The Roles of Anxiety and Motivation in Taiwanese College Students’ English Learning

Abstract

The study aims to explore the roles of anxiety and motivation in foreign language learning. A total of 141 freshmen at a private university in south Taiwan served as subjects. The research instrument includes the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), Motivation/attitude about foreign language learning (Gardner, 1985), as well as two English scores of Taiwan College Entrance Exam (CEE) and National English Test of Proficiency All on the Web (NETPAW). All available data were processed by SPSS 16 (Statistical Package of Social Science). Findings show the two English scores of CEE and NETPAW, as well as motivation, attitude and motivational intensity are strongly correlated to one another. In addition, motivational intensity is related to score of NETPAW, but anxiety is the best predictor of students' score of NETPAW positively. It's expected that the findings can provide teachers with some hints for more effective foreign language teaching and learning by being aware of students' individual differences.