Impact of Anxiety in English Language Learning of Second Language Learners

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects on learner anxiety of anxiety-reducing strategies utilized by English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, sources of foreign language (FL) anxiety for Saudi learners of English (N = 596) were identified using The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). In the second stage, 465 learners were divided almost equally into two groups (experimental vs. control) and 12 teachers were recruited. Anxiety-reducing strategies were implemented exclusively in the treatment group for approximately eight weeks. These strategies targeted the sources of FL anxiety identified at the first stage of the study like fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and the negative attitudes toward English language class. At the second stage, a classroom observation scale was used to evaluate teacher's anxiety-reducing practices. FLCAS was used to assess learners' FL anxiety levels before and after treatment. Statistical analyses (e.g. ANOVA and ANCOVA) were used to evaluate the study findings. These findings revealed that the intervention led to significantly decreased levels of FL anxiety for learners in the experimental group compared with increased levels of anxiety for those in the control group.

English language learning can be a stringent chore for a number of language learners especially in Malaysia. Hence, this indirectly create obstacles for language learners whom are fluently with first or native language. A considerable amount of language learners without doubt have experienced one kind of anxiety in learning English language which is known as English Language Anxiety (ELA). Therefore, this research was carried out to look into ELA among form 4 students in selected schools and at the same time, this research is aimed to study the level of anxiety and to determine the types of anxiety in English learning. Obviously, by understanding that English language learning takes place and starts at school, it also aims to investigate whether school climate can be a new predictor to ELA. For this purpose, 80 students were selected in schools that located in a neighbourhood. The instrument was questionnaire which composed of English Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (ELCAS) that was adapted and School Climate English Language Anxiety (SCELA) which was developed anon in this research. SCELA had gone through validity and reliability and it was considered to be a reliable questionnaire. The result proved that the students were having high level of anxiety and the most influencing types of anxiety are Communication Apprehension and Fear of Test Anxiety. This two types of anxiety proved the underlying reason for high level of anxiety experienced by the students. As for the School Climate to be considered as the new predictor for ELA, the result obtain in the research had unveiled that Academic Dimensions and Social Dimensions to be significantly influence ELA. The data was computed by using Multiple Regression in SPSS Version 22.0. In brief, this outcomes suggest that English teachers should create a motivating and encouraging classroom to engage the students attention in learning English Language. Teachers should be able to know the remedies to fight over the anxiety that constantly aroused in the English classroom successfully as to provide the needs for students in learning English language.

English Language plays a crucial role in global communication across various domains. The objective of this study was to investigate English language anxiety among undergraduate learners at Pakistani private universities and explore the factors affecting language related anxiety. The researchers assessed three demographic variables—age, gender and years of English language learning—alongside three key aspects contributing to language anxiety: Test Anxiety, Fear of negative evaluation, and communication apprehension. Data were collected from one hundred undergraduate participants in the study using English Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (ELCAS). Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and correlation analysis. The data revealed a significant correlation between years of English language study and language anxiety. However, there was no relationship between gender, age and English language anxiety. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the primary factor related to language anxiety is the fear of negative evaluation. The study underscores the importance of addressing the fear of negative evaluation as the key factor in English language anxiety among Pakistani private university undergraduates and recommends tailored language programs and professional development for educators to create a supportive learning environment.

English language anxiety appears in some International students while learning in the country that use any language other than their native language. International students may get anxious while learning in another country. This research tries to answer two issues. The first one is the factors causing anxiety of Thai students in English language learning and the next one is the strategies of Thai students in coping their anxiety in English language learning. The data for this qualitative study were gathered from observation and semi-structured interview. The participants are two Thai students who took English Education Department in IAIN Salatiga. From the data, the researcher find that there are three factors causing anxiety of Thai students in English language learning namely communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The researcher also find that there are two strategies of Thai students in coping the anxiety in reading class. They are preparation and peer seeking. The results of this study are hopefully can be beneficial to English teacher and students. Not only for domestic students, but also International students.

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This study investigates the psychological impact of corrective feedback on English as a Second Language (ESL) students' language anxiety using a quantitative research approach. Conducted among 80 intermediate-level ESL learners in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan, the research examines how different types and frequencies of corrective feedback, explicit correction, metalinguistic feedback, recasts, clarification requests, and elicitation, affect learners’ emotional responses. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire incorporating items from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and Pearson correlation coefficients. The findings reveal that explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback are most strongly associated with elevated levels of language anxiety, while recasts result in significantly lower anxiety responses. A moderate positive correlation was also found between feedback frequency and anxiety levels, indicating that more frequent corrective input can exacerbate learners' emotional discomfort. These results highlight the need for pedagogical practices that balance effective error correction with emotional sensitivity. The study underscores the importance of using indirect feedback strategies and fostering a psychologically supportive classroom environment to enhance ESL learners' confidence and communicative engagement. References Aljasser, A. (2025). Investigating EFL students’ perceptions of feedback: A comparative study of instructor and ChatGPT-generated responses in academic writing. Education and Information Technologies, 1-22. Biju, N., Abdelrasheed, N. S. G., Bakiyeva, K., Prasad, K. D. V., & Jember, B. (2024). Which one? 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Investigating the effects of ESL teachers’ feedback on ESL undergraduate students’ level of motivation, academic performance, and satisfaction: Mediating role of students’ motivation. Pakistan Journal of Educational Research, 6(2). Ebadijalal, M., & Yousofi, N. (2023). The impact of mobile-assisted peer feedback on EFL learners’ speaking performance and anxiety: Does language make a difference? The Language Learning Journal, 51(1), 112–130. Gregersen, T. (2023). Feedback matters: Thwarting the negative impact of language anxiety. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 43, 56–63. Hajiyeva, B. (2024). Language anxiety in ESL learners: Causes, effects, and mitigation strategies. EuroGlobal Journal of Linguistics and Language Education, 1(1), 119–133. Liu, C. C., Hwang, G. J., Yu, P., Tu, Y. F., & Wang, Y. (2025). 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Anxiety, as an important affective variable, has been found to be a significant factor adversely affecting language learning (Aydin 2008). Many studies have explored sources and causes of anxiety among learners (Young, 1991; Tanveer, 2007; Aydin 2008; Williams& Andrade, 2008). However, to date little, if any, studies have examined levels and sources of anxiety and its relationship with fear of negative evaluation. To this end, the present study has been conducted in Iranian context. Data were gathered through administering two scales. Foreign language anxiety classroom scale (FLACS) and fear of negative evaluation (FNE) scale were administered to a sample of 61 EFL learners. To analyze data, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, i.e. independent sample t-test, were run. Descriptive analysis indicated that participants suffer from language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The result of independent sample t-test showed there was no significant difference between males and females in the levels of anxiety. The computation of means and standard deviations of statements in questionnaires revealed that the prime sources of language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation are fear of failing class and fear of leaving unfavorable impression on others, respectively. Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis indicated there is a significant correlation between foreign language anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The present study will examine the causes of anxiety of students through the various types of anxiety that the students encounter in relation to learning English in a foreign land. Specifically, the research will look into foreign language classroom anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, as well as to determine the relationship between the two.

Language anxiety as a specific aspect of language acquisition has occupied a great body of research for the past few decades. In this study, the level of foreign language anxiety among English language learners was investigated. This study was carried out with a quantitative research design using a survey methodology to collect data about the participants’ language anxiety. The sample of the study included 100 university students from the college of Education at Princess Nora University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The participants were randomly selected. For this research study, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) was used to collect the research data. Based on the findings of the study, several implications are highlighted.

The current study investigated anxiety-provoking classroom sources among undergraduate engineering students at Mehran UET, Pakistan. In this study, the participants (female 105 male 116) participated. The data were collected via questionnaire FLCAS and semi-structured interviews. The objective of this study was to identify classroom sources of anxiety quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of study suggested some main sources of anxiety among fresh engineering students: (1) test anxiety; (2) apprehension in communication; (3) fear of negative evaluation; (4) presentation in English; (5) English language instructor; (6) competitiveness in English language; (7) negative self-evaluation; (8) individual tasks in classroom; (9) fear of making errors in English classroom; (10) English language difficulties. The participants have self-reported the main sources of anxiety in English language learning. These sources also confirm previous research on anxiety-causing sources among foreign language learners.

Language anxiety has significantly sparked great concern in the second and foreign language learning world. Researches have found negative correlation between language anxiety and academic achievement of English language learners; and, most of the studies focus on average school students and tertiary level students. This paper, however, explores gifted learners’ English language anxiety in ESL setting, by surveying 119 gifted learners of PERMATApintar National Gifted Center (PpNGC), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. The result shows that gifted learners have certain level of language anxiety in English language setting; that language anxiety negatively correlates withgifted learnes’ English language performance; and that female gifted learners indicate higher language anxiety than males. Finally, this paper provides some insights towards minimizing gifted learners’ language anxiety in English language environment.

A Study on English Language Anxiety among Adult Learners in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between students’ English language learning anxiety and their English language achievement. For this purpose, 197 grade ten students were involved. The students were selected using stratified sampling technique. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaire and achievement. Then, the collected data were analyzed using quantitative methods of data analysis. The study revealed that there was statistically significant negative relationship between students’ English foreign language learning anxiety and their English achievement test result with a correlation coefficient of (r=-.194, p=>0.05). In addition, the participants of the study were found to anxious because of fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension and test related anxieties. .The study also indicated that female students mean score was less than the mean score of male students when their anxiety levels were measured. But the independent sample t-test indicated that there is no statistically significant difference between male students and female students in their learning anxiety in EFL classrooms. However, a significant mean difference between male and female students was observed on test anxiety with (P<0.05). Therefore, this result is consistent with the findings of Tang (2005). Finally, the researchers recommended that EFL teachers should provide advice for the learners to avoid anxiety in their English language class. Keywords: Anxiety, English foreign language, achievement result, gender, anxiety level DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/86-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

English communication competence is essential for nursing professionals in global healthcare settings. However, language anxiety can hinder the acquisition of these skills, particularly among nursing students learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Limited research exists on language anxiety in ESP learning for nursing, especially in Asian contexts like Indonesia. This study aimed to examine the relationship between language anxiety and specific nursing communication performance among pre-elementary level nursing students in Indonesia, focusing on a vital-signs checking task. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was employed. Sixteen pre-elementary level nursing students from Harapan Bangsa University, Indonesia, completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire and participated in a vital-signs checking role-play task. Performance was evaluated using an adapted assessment rubric. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients. Participants demonstrated moderate levels of language anxiety (M = 3.00, SD = 1.00), with higher anxiety related to communication apprehension and fear of negative evaluation. A significant negative correlation was found between language anxiety and overall communication performance (r = -0.58, p < 0.05). Stronger negative correlations were observed between anxiety and language accuracy (r = -0.62), fluency (r = -0.54), and pronunciation (r = -0.57), while no significant correlations were found with content accuracy or nonverbal communication. This study provides empirical evidence for the detrimental impact of language anxiety on nursing students' communication performance in clinically relevant tasks. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address language anxiety in ESP learning for nursing, considering individual learner profiles and the specific challenges of communication in healthcare contexts.

The present study sought to understand the nature and level of foreign language (FL) anxiety among primary school students and the relationship between FL anxiety and FL achievement. Changes in FL anxiety across groups of three primary school years were also examined. A total of 631 (324 male, 307 female) primary school students aged 9–11 years completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) that measured students’ FL anxiety. Our participants’ FL achievements as measured by low-stakes regular assessments and high-stakes formal examinations were also collected. On average, primary school students reported levels of FL anxiety comparable to those of adults observed in previous studies. Factor analysis on FLCAS generated four components of FL anxiety: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety and negative attitude towards classroom. Correlation analyses showed that students’ FL anxiety was inversely correlated with their FL achievements. The correlation was stronger for formal examinations with higher stakes as compared to regular assessments with lower stakes. Finally, the correlation strengthened as a function of higher instructional level. Results are discussed in relation to previous research. Implications to FL education are also considered.

A STUDY ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL ANXIETY, SELF-EFFICACY AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT