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ANXIETY LEVEL TOWARDS LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE:

A FOCUS ON LEARNING JAPANESE LANGUAGE AMONG UTM STUDENTS

MAHFUZAH BINTI RAFEK

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements

for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

APRIL 2009

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To my beloved mama and papa-

For the incomparable love and support,

For still holding my hand through the things that make me scared,

You mean the world to me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, all praise be to Allah, the Almighty, the Benevolent for His blessings

and guidance for giving me the strength and courage to embark on this PSM and finally

making it a reality.

I would particularly like to express my utmost gratitude to my beloved

supervisor, Dr. Azizah Rajab for her insightful comments and invaluable suggestions

while guiding me throughout the process and not to forget on every piece of her patience

while answering all my queries. Thank you Dr.

And to all my family members especially my parents, Dato’ Rafek Reshidullah

and Datin Hidayah Endut; with heartfelt gratitude for their undivided love, support, and

encouragement that made me who I am now. Without your love, this work would not be

possible. I love you.

To my best friend Atirah Izzah Che Abas who went through all the hard times

with me, thank you for your unconditional friendship and support.

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ABSTRACT

It is believed that the students in a foreign language class are having difficulties

where they tend to be more worried and anxious during the learning period (Price,

1991). Since anxiety can influence the foreign language learning and acquisition, it is

necessary to increase the awareness on the severity of the problem. This study was

conducted to identify the students’ perceptions as well as to determine the differences of

anxiety level for different gender, race and the three different groups which are the

TESL group, Elective (With Credit) group and Elective (Without Credit) group who

enrolled in the Japanese language class based on different purposes. A total of 96

respondents in this study were taken among UTM students. The instrument used in this

study was a set of questionnaire adapted from the measurement scale of foreign

language anxiety called FLCAS (Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale) which was

introduced by Horwitz (1983). The questionnaire consisted of two different sections

which were the personal details and the contributing factors of foreign language anxiety.

The factors are the Communication Apprehension, Fear of Negative Evaluation, General

Feeling of Anxiety and Overall Level of Anxiety. The responses in the questionnaires

were represented by using the Likert Scale. The data obtained were analyzed by using

SPSS version 10 where it involved the use of percentage, frequency, t-Test and One-

Way ANOVA. The findings of this study indicate that there are significant differences

of anxiety level between race and Communication Apprehension factor as well as

between groups and General Feeling of Anxiety factor. However, there are no

significant differences between the anxiety level and gender for all the anxiety factors.

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ABSTRAK

Adalah dipercayai bahawa pelajar mengalami kesukaran ketika mengikuti kelas

bahasa asing dimana mereka menjadi lebih bimbang dan resah sepanjang tempoh

pembelajaran (Price, 1991). Oleh kerana faktor keresahan dapat mempengaruhi

pembelajaran bahasa asing, maka adalah penting untuk meningkatkan kesedaran tentang

permasalahan ini. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenalpasti tentang persepsi para

pelajar dan menentukan perbezaan tahap keresahan mengikut jantina, bangsa dan juga

kumpulan responden. Kumpulan-kumpulan responden terdiri daripada pelajar TESL,

pelajar Elektif (Berkredit) dan juga pelajar Elektif (Tidak Berkredit). Kesemua 96 orang

responden dipilih dari kalangan pelajar UTM. Selain itu, instrumen yang digunakan

dalam kajian ini termasuklah set soalan soal-selidik FLCAS (Foreign Language Class

Anxiety Scale) yang telah diadaptasi dari Horwitz (1983). Soalan-soalan dalam set soal-

selidik ini telah dibahagikan kepada dua bahagian iaitu maklumat personal dan juga

faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada keresahan bahasa asing. Faktor-faktor tersebut

adalah Keresahan Berkomunikasi, Takut Terhadap Penilaian Negatif, Perasaan Umun

Terhadap Keresahan dan Keseluruhan Tahap Keresahan. Maklumbalas terhadap soal-

selidik ini menggunakan Skala Likert. Data yang diperolehi dari kajian ini dianalisis

menggunakan SPSS versi 10 dimana ia melibatkan penggunaan peratusan, frekuensi, t-

Test dan One Way ANOVA. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang

signifikan dalam tahap keresahan diantara bangsa dan faktor Keresahan Berkomuniksi.

Kajian juga mendapati terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan diantara kumpulan dan faktor

Perasaan Umun Terhadap Keresahan manakala tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan

antara tahap keresahan dan jantina untuk kesemua faktor keresahan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xii

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Study 5

1.2 Statement of the Problem 7

1.3 Purposes of the Study 11

1.4 Objectives of the Study 12

1.5 Research Questions 12

1.6 Significance of the Study 13

1.7 Scope of the Study 14

1.8 Definition of Concepts 15

1.8.1 Anxiety in Language Learning 15

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1.8.2 Foreign Language 16

1.8.3 TESL Students 17

1.8.4 The Elective (With Credit) Students 17

1.8.5 The Elective (Without Credit) Students 18

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Definition of Anxiety 19

2.2 Foreign Language Anxiety 22

2.3 Contributing Factors of Anxiety 27

2.3.1 Communication Apprehension 27

2.3.2 Fear of Negative Evaluation 31

2.3.3 General Feeling of Anxiety 33

2.4 Effects of Anxiety in Foreign Language Learning 35

2.5 Anxiety in Gender 37

2.6 Anxiety in Race 39

2.7 Related Research 40

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Respondents of the Study 43

3.2 Instruments of the Study 44

3.3 Research Procedures 47

3.4 Data Analysis 47

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4 DISCUSSION

4.1 Respondents’ Background 50

4.1.1 Group 50

4.1.2 Gender 50

4.1.3 Race 51

4.1.4 Japanese Grade 52

4.1.5 Age 52

4.2 Descriptive Item 53

4.2.1 Respondents’ Perceptions for Communication

Apprehension 53

4.2.2 Respondents’ Perception for Fear of Negative

Evaluation 59

4.2.3 Respondents’ Perceptions for General Feeling

of Anxiety 62

4.3 Level Analysis for Each Anxiety Factor 68

4.4 Level Analysis According to Gender, Race and Group 69

4.4.1 Level Analysis According to Gender 69

4.4.2 Level Analysis According to Race 71

4.4.3 Level Analysis According to Group 73

4.5 Analysis of Comparison for Anxiety Level 75

4.5.1 Analysis of t-Test Comparison for Gender 75

4.5.2 Analysis of Mean Value and One Way ANOVA

for Race 76

4.5.3 Analysis of Mean Score and One Way ANOVA

for Group 78

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5 FINDINGS

5.1 Communication Apprehension 82

5.1.1 Students’ Perceptions 82

5.1.2 Comparison of Anxiety Level for Communication 85

Apprehension

5.1.2.1 Gender 85

5.1.2.2 Race 88

5.1.2.3 Groups 89

5.2 Fear of Negative Evaluation 91


5.2.2 Comparison of Anxiety Level for Fear of Negative

Evaluation 95

5.2.2.1 Gender 95

5.2.2.2 Race 97

5.2.2.3 Groups 99

5.3 General Feeling of Anxiety 101


5.3.2 Comparison of Anxiety Level for General Feeling

of Anxiety 104

5.3.2.1 Gender 104

5.3.2.2 Race 106

5.3.2.3 Groups 107

5.4 Overall Level of Anxiety 110


5.4.2 Comparison of Anxiety Level for Overall Level

of Anxiety 111

5.4.2.1 Gender 111

5.4.2.2 Race 113

5.4.2.3 Groups 114

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6 CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION

6.1 Conclusion 117

6.2 Implications of the Findings 118

6.2.1 UTM 118

6.2.2 Foreign Language Lecturer/Instructors 119

6.2.3 Students 120

6.3 Limitations of the Study 120

6.3.1 The Japanese Language 120

6.3.2 Numbers of Respondents 121

6.3.3 Questionnaires 121

7 RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 Recommendations 123

7.1.1 UTM 123

7.1.2 Foreign Language Lecturer/Instructors 123 7.1.3 Students 125

7.2 Recommendations for Future Research 125

7.2.1 Foreign Languages 125

7.2.2 Data Collection and Questionnaires 126

7.2.3 Interview 126

REFERENCES 127

APPENDIX A

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

3.1 Numbers and Division of Questions 45

3.2 The Likert Scale 46

3.3 The Mean Value for Anxiety Level 47

4.1 Frequency and Percentage According to Group 50

4.2 Frequency And Percentage According to Gender 50

4.3 Frequency and Percentage According to Race 51

4.4 Frequency and Percentage According to

Japanese 1 Grade 52

4.5 Frequency and Percentage According to Age 52

4.6 Respondents’ Perceptions for Communication

Apprehension 53

4.7 Respondents’ Perceptions for Fear of Negative

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Evaluation 59

4.8 Respondents’ Perceptions for General Feeling

Of Anxiety 62

4.9 Analysis of the Level for Each Factor 68

4.10 Level Analysis for Communication Apprehension,

Fear of Negative Evaluation, General Feeling of

Anxiety and Overall Level of Anxiety According

to Gender 69


Fear of Negative Evaluation, General Feeling

of Anxiety and Overall Level of Anxiety According

to Race 71



of Anxiety and Overall Level of Anxiety According

to Group. 73

4.13 Analysis of t-Test for Communication Apprehension,


of Anxiety and Overall Level of Anxiety for Gender 75

4.14 Analysis of Mean Value for Each Factor (Race) 76

4.15 Analysis of One Way Anova for Each Factor (Race) 77

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4.16 Analysis of Mean Score for Each Factor (Groups) 78

4.17 Analysis of One Way Anova for Each Factor (Groups) 80

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Enrolling in the foreign language classroom has become quite popular in all

universities around Malaysia including Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). This is

due to the awareness of the importance of learning at least one foreign language. The

purpose of learning the foreign language might be different from one student to the

other. Some students might have learned the language because of the language itself. As

to learn the language is actually a matter of learning about the people (native speakers of

the language), they might have grown fond on some aspects such as the language,

culture, arts, literature, history, and lifestyle. Besides that, the factors of learning the

politics, economy, society as well as the science and technology are also among the

reasons for the students to learn more on the particular foreign language. This can be

considered as personal satisfaction in learning the foreign language.

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Nevertheless, there are also some students who learn a foreign language as an

aim to later benefit them for future employment. Most of the university students

nowadays do realize that learning foreign language has a lot more to offer later on in

their work field (Wan Zarina et al., 2007). It is known that learning a foreign language

can offer a very convenient qualification especially during job applications.

Furthermore, there are some companies or institutions that make it compulsory for their

workers to master certain level of foreign language proficiency. This is normally related

to the foreign based companies that require their workers or future workers to be able to

use the foreign language. The examples of popular foreign languages demanded by

companies all around Malaysia are Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, French and German.

Whether learning the foreign language based on the factors of adoring the

language or future employment, both are considered as personal interests since the

students themselves are willingly to learn the language. Besides that, there is also

another purpose for the university students to learn foreign language which is to fulfill

the university course requirement. In UTM, this scenario can be seen in the Japanese

language classes offered by the Faculty of Education.

Japanese language has become one of the popular foreign languages that is

mostly learnt by the UTM students. In UTM, there are two groups of students who enroll

in the Japanese language classes. The first group of students is the TESL students who

learn the foreign language as the university course requirement. As to fulfill the course

requirement, the Japanese language has been chosen as the foreign language that is

compulsory to be taken by the first year Teaching English as Second Language (TESL)

students. These future English teachers have to take the Japanese language up to the

second level. Besides that, they are also required to learn and pass both Japanese

Language I (SHL 1322) and Japanese Language II (SHL 1342) that are offered to them

in their first two semesters. The total credits for both Japanese I and Japanese II classes

are four credits which are included in their CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average).

Whether they like it or not, the subject has become one of the university course

requirements. It leaves them with no choice than to have to learn it.

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The second group known as the elective group is the group of students from

various courses in UTM who learns the foreign language based on personal interest.

UTM offers some Japanese language classes from the first level up to the third level.

Apart from that, there are also some other Japanese language classes offered to train and

prepare the UTM students for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Overall,

these Japanese language classes are opened to all the UTM students regardless of their

courses and faculties. These classes are offered by the Department of Modern

Languages.

The students who are interested in taking a foreign language class are given

choices on whether they want to learn the subject as credit or without credit. For those

who choose to learn the Japanese language without credit, there will be no grade

involved since they are only required to pass the final test at the end of the semester.

This is to obtain a certificate as a proof of attending the Japanese language class. This

group of students is known as the Elective (Without Credit) group. As for the second

option, the students can also include the Japanese language as one of the subject with

credit. This group is called the Elective (With Credit) group. Even tough the main

purpose of learning the Japanese language is mainly because of their personal interest,

they are still required to sit for final examination where the credit will be counted.

Nevertheless, the situation for both Elective groups is different from the TESL group

since they are not forced to enroll in the Japanese language class.

Learning the foreign language is actually different from second language

learning (Crookall and Oxford, 1991). As foreign language is considered unfamiliar for

a first timer encountering it, this situation can demonstrate the feeling of unease, fear

and anxiety. These feelings generate the learning disabilities which later impede the

process of acquiring and learning the language as well as affect the students’ learning

abilities (Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope, 1991). Among all the feelings, anxiety has

become one of the most significant factors in determining the successful of foreign

language learning (Von Worde, 2003 and Cubukcu, 2007)

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Since anxiety is closely related to the students’ academic achievements, it is

crucial to determine the level of anxiety in learning a foreign language. The level of

anxiety may vary according to the purpose of learning it. Whether based on personal

interest or fulfilling the university course requirement, both purposes still generate the

feeling of anxiety in the foreign language classroom. Thus, it is important to identify the

level of the anxiety in the foreign language classroom as well as to see the connection or

relationship of purposes in determining the level itself (Wan Zarina et al., 2007).

Besides that, the anxiety level could also vary according to different gender and

races as well. As the anxiety level varies according to gender (Wicks-Nelson & Israel

(2006), the anxiety level in learning a foreign language could also be different for both

genders. Some studies indicate that female students are more anxious than male in

language classroom. However there are also some studies indicating that there are no

differences in anxiety level between genders (Rosenfeld and Berko, 1990; Fayer,

McCrosky and Richmond, 1984). Therefore, it is important to determine the connection

between anxiety level and gender as to find out whether the factor of gender influences

the anxiety level in a foreign language class or not.

As for the factor of race, there are not many studies conducted in Malaysia on the

differences of anxiety level among the races in Malaysia. However, according to Phillips

(1978), the anxiety level differs according to different race. It is very important to find

out whether different race influence the anxiety level in foreign language learning or not.

Since learning a foreign language is considered as implementing a new culture, it is very

beneficial to determine the correlation between the race and anxiety levels as to see

which race experiences the most difficulties in a foreign language classroom.

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1.1 Background of the study

As foreign language is considered unfamiliar for the first time encountering it,

this situation can demonstrate the feelings of unease, fear and anxiousness. Among all

the feelings, anxiety has become one of the most significant factors in determining the

success of foreign language learning.

Learning a foreign language is actually different from second language learning.

As learning foreign language is considered as learning something new (Wan Zarina et

al., 2007) there will be some difficulties occur during the process of learning and

acquiring the language. These difficulties usually become one of the factors that can

hamper the process of learning and acquiring the foreign language (Banks, 2008). It is

believed that there are some prominent emotional factors that arise in foreign language

learning such as intelligence, motivation, attitudes and anxiety which are capable of

affecting the foreign language learning abilities (Banks, 2008). Among these, anxiety

stands out as one of the main influential factors in determining the successfulness of

language learning. Anxiety can cause the students to have an undeveloped proficiency in

a particular foreign language (Horwitz, Horwitx and Cope, 1991). The higher the level

of anxiety, the more it will hamper the learning process.

This study focuses on the three groups of students who enrolled in the Japanese

Language classes based on different purposes. The first group involved in this study was

the group of TESL students who learned the foreign language based on university course

requirement. On the other hand, the second and the third groups were groups of students

who enrolled in the foreign language class based on personal interest. It is believed that

this group of students will experience lower level of anxiety than those who were forced

by the educational system. Therefore, the educational system that makes it compulsory

for the students to enroll in a foreign language class might become the reason for the

students to experience the detrimental feeling of anxiety.

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This study is also focusing on the anxiety level for both male and female students

as in to compare their anxiety levels in foreign language learning. It is believed that

different gender possesses different ways of handling worries and fear thus resulting in

different anxiety level. According to studies by Pappamihiel (2001), and the theory by

Wicks-Nelson & Israel (2006), there are differences between male and female anxiety

level where female tend to be more anxious than male. Therefore the same situation

applies to the foreign language learning where female students might experience high

level of anxiety than male. Additionally, the same condition goes to the factor of race

where different race influences the anxiety level. The races involved are the Malays,

Chinese, Indians as well as Others.

Some studies had been conducted to investigate the levels of anxiety. These

studies had used the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) as an

instrument to measure the anxiety level. The FLCAS is based on the analysis of potential

sources of anxiety in a language classroom by integrating three related anxieties namely

the communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and general feeling of

anxiety as posited by Horwitz (1983).

Communication apprehension refers to the feeling of anxiety in communicating

with others. Some of the students might have very well thoughts and ideas but fail to

express them properly. Not only that, most of the students are also facing some problems

in comprehending others thoughts and ideas. This inability leads to apprehension.

Students who have problems as such would choose a positive response to questions like

“I get nervous and confused when I am speaking in my language class”. They would

also choose a negative response to question like “I feel confident when I speak in foreign

language classroom”.

The second component which is fear of negative evaluation indicates that the

students in a foreign language class are afraid to receive negative feedbacks not only

from other classmates but also from the lecturers or instructors. This leads to the feelings

of being afraid of making mistakes as well as trying to maintain their faces in front of

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their classmates and instructors. At the same time, they are trying to avoid the face

threatening situation in a foreign language class. Students with fear of negative

evaluation would choose a positive response to questions like “I am afraid that the other

students will laugh at me when I speak the foreign language” but would settle for

negative response to questions like “ I don’t worry about making mistakes in language

classroom”.

The third component which is the general feeling of anxiety is the feeling that

relates with other apprehension but not to communication or fear of negative evaluation.

Students with general feeling of anxiety would still get anxious even though they have

made preparations for the language class. They would go for positive response to

question like “even if I am well prepared for the class, I feel anxious about it” and settle

for negative response to question like “it wouldn’t bother me at all to take more foreign

language.”

There has been an increase in the awareness of the problems in foreign language

learning regarding the feeling of anxiety. Hence, there is need to further investigate on to

what extend anxiety can affect the foreign language learning as well as the differences

between the anxiety level depending on gender, race and purpose of learning it.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Many universities students especially in UTM are facing similar problems in the

foreign language classroom. The most significant problem raised is the foreign language

anxiety where it caused interference in the process of foreign language learning itself.

According to Price (1991), students in foreign language classroom tend to be more

stiffed, scared and embarrassed during the learning period. These feelings are the

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starting points of becoming inferior in learning. Thus, the feeling of anxiety will not

only affect the students’ perceptions on the academic subjects but also in life. As stated

by Krashen (1982), anxiety inhibits the learner’s ability to process incoming language as

well as short-circuits in the process of acquisition. Students who feel anxious may learn

less and not be able to demonstrate what they have learned.

The expectation of getting good grades is also one of the factors on feeling

anxious in learning (Daley et al., 1999). As for the TESL group, they were required to

pass both Japanese I (SHL 1322) and Japanese II (SHL 1342) classes to be able to

graduate since the foreign language subject has become the university course

requirement. They have to obtain at least grade C+ to be able to pass the foreign

language subjects. Hence, while learning the Japanese language, the students tend to be

very anxious when it comes to the matters of marks and grade. This might be a problem

for some students who failed to score in the Japanese language classes. These students

will have to repeat the subjects in order to graduate. In other words, they will feel the

tense to learn the foreign language and this will restrain them from enjoying the learning

process. Besides that, it is also crucial to for the students to maintain the grade since the

foreign language subjects will be counted in their CGPA. Therefore, they might

experience high level of anxiety while learning the foreign language.

As for the students in the Elective (With Credit) group who enrolled in the

Japanese class based on personal interest, they too were required to sit for examination

and their grades were counted. Even tough the students were willing to enroll in the

class based on personal interest, they might also experience the feeling of anxiety in the

foreign language class. This is due to the factor of feeling the tense to score in the final

exam. Moving to the Elective (Without Credit) group, the students who enrolled in the

Japanese class might experience a low anxiety level. This is due to the fact that they

were learning it based on personal interest. However, there are also possibilities for these

students to experience high anxiety level regardless their purpose of learning the

Japanese language. In addition, anxiety causes a major problem for the students in all the

three groups who were taking the Japanese language classes in UTM especially for the

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TESL students who learned it for the purpose of fulfilling the university course

requirement.

The purpose of learning the foreign language is different for the three groups.

Therefore, the level of anxiety in the foreign language learning may also vary according

to the purposes of learning it. To learn the foreign language based on the university

course requirement is similar to be having forced to. It is assumed that the TESL group

will have higher level of anxiety compared to those who were learning the foreign

language based on personal interest. When the level of anxiety is high, it will hamper the

process of acquiring and learning the language (Krashen, 1982).

As for the factor of different gender, many studies and researches indicate that

there are differences in anxiety level between female and male students. Wicks-Nelson

& Israel (2006) for instance claim that researchers have found that naturally, female do

feel more anxious than male. This is due to many factors such as confident, security, and

superiority. Therefore, most of the female students suffer from the feeling of anxiety in

class without any solution to prevent it from happening. Most of the techniques and

methods used especially in a foreign language class still fail to overcome these

problems. Hence, the effects of feeling anxious and worry can be seen from the signs of

anxiety showed by the female students.

According to Bailey and Daley (1997) and Berger and Shechter (1996), female

tend to be more anxious than male in certain situation as for many reason, female and

male students can react differently to a similar setting. In the simplest term, some

sources of pressure and discomfort situation for female students may not be as nerve-

wracking for male students. As anxiety could effect the academic achievement in a

foreign language class, some female students might find it difficult to score in the

subject and thus resulting in more detrimental feeling of anxiety that might influence

other subjects as well.

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A study by Wan Zarina et al. (2007) agrees that race does influence the anxiety

level of students in foreign language class. As learning a foreign language is considered

as learning a new language, it is assumed that learning a different culture might cause a

detrimental feeling of anxiety for some races. It is well known that not all races are

‘ready’ to open themselves in learning and accepting a new language and culture. There

are many factors that contribute to these problems. One of the significant problems relies

in the factor of different phonological factors. This is proven by the theory of

phonological differences between society and culture by Fromkin et al. (2003) that

might create different level of anxiety among races. Thus, some races might find it

difficult to learn a new foreign language as well as to accept the new culture embedded

in the language.

In addition, the students’ anxiety levels also vary according to self-esteem and

self-confidence possess by the students in different race. In Malaysia, a study by Phillips

(1978) found that there are differences in the self-esteem levels among the races in

Malaysia. It should be noted that a student with high self-esteem might experience low

level of anxiety. Since the self-esteem level is different among races in Malaysia, the

anxiety level among them might also be different. As the sense of belonging and

solidarity among races is very much important in learning, therefore some race might

feel very confident in foreign language class and some might feel outcast. This is also

related to the numbers of students with same race that enrolled in the same foreign

language class. For the race that feel outcast, their anxiety level might be high. This is

due to the feeling of security while being surrounded by different race that lead to a high

level of anxiety.

A study by Phillips (1978) found that mostly the Indian students tend to

experience the high level of anxiety due to the low level of self-esteem and thus

resulting in low academic achievement. If this is neglected, some of them might be left

behind and this will cause problem for them especially if they are really interested in

learning a foreign language. This will not only upset them but also lead to low self-

confidence in learning especially if other races have better achievement in a foreign

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language class. Therefore, it leads to a more serious problem should the educational

institutions as well as the lecturers and instructors choose to neglect the fact that

different race possess different level of anxiety in language learning.

Many foreign language lecturers and instructors are still having problems in

overcoming the anxiety in foreign language classroom. This is referring to the traditional

methods and approaches being used by some lecturers and instructors. The obliviousness

concerning the students’ anxiety has lead to a more serious problem in learning. As a

result, most of the materials and methods used are not appropriate in catering the

learners’ needs especially for the beginners. Some of the methods used in teaching

foreign language are only suitable for the high proficiency students (Banks, 2008).

Hence, instead of becoming an enriching and rewarding experience, the foreign

language learning become more stressful and intimidating for the low proficiency

students.

Consequently, there is a need to identify which factor that contribute the most to

the feeling of anxiety so that the students as well as instructors and lecturers will become

more aware of the seriousness of the problems and thus be able to come out with the best

solutions. Therefore, it is important to identify the perceptions among UTM students

who learned the foreign language as well as to determine the differences of anxiety level

within the three groups.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The differences in anxiety level could be related to the factor of different gender,

race and group (different purpose of learning the foreign language). The races involved

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are the Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Others while the three groups are the TESL,

Elective (With Credit) and Elective (Without Credit). Referring the uprising awareness

of the problems faced by the students in learning a foreign language due to the existence

of anxiety, there is need to identify the level of anxiety of the students as well as to

determine of the anxiety level based on gender, race and group in the foreign language

class.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the severity of the level of anxiety for

different gender, race as well as the groups. The levels of anxiety of both groups of

students are measured using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)

designed by Horwitz (1983).

1.4 Objectives of the study

a) To identify the perceptions of the TESL group, Elective (With Credit) group and

Elective (Without Credit) group regarding the factors that contribute to the

feeling of anxiety.

b) To determine the differences of anxiety level for different gender, race and the

three groups which are the TESL group, Elective (With Credit) group and

Elective (Without Credit) group.

1.5 Research Questions

a) What are the perceptions of the TESL group, Elective (With Credit) group and

Elective (Without Credit) group regarding the factors that contribute to the

feeling of anxiety?

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b) What are the differences of anxiety level for different gender, race and the three

groups which are the TESL group, Elective (With Credit) group and Elective

(Without Credit) group?

1.6 Significance of the study

The students who enrolled in the foreign language class are believed to have

difficulties in learning the language which is related to the feeling of anxiety. There are

students who are unaware of the feeling of anxiety and yet feel the consequence of it.

Some are unsure about the feelings and convey it as uneasiness, nervousness and even

frustration. Since the feeling of anxiety can hinder the language acquisition, it is

necessary to increase the awareness of the students on their level of anxiety in learning a

foreign language. From the study, the students can also identify the factors that

contribute to the feeling of anxiety in the classroom and later on finding the solutions to

overcome the problems.

Besides that, the study is important for the lecturers and instructors to realize that

anxiety can negatively affect the language learning experiences in numerous ways. As

reducing the anxiety can increase the language acquisition, retention as well as learner

motivation (Krashen, 1982), it is important for the lecturers or instructors to know the

state of anxiety level of the students and strive to create a low stress, friendly and

supportive learning environment for the students. Besides that, it is crucial for the

lecturers and instructors to be sensitive to students’ fears and insecurities while learning

the foreign language. They may have to come out with the best teaching approach and

methods to cater the needs of the students in order to learn well especially in a non-

threatening environment that allows the process of learning and acquisition. This study

is also very beneficial for all parties involved in determining the successful of learning

the foreign language in order to improve the students’ grade and achievement in foreign

language classes.

anxiety level towards learning a foreign … · i anxiety level towards learning a foreign...

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