Anxiety And Beliefsabout Language Learning: A Study Of Chinese University Students Learning English

With the development of humanism and cognitive science, more people turn attention to the learners in second language learning and teaching. They attach more significance to the learner's emotional needs in addition to their intellectual needs. Anxiety is one of the affective factors that most pervasively obstruct the learning process. It is associated with negative feelings such as uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension and tension. In order to reduce the amount of foreign language anxiety in the classroom, investigating potential sources of foreign language anxiety is important. Some researchers (Horwitz, and Young) suggested leaner beliefs about language learning should be a major contributor to language anxiety.This study investigated the beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety of Chinese university students learning English. The relationships between students' beliefs and levels of anxiety were also studied. A total of 295 first and second year Chinese non-English major students of Shandong University participated in this study. Students' anxiety levels were measured by the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). Students' beliefs about language learning were investigated by the revised Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI). Students were also asked to complete a background questionnaire. All the questionnaires were in Chinese for the purpose of avoiding the possibility of misunderstanding.Several conclusions were made based on the findings of this study. First, the beliefs about language learning of the participants in this study were related to one background factor, grade level. Significant differences were found between the first and second year students on the beliefs about foreign language learning. No significant differences were found between male and female students as well as between city students and countryside students. In addition, the university students in this study had certain different beliefs about language learning from those of other students in previous studies.Secondly, in general, the participants in this study had medium level of foreignlanguage anxiety based on their FLCAS scores. Level of anxiety were found to be strongly related to or influenced by one background factor, region. Countryside students had higher level of foreign language anxiety than city students. In addition, Chinese students in this study had the similar level of anxiety as the participants in Horwitz's (1991) and Aida's (1994) study.Thirdly, four belief factors were found to be significantly correlated with foreign language anxiety: self-efficacy and expectation about learning English (r=-.445; p<01), beliefs in formal structural studies (r=.361; p<.01), learning and communication strategies (r=-.35O; p<.01), and beliefs about foreign language aptitude (r=.195; p<.01). And the most powerful predictor for students' foreign language anxiety was the belief factor, self-efficacy and expectation about learning English.These results have theoretical significance as well as practical significance. Theoretically, it could further testify Young's findings that learner beliefs about language learning may be a major contributor to it. foreign language anxiety. Practically, language teachers can try to lower students' higher level of anxiety by helping them build up correct beliefs towards foreign language learning...