Foreign Language Reading Anxiety: Does It Really Exist?.

Abstract

Recent research on foreign language anxiety appears to support the existence of language skill specific anxiety. The principal goal of the present study is to confirm empirically that foreign language (FL) reading anxiety is a specific anxiety type distinguishable from the more general types of FL anxiety (FLA) in the Turkish EFL context. There is also a need for the deep exploration of the possible sources of reading anxiety which remains as a question mark in FLA research field; therefore, the current study has attempted to find out the possible sources of reading anxiety of Turkish ELT learners. The study was conducted in the ELT Department of Faculty of Education at Anadolu University. 55 first-year students, who were monolingual speakers of Turkish between the ages of 17 and 19, participated in the study. Three instruments were used in order to gather data: the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS), and semi-structured interviews.The analysis of the scales and interviews of high anxious learners revealed six main sources with regard to FL reading anxiety: personal reasons, teacher’s manner in the classroom, teaching procedures used in the class, the features of reading texts, reading test anxiety and their previous experience.The study also had some implications for reducing anxiety in the reading classes. Key words: Foreign language anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety, Turkish ELT students.