Language Anxiety and Attitude of Secondary School Students towards Learning English

Abstract

In countries where English is taught as a foreign language, learners suffervarious levels of being anxious and develop a specific attitude towardsEnglish. The paper examined foreign language anxiety of 10th gradestudents and their attitude towards foreign language learning. Sample ofthe study was 360 male and 360 female students of 10th grade studentsof public sector secondary schools from six districts of the PunjabProvince of Pakistan. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCAS)scale was used to investigate anxiety of the students and attitude towardsEnglish was found by using English language attitude scale. The datawere analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. t-test was used to find outgender differences for language anxiety and attitude. Relationship ofanxiety with attitude of the students was determined though Pearsonproduct moment coefficient. Results revealed that significant differencesexisted between male and female students for foreign language anxietyand attitude towards foreign language learning. Results also indicatedthat significant negative correlation was found between foreign languageanxiety and students’ attitude towards foreign language learning. Girlsshowed less anxiety in English language class and had more positiveattitude towards English. It was suggested that training might be given toEnglish language teachers on modern pedagogical patterns. Englishlanguage Curriculum might be redesigned keeping the context of thelearners in mind.