English Language Anxiety of Tertiary Level Learners in Bangladesh: Level and Sources

Abdullah Al Mamun

doi:10.5539/elt.v14n11p49

Abstract

The prime objectives of this study were to unveil the level of anxiety and the sources of English language anxiety of the tertiary level students of Bangladesh. Through a questionnaire survey using Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz et al. (1986), the study found that most of the tertiary level learners have high anxiety of English as a foreign language. Based on an exploratory factor analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation (Kaiser Normalization), a four-factor (communication anxiety, comprehension and test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and lack of anxiety) solution emerged. Following a close analysis of the EFA and other established valid models, the study found that six components, namely, speaking anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, peer pressure/social-image anxiety, comprehension-related anxiety, negative attitude towards class, and test anxiety were the main sources of anxiety, which need to be addressed for alleviating the anxiety of the students.

Highlights

The degree of successful acquisition of a second or foreign language is determined by social and psychological factors (Schumann, 1978)
"This study has shown that a clear relationship exists between foreign-language anxiety and foreign language proficiency" and "Clearly, anxiety was shown to influence both the learning and production of French vocabulary." Their findings substantiate the findings of Howritz et al (1986) except regarding test anxiety
The study has measured the level of anxiety of the tertiary level students of Bangladesh, unveiled the sources of their anxiety

Summary

Introduction

The degree of successful acquisition of a second or foreign language is determined by social and psychological factors (Schumann, 1978). Anxiety has been defined from several perspectives, but all of them focus on the central aspect of its being a psychological feeling of human beings (Spielberger, 1983), which is introspective and individual in nature. He associates this feeling with some other integrative psycho-motor conditions like tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worries linked with an automatic nervous system Freud has defined it as "something felt, an emotional state that includes feelings of apprehension, nervousness, and worry accompanied by psychological arousal (Weiner & Craighead, 2010 as in Demirdaş & Bozdoğan, 2013)."

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion