Types of Reading Anxiety in Association to Reading Strategy at Junior High School Setting

Abstract

This research determines the association between three dimensions of reading anxiety and reading strategy. It uses a quantitative approach of correlational design. 146 eighth-graders students in junior high school were involved as the sample. Two kinds of questionnaires were applied to obtain the research data. The EFL Reading Anxiety Scale (EFLRAI) was used to find out the students’ reading anxiety, and the Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (LLSQ) was utilized to acquire the students’ responses related to their learning strategy. The research data were analyzed using descriptive testing to acquire the mean score and Pearson Correlation Product Moment to gain the correlation score. This study reveals that there was a high level of the top-down, the bottom-up, classroom, and the overall reading anxiety, while the students applied a moderate level of reading strategy. The result of the correlation testing revealed that top-down and bottom-up reading anxieties gained a low relationship on reading strategy. However, classroom reading anxiety had a low correlation on reading strategy. In addition, all reading anxieties separately and simultaneously have a positive relationship towards reading strategy, in which classroom reading anxiety obtains the highest relationship on reading strategy with a score of correlation was 0.207. This study contributes to aid the teacher in recognizing the students’ reading anxiety that must be reduced to gain better reading strategies.