The Effect of Making Thinking Visible Approach on the Levels of EFL Students’ Critical Writing and Anxiety

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.

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.

In China, the English major freshmen can be easily influenced by anxiety, and the major choosing of higher education is made by students, for the learning of English speaking, whether it is stimulated by intrinsic motivation and its effect on learning is worth to explore. In foreign language learning field, the foreign language anxiety (FLA) and intrinsic motivation (IM) are extensively researched, but studies focus on English major students are few, methods to reduce the foreign language anxiety and promote the intrinsic motivation are also limited. Cooperative learning is widely used in foreign language teaching and learning, but few research focus on its influence on the affective factors of learners. As it is proved that the foreign language anxiety have negative influence on English learning and the intrinsic motivation is of positive effects, for Chinese students, the English speaking is the most difficult practical ability for them to learn. Therefore, helping them to reduce the foreign language anxiety and promote the intrinsic motivation is of significance. The current study involved a total of all 100 English major freshmen (from 2 classes, each 50 students) from one public university in China. Using a questionnaire aimed to explore their level of foreign language anxiety and intrinsic motivation and a cooperative learning course construction as research instruments. All students will be asked to do the questionnaire before and after a 10-weeks’ English speaking course, and all the 100 students will be divided into two group---experimental group (Group A) and control group (Group B), with the experimental group using the cooperative learning course construction in the English speaking course and the control group using the traditional teacher-centered teaching method. The main finding of this study is that the cooperative learning method can reduce the foreign language anxiety and promote the intrinsic motivation in the English speaking learning.

Since cultural aspects of language learning are not incorporated in some EFL materials and textbooks, this study can be important to investigate the impacts of using cultural-based instruction on developing the speaking skill of Indonesian EFL learners. In addition, this research tried to examine the effects of using cultural-based instruction on foreign language anxiety of Indonesian EFL learners. To reach these aims, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was given to 83 EFL learners, and 50 of them were selected for the target sample of the current investigation. The selected respondents were then randomly divided into two equal experimental and control groups. Afterward, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire was given to both groups. After providing the stated questionnaire, both groups were pretested by a speaking test. After that, the experimental group was instructed by applying a cultural-based instruction, while the control group received a noncultural-based education. After the instruction ended, the FLCAS questionnaire and the posttest of speaking were given to the respondents to determine the effects of the cultural-based instruction on their speaking skills and foreign language anxiety. The collected data were analyzed by using independent samples and paired sample t -tests. The results revealed that the experimental group had better performances than the control group on the speaking and anxiety posttests. Finally, based on the results, some conclusions and implications were suggested.

BackgroundAffected by the epidemic, the online teaching of “Internet + intelligence” technology has broken the traditional teaching mode and realized the multi-dimensional, intelligent and in-depth interaction and integration between learners, teachers and online learning resources. It has become an important development direction of higher education in China and even the world. Network teaching has changed from “fresh” to “new normal”.Topics and MethodsUsing the methods of literature review, system analysis and PDCA cycle model, determine the design and evaluation of network teaching, and explore an effective evaluation model of network teaching from the perspective of educational psychology, so as to promote teaching practice. This study takes 200 freshmen in a university as the research object to study the College Chinese anxiety, self-efficacy and achievement level in online teaching. The score of the Chinese final exam is used to divide participants into pass group and fail group. Both gender and major are considered as variables of language achievement. This study includes four elements of self-efficacy: learning ability, courage to overcome challenges, effort and overcoming setbacks. Through t-test, univariate and multivariate analysis of variance and regression analysis, we investigated the relationship between foreign language anxiety, self-efficacy and academic achievement of students of different majors and genders.ResultsGenerally speaking, students' attention to online teaching evaluation fluctuated and increased, but there is still no core author group and close institutional cooperation network. The frontier fields of network teaching evaluation research mainly include evaluation theory and technology research, quality and effect research, quality influencing factors research, teaching design evaluation research and evaluation methods research. The research hotspots of network teaching evaluation mainly include the research on the concept and connotation of network teaching evaluation, the evaluation of network teaching environment and technology, the evaluation of network teaching curriculum and teaching process, and the evaluation of network teaching effect. However, teaching quality has become the bottleneck restricting the development of network teaching. It is difficult to see the whole picture of effective network teaching. Considering the space limitations of network teaching, there are many blind spots in the evaluation of teachers' network teaching effect. This paper formulates an effective network teaching evaluation model framework, constructs an effective network teaching standard evaluation content, and puts forward the implementation path of standard evaluation, which provides a strong guarantee for the high-quality development of network teaching. The results show that the learning anxiety level of the improvement group is significantly lower than that of the failure group, and the self-efficacy level of the pass group is significantly higher than that of the failure group. Compared with the male group, the female group's language achievement and self-efficacy level are much higher. However, there was no significant difference in anxiety levels between men and women. In addition, the study also found that foreign language anxiety was negatively correlated with foreign language achievement. Similarly, there is a significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy. State anxiety, trait anxiety and foreign language learning anxiety are positively correlated. The anxiety component of learners' personality characteristics plays an important role in the generation of foreign language learning anxiety. There was no significant difference between the experimental group (M = 2.528, SD = 0.540) and the control group (M = 2.695, SD = 0.858); There was no significant difference between the experimental group (M = 2.778, SD = 0770) and the control group (M = 2.556, SD = 0.808); There was no significant difference in the total score of emotion regulation self-efficacy between the experimental group (M = 35.083, SD = 5.931) and the control group (M = 35.500, SD = 5.551).ConclusionRealizing the standardization and standardization of the whole chain of the purpose, process and results of online teaching will help teachers clarify this process and knowledge system, improve the standards and practical ability of effective online teaching, and integrate new technologies such as artificial intelligence into the process of online teaching and online teaching evaluation, which has attracted the attention of more and more researchers and can greatly improve the learning quality of students, It provides a reference for the orderly development of online teaching activities.AcknowledgementThis research was supported by Heilongjiang Higher Education Teaching Reform Project “Exploration and Practice of Online Teaching Mode for Effective Learning” (Grant No. SJGZ20200094), Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Scientific Research Developmental Fund (Grant No. LBH-Q20107), Heilongjiang Basic Scientific Research Project (Grant No. 2020KYYWF-FC12), and Harbin Sport University Doctoral Scientific Research Start-up Fee Project (Grant No. RCYJ-2104).

This study investigated preparatory year students from a Saudi University to identify anxiety they experience during their English language classes. The participants were 76 preparatory year students with high English language proficiency and 64 with low English language proficiency. A translated version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) was administered to generate data for this survey. Descriptive analyses and Independent-samples t-test were run to identify the participants’ perceptions related to four categories of Foreign Language (FL) anxiety as well as to see whether any significant differences exist due to their English language proficiency. The results of this study have revealed that Saudi EFL preparatory year students suffer from medium level of FL anxiety. Among four types of FL anxiety, the participants have reported that they suffer the most from communication anxiety followed by negative evaluation anxiety, anxiety of English classroom and test anxiety respectively. The present findings haven not exhibited any significant differences in the perceptions of Saudi preparatory year students regarding FL anxiety in relation to their English language proficiency. It is recommended that EFL teachers try their level best to decrease anxiety level by making their classroom proceedings interesting and stress free. This seems advisable for EFL teachers to enhance the possibilities of their students’ participation in class activities by letting them know in advanced so that they are able to prepare those topics well. Generally speaking, it transpires that though Saudi preparatory year students bear moderate level of FL anxiety that can easily be addressed by exploiting appropriate teaching techniques to help them overcome their anxiety and perform better in their language classes.

Reducing anxiety in the foreign language classroom: A positive psychology approach

While self‐regulation (SR) in student and teacher interactions in online environments, foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and foreign language anxiety (FLA) are significant issues in the English as a foreign language (EFL) learning process, research on SR in student and teacher interactions in online environments seems scarce in the EFL research context. This descriptive and correlational study aims to determine the levels of SR in student and teacher interactions in online learning environments, FLA, and FLE, and examine whether SR in student and teacher interactions in online learning environments predicts FLA and FLE. The sample group in the current study consisted of 312 students enrolled at the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) of state universities. Data was collected using a background questionnaire, the Scale for Self‐regulation in Student and Teacher Interactions in Online Environments, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES). Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and the Pearson correlation were preferred for data analysis. The study concluded that EFL learners exhibit high levels of SR in student and teacher interactions in online environments and FLE while experiencing a moderate level of FLA. It was also concluded that SR in student and teacher interactions in online learning environments predicts FLE and FLA among EFL learners. Context and implicationsRationale for this study:Online learning that has gained sustainability offers flexibility and interactivity and brings opportunities to enhance SR among foreign language learners, while FLE and FLA as emotional factors may impact SR in online interactions. However, no scientific evidence indicates the direction of FLE and FLA in online interactions between teachers and students in the context of foreign language learning. Moreover, research on SR is scarce in foreign language learning contexts regarding both traditional and online learning environments. Thus, a comparison of positive and negative emotions in the context of a foreign language seems necessary to clarify their effects in accordance with SR in online interactions.Why the new findings matter?The findings in the current study are significant for a better and deeper understanding of SR in interactions between students and teachers in online environments since it concludes that SR correlates negatively with FLA and positively with FLE. The study differs from prior studies since it finds that SR in student and teacher interactions in online environments predicts FLA and FLE in the EFL learning context.Implications for researchers, teachers, and policy makers:Researchers should focus on the relationships among SR in student and teacher interactions in online environments, FLA, and FLE, considering individual, social, psychological, and cultural differences in different research contexts and settings, designing longitudinal, qualitative, and experimental research. Teachers should adopt innovative instructional designs, tools, environments and applications to promote SR regarding their interactions with their students. Policy makers and curriculum developers should integrate and implement the mentioned issues into the pre‐service and in‐service teaching programmes and current language learning curricula and programmes that aim at equipping teachers with theoretical and practical knowledge of SR, FLA and FLE.

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivation and language anxiety and to determine the possible relations between which types of motivation impact the students’ Foreign Language (FOLA) anxiety, the present study examined relationship between motivation for learning Deutsch and FOLA anxiety among high school students. The three domains that usually affect students’ performance (test anxiety, communication apprehension, and fear of negative feedback anxiety) have been investigated. To attain its purpose of acquiring Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and motivation scale were administered to130 participants. The results of the study revealed that there is a negative relation between learner motivations’ integrative and instrumentality to foreign language anxiety that both anxiety and motivation showed significantly predict the Deutsch acquisition of the language learners within a Liceo de Cagayan University context. Although this study did not reveal strong correlations between motivation and FOLA anxiety, it could be concluded that motivation and FOLA anxiety has no impact on language acquisition. It also indicates that students who have practical reasons and intellectual satisfaction tend to have lower levels of FOLA anxiety. To create a low-anxiety classroom environment, it is important for the teacher to repeatedly and clearly express that they are aware of the existence of anxiety in the learners. Despite the well-known facts that motivation and anxiety are significant variables in determining learners’ acquisition of Deutsch as a foreign language, further research is needed to explore possible variables that associates between motivation and FOLA anxiety. Teachers’ use of affective strategies such as humor, friendly relationship, supportive, and relaxed classroom atmosphere that encourage risk-taking are effective in decreasing foreign language anxiety and facilitating learning. Keywords: Motivation, anxiety, foreign language, pedagogy, deutsch, Philippines.

The types of assessment tasks affect the learners’ psychological well-being and the process of learning. For years, educationalists were in search of finding and implementing accurate and convenient approaches to assess learners efficiently. Despite the significant role of performance-based assessment (PBA) in affecting second/foreign language (L2) learning processes, few empirical studies have tried to explore how PBA affects reading comprehension achievement (RCA), academic motivation (AM), foreign language anxiety (FLA), and students’ self-efficacy (SS-E). To fill this lacuna of research, the current study intended to gauge the impact of PBA on the improvement of RCA, AM, FLA, and SS-E in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. In so doing, a sample of 88 intermediate EFL learners were randomly divided into experimental group (EG) and CG (control group). During this research (16 sessions), the learners in the CG (N = 43) received the tradition assessment. In contrast, the learners in the EG (N = 45) were exposed to some modification based on the underpinning theories of PBA. Data inspection applying the one-way multivariate analysis of variance (i.e., the one-way MANOVA) indicated that the learners in the EG outperformed their counterparts in the CG. The results highlighted the significant contributions of PBA in fostering RCA, AM, FLA, and S-E beliefs. The implications of this study may redound to the benefits of language learners, teachers, curriculum designers, and policy makers in providing opportunities for further practice of PBA.

This study sought to determine the level of anxiety towards English language learning of the students of Isabela State University, Ilagan Campus. The researchers used the descriptive design since the aim was to describe the level of the students’ anxiety towards English language learning. The standardized questionnaire for anxiety developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) was used           in this study. The findings revealed that the respondents’ level on the different areas of anxiety in learning the English language namely: communication anxiety, oral test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, anxiety of English classes is moderate. Further, the results showed that sex is a variable that does not affect the students’ level of anxiety in learning the English language in terms of their anxiety in communication and in their English classes. 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This study investigates the impact of anxiety reduction training on Chinese EFL learners' foreign language anxiety and negative emotions, aiming to enhance their language learning experience and outcomes. This quasi-experimental study randomly assigned 60 Chinese EFL learners with high Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) scores to control and experimental groups. Pretest and posttest assessments using validated instruments measured the effectiveness of a 10-session anxiety reduction training package on participants' foreign language anxiety and negative emotions. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The key findings have revealed that anxiety reduction training significantly influenced positive emotions, negative emotions, communication anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, and anxiety of English classes in Chinese EFL learners. It is suggested that educators should consider incorporating such interventions into their teaching practices to enhance students' emotional well-being and language learning outcomes. Future research should explore the long-term effects of anxiety reduction training and its potential applications in diverse educational contexts.

The present study aimed to apply Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment to foreign language (FL) anxiety, a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has been found to exert profound effects on many aspects of FL learning and performance. EMDR originally emerged as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a great number of studies demonstrated empirically its potential for treating and coping with various psychological disorders. The present study used the Single-Case Design (SCD). EMDR was given to two volunteer adult EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners experiencing severe FL anxiety. The effect of the treatment on FL anxiety was tracked and measured by using two separate scales of FL anxiety and obtaining self-reports of distress from the subjects. The long-term effects of EMDR were checked through two separate follow-up assessments. The results clearly demonstrated that EMDR was effective in reducing FL anxiety and increasing subjects’ positive cognition.

Reducing student teachers' foreign language pronunciation anxiety through psycho-social training

This meta‐analysis investigated the relationship between foreign language (FL) anxiety and FL performance. Fifty‐five independent samples with more than 10,000 participants were surveyed. It was found that the overall correlation between FL anxiety and FL performance was −.34 (p < .01). FL listening anxiety had the strongest correlation with FL listening performance. Both FL reading anxiety and test anxiety had a weaker correlation with FL performance as compared to other types of anxiety. The anxiety–performance correlation remained stable across groups with different FL proficiency levels, suggesting that the role of FL anxiety should not be ignored regardless of the FL learners’ proficiency level. As compared to language family, lexical similarity was found to have a more decisive modulating effect on the anxiety–performance correlation. However, language family and lexical similarity may interact to affect the anxiety–performance correlation. Finally, a metaregression analysis showed that age could affect the correlation between FL anxiety and performance.