.3.ResearchdesignInordertofillthegapmentionedabove,thecurrentstudyappliestheoryintoresearchde
12、signwithafocusonspeakinganxietyofhighschoolstudentsinSouthwestChinaasstudentsarethedirectstakeholdersinthelanguagelearningandteachingprocess.Besides,teachersandpolicymakersshouldalsobeawareofstudentsperceptionstodevelopstudent-centredlearningenvironments,byfindingoutfactorscontributingtotheanxietyas
13、wellasstrategiesusedtotacklethisproblem.3.1Researchquestions3.1.1TowhatextentdohighschoolstudentsexperienceforeignlanguagespeakinganxietyinEnglishclassroomsinSouthwestChina?3.1.2WhatfactorsmightexplaintheexistenceofspeakinganxietyinEnglishclassrooms?3.1.3Whatcopingstrategiesdolearnersusetomanagethei
14、rspeakinganxiety?3.2MethodologyBothquantitativeandqualitativeapproachesemployedinthisstudyandtheproblemsolvingprocessimpliespragmatismasthetheoreticalperspectivefortheresearch,whichalsofollowsa“sequentialexplanatorydesignRobson2020,p.165,thatis,thequalitativedataareusedtoelaborateonqualitativedatain
15、ordertofindoutthecomprehensiveunderstandingofthephenomena.3.2.1FLCASSincethe1980s,FLCAShasbeenwidelyusedinFLAanxietyandshowedconsistentfindingssothatitsreliabilityhasbeenprovedMak,2020.3.2.2ReflectivejournalsTogatheradditionalinformationaboutstudentspersonalvariablesthataffectlanguagelearningandcaus
16、espeakinganxiety,thechosenstudentsareaskedtowritereflectivejournalsweeklyforseveralsuccessiveweekswithafocusontheirparticipationinspeakingactivities.Inadditiontotheitemsandtopicsadvised,theycanalsowriteaboutfeelingsrelatedtotheirlanguagelearningexperience.ConsideringtheirEnglishlevel,theyareallowedtowritethejournalsinChinese.3.2.3Semi-structuredInterviewsToobtaincomprehensiveviewofstudentstechniquesthattheyusetocopewit