Fear of Learning Foreign Languages: A Study Across Disciplines

Abstract

Learning a foreign language can be fun for a lot of learners, however, it can also be traumatic for many learners. Countless times, when they are anxious in the classroom, they choose to remain silent and passive. This study aims to detect the fear factors, motives, and challenges of learning a foreign language among learners from three different disciplines: business, social sciences, and science and technology at a public university in Malaysia. It adopted a quantitative method using a survey instrument adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986). Data were collected from 100 participants (Male=50; Female=50) who were enrolled to learn French and were purposely chosen to represent the population. Data collected through questionnaires were analyzed using statistical analysis. The findings of this study indicated the participants experienced apprehension due to their own self-related psychological, self-perceptions, and beliefs. Above all, their personality traits and perceived psychology contribute to their anxiety level. It is reported that the three perceived psychological barriers like communication anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety are the major fear factors. This study suggests some pedagogical strategies which may be considered learning and teaching practices at tertiary level education. The findings will assist both learners and educators to be more conscious of foreign language anxiety to overcome this perturbing issue.