EFL STUDENTS’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO LEARNERS AND TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES

Abstract

This study investigates the foreign language anxiety of EFL students at some upper secondary schools in Thua Thien Hue province. Specifically, it aims to explore students’ attitudes towards foreign language anxiety and teachers’ attitudes toward their students’ foreign language anxiety. The study employed questionnaire, autobiography and interview to collect data. The questionnaire was delivered to 150 students from two upper-secondary schools in Thua Thien Hue province. Meanwhile, eight of these students were selected to write autobiography and six English teachers from these schools were invited to participate in the interviews. Data from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively and presented in charts and tables, while information from the autobiography and interviews was transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. The study found that students had high level of foreign language anxiety. They were affected by foreign language anxiety both negatively and positively, with negative effects outweighing positive ones. The findings also indicated that teachers accepted and had the tendency to have both positive and negative attitudes toward their students’ foreign language anxiety. The teachers also attempted to create comfortable classroom atmosphere and adjust their teaching methods so as to tackle their students’ foreign language anxiety. The study suggested that both students and teachers should accept foreign language anxiety as part of the foreign language learning; more importantly, teachers should support and help students to overcome foreign language anxiety.