Exploring English Language Anxiety Among Undergraduate Female ESL Learners in Mewat Region of Haryana, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1403.30Keywords:
causes and sources of anxiety, English language anxiety, Mewat ESL learners, moderate level of anxiety, parents’ professional profileAbstract
The study aims to investigate English language anxiety among Mewat female ESL learners and the causes and sources of anxiety. It also seeks to investigate if the differences in their demographic profiles shape their anxiety levels differently. As the study deals with how certain independent variables (e.g. level/year of study, parents’ educational level, and their employment profile) shape the dependent variable (English language anxiety), a descriptive quantitative approach was adopted, and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) was utilized to collect the data from respondents. 214 study participants were selected through a simple random sampling method from the population of undergraduate ESL learners studying at different levels of the graduate program at Government Women’s College, Nuh, Mewat, Haryana, India. The findings revealed that the study respondents experience moderate levels of anxiety. However, their anxiety levels differ concerning different aspects/sources of anxiety. Communicative anxiety is the highest followed by classroom anxiety, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation respectively. One-way ANOVA analysis revealed statistically significant differences in the means of the responses of study participants based on level/year of study and parents' educational level. However, no difference of any statistical significance was found in the means of the response of the respondents based on their parents' professional profiles. The study findings would be useful in addressing anxiety, understanding its causes and consequences, and uncovering ways to help students overcome anxiety and learn English properly.
References
Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horowitz, Horowitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal, 78, 155-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994 .tb02026.x
Akkakoson, S. (2016). Speaking anxiety in English conversation classrooms among Thai students. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 13(1), 63-82.
Alamer, A., & Almulhim, F. (2021, April). The interrelation between language anxiety and self-determined motivation; a mixed methods approach. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 6, p. 618655). Frontiers Media SA.
Ali, T. T., & Fei, W. F. (2017). Foreign language classroom anxiety among Iraqi students and its relation with gender and achievement. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(1), 305-310.http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.6n.1p.305
Alsowat, H. H. (2016). Foreign language anxiety in higher education: A practical framework for reducing FLA. European Scientific Journal, 12(7), 193–220.
Al-Saraj, T. M. (2014). Foreign language anxiety in female Arabs learning English: Case studies. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 8(3), 257-278.
Aydin, S. (2009). Test anxiety among foreign language learners: A review of literature. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 5, 127-137.
Baharuddin, S. S., & Rashid, S. M. (2014). English language learning anxiety and oral performance among undergraduate ESL learners. Journal of Language and Communication, 1(2), 137-154.
Bhattarachaiyakorn, S., & Phettakua, S. (2023). English Speaking Anxiety Among Northeastern Thai University Students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 16(1), 384-407.
Bhatti, N., & Memon, S. (2016). Investigating the Perceptions of Pakistani English Language Learners on Language Learning Anxiety in EFL Classroom. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7(5), 23-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.5p.23
Çağatay, S. (2015). Examining EFL students’ foreign language speaking anxiety: The case at a Turkish state university. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 648-656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.594
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
Daly, J.A. (1991). Understanding communication apprehension: An introduction for language educators. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language Anxiety: From Theory and Research to Classroom Implications. 3-13. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Demirdaş, Ö., & Bozdoğan, D. (2013). Foreign language anxiety and performance of language learners in preparatory classes. Turkish Journal of Education, 2(3), 4-13.
Elaldi, S. (2016). Foreign Language Anxiety of Students Studying English Language and Literature: A Sample from Turkey. Educational Research and Reviews, 11(6), 219-228. DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2507
Elkhafaifi, H. (2005). Listening comprehension and anxiety in the Arabic language classroom. The modern language journal, 89(2), 206-220.
Ewald, J. D. (2007). Foreign language learning anxiety in upper‐level classes: Involving students as researchers. Foreign Language Annals, 40(1), 122-142.
Hashemi, M. (2011). Language stress and anxiety among the English language learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1811-1816. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.349
Heng, C. S., Abdullah, A. N., & Yusof, N. B. (2012). Investigating the Construct of Anxiety in Relation to Speaking Skills among ESL Tertiary Learners. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 18(3), 155-166.
Horwitz, E. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annu. Rev. Appl. Linguist, 21, 112–126.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125‐132.
Jugo, R. R. (2020). Language anxiety in focus: The case of Filipino undergraduate teacher education learners. Education Research International, 2020, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/7049837
Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the college Japanese language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 85, 549-566. https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00125
Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners' unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. The modern language journal, 92(1), 71-86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00687.x
Loo, D. B., & Kitjaroonchai, N. (2015). Gender, academic achievement and years of experience: Investigating potential reasons for foreign language anxiety among Thai high school students. The New English Teacher, 9(2), 73-92. B
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Investigating Language Class Anxiety Using the Focused Essay Technique. The Modern Language Journal, 75(3), 296–304. https://doi.org/10.2307/328723
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Methods and results in the study of anxiety and language learning: A review of the literature. Language learning, 41(1), 85-117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1991.tb00677.x
Marcos‐Llinás, M., & Garau, M. J. (2009). Effects of language anxiety on three proficiency‐level courses of Spanish as a foreign language. Foreign language annals, 42(1), 94-111.
Pappamihiel, N. E. (2002). English as a Second Language Students and English Language Anxiety: Issues in the Mainstream Classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 36(3), 327–355. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171530
Petridou, A., & Williams, J. (2007). Accounting for aberrant test response patterns using multilevel models. Journal of Educational Measurement, 44, 227-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3984.2007.00036.x
Razak, N. A., Yassin, A. A., & Maasum, T. N. R. B. T. M. (2017). Effect of Foreign Language Anxiety on Gender and Academic Achievement among Yemeni University EFL Students. English Language Teaching, 10(2), 73-85.http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n2p73
Sadighi, F., & Dastpak, M. (2017). The Sources of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety of Iranian English Language Learners. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 5(4), 111-115. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.4p.111
Smyth, A. M., Manzanares, N. G., & Muñoz, J. J. F. (2021). Anxiety and personality as indicators of academic performance in university foreign language classrooms. Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria de Didáctica de las Lenguas Extranjeras, (36), 27-42.
Tsiplakides, I., & Keramida, A. (2009). Helping students overcome foreign language speaking anxiety in the English classroom: Theoretical issues and practical recommendations. International Education Studies, 2(4), 39-44.
Vadivel, B., Khalil, N. R., Tilwani, S. A., & Mandal, G. (2022). The educational and psychological need for learning the English language and understanding the different anxieties. Education Research International, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4679788
Zare, P., & Riasati, M. J. (2012). The relationship between language learning anxiety, self-esteem, and academic level among Iranian EFL learners. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 20(1), 219-225.
Zulkifli, V. (2007). Language classroom anxiety: A comparative study of ESL learners. Asian Journal of University Education (AJUE), 3(2), 75-99.
