Abstract
The study aimed at identifying the level and sources of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities. Besides, it aimed at finding out whether there are statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The study is quantitative as it used Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) to answer the study questions. FLRAS was distributed to general groups of Yemeni students in Malaysia in the form of an online survey. The number of participants who responded to the survey is 100 Yemen students who are preparing their bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in different majors in Malaysia. The results of the study showed that the level of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities is of moderate level across the three groups. More importantly, the result of the analysis showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the means of responses of Yemeni students in Malaysian universities according to the variable ‘Level of study’ (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). The findings of the study highlighted an important point in the investigation of foreign language reading anxiety which is the environment. Thus, studies on intercultural learning stated that the host culture is a source of learning anxiety; however, the moderate level of reading anxiety across the three groups in this study might be attributed to the fact that the medium of instruction and reading materials in Malaysian universities are in English language. Therefore, this finding makes a crystal-clear difference between reading anxiety and general intercultural learning anxiety in the host cultures where English is the medium of instruction. Students, instructors and researchers in this area might benefit from the findings of this study.
Highlights
One of the most influential factors in the process of learning is anxiety as it might have a debilitating effect on the learners (Olivares-Cuhat, 2010; Liu & Huang, 2011; Wei & Yodkamlue, 2012; Zhang & Zhong, 2012; Sahranavard & Hassan, 2015; Akkakoson, 2016; Yassin & Razak, 2018)
Studies on intercultural learning stated that the host culture is a source of learning anxiety; the moderate level of reading anxiety across the three groups in this study might be attributed to the fact that the medium of instruction and reading materials in Malaysian universities are in English language
The current study aims to answer the following questions: 1) What is the level of foreign language reading anxiety among Yemeni students in Malaysian universities?
Summary
One of the most influential factors in the process of learning is anxiety as it might have a debilitating effect on the learners (Olivares-Cuhat, 2010; Liu & Huang, 2011; Wei & Yodkamlue, 2012; Zhang & Zhong, 2012; Sahranavard & Hassan, 2015; Akkakoson, 2016; Yassin & Razak, 2018). A student of a foreign language may even feel anxious when reading a text privately inside the test hall or inside the class or at home as there are different reasons for the sense of anxiety and one of them is unfamiliar features of the text (Saito, Garza, & Horwitz, 1999). Texts with unfamiliar cultural aspects might cause anxiety for the students as they might not be able to decipher the cultural aspects of the target language (Satio et al, 1999). With these assumptions in mind, one can feel the strong need for further research in this area especially among students in the host environment where the medium of instruction is English
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