A Tentative Study of Vocabulary Learning Anxiety in College English Learning in China

Xiaoxin Chen

doi:10.5539/ijel.v5n1p104

Abstract

This study presents the results of an empirical examination of the effect of the college English vocabulary learning anxiety and the English language class anxiety on college non-English majors’ English proficiency in China. After the descriptive data analysis, the Pearson correlation, independent T test and linear regression analysis of the data from two measures of anxiety, it is found: Students are fully aware of the importance of college English vocabulary teaching and learning, and demonstrate great anxiety in it; Significant and moderately high correlations are between college English vocabulary learning anxiety and other anxieties, which proves they are separate but related phenomena; College English vocabulary learning anxiety is significantly and negatively correlated with the CET-4 scores, but this correlation is lower than that between the English language class anxiety and the CET-4 scores; The college English vocabulary learning anxiety ranks in the middle in predicting the English language achievement, less significant than the total English language class anxiety and the communication apprehension but more significant than the fear of negative evaluation and the test anxiety.

Highlights

As abundant research suggests, successful foreign language learning involves numerous cognitive and affective factors, and factors such as affective variables, personality characteristics, cognitive styles, and learning strategies play an influential role in the learner’s willingness and effectiveness to learn which are usually critical to the learner’s language achievement and proficiency. Young (1991) maintains that “Regardless of method, we know that learners need to adopt attitudes and strategies that pay off in terms of low anxiety, high motivation, and in the ability to convey information and communicate ideas and feelings
Preliminary analyses of the background information, comparison analyses of anxiety levels between the different anxieties together with the independent sample test of the significance of the differences, Pearson correlation analyses of the different anxieties, especially between the college English vocabulary learning anxiety (CEVLA) and the English language classroom anxiety (ELCA) as well as its three main components, Pearson correlation analyses and regression analyses between anxiety variables and achievement measures are conducted in this study and the findings are as follows: 3.1 Preliminary Analyses
The ELCA scores of the whole sample in this study are a little bit higher than the study using the 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz (1986), which reported a mean of 94.5 and a standard deviation of 21.4 in one sample of 108 students enrolled in introductory undergraduate foreign language classes at the university of Texas at Austin

Summary

Introduction

Successful foreign language learning involves numerous cognitive and affective factors, and factors such as affective variables, personality characteristics, cognitive styles, and learning strategies play an influential role in the learner’s willingness and effectiveness to learn which are usually critical to the learner’s language achievement and proficiency. Young (1991) maintains that “Regardless of method, we know that learners need to adopt attitudes and strategies that pay off in terms of low anxiety, high motivation, and in the ability to convey information and communicate ideas and feelings. Young (1991) maintains that “Regardless of method, we know that learners need to adopt attitudes and strategies that pay off in terms of low anxiety, high motivation, and in the ability to convey information and communicate ideas and feelings. One of the current challenges in second and foreign language teaching is to provide students with a learner-centered, low-anxiety classroom environment.” As the importance of affective factors has been recognized by researchers investigating foreign language learning, foreign language anxiety, one of the affective factors is earning a great deal of attention. Vocabulary learning anxiety can be defined as the feeling of tension and apprehension that the learners have during their foreign / second language vocabulary learning. A case study of vocabulary learning anxiety will be instructive in both college English teaching and learning

Methods

Results

Conclusion