Impact Of Language Anxiety On The English Learners Of High Schools

Humanistic teaching believes affect and cognition are both important in language learning. Affective factors play a significant role in language learning. In the New English Curriculum, affect is considered an important variable in learning. However, in the senior middle schools, less attention is paid to English learners' affect in language learning. The paper holds the hypothesis that the English learners' language anxiety in senior high schools is negatively correlated to English learning.Starting from the importance of affect in language learning, the paper introduces the language anxiety and the researchers' different views on the impact of it on learners with the focus on its negative correlation to language leaning, learners' potential development and physical health. The manifestations of language anxiety are illustrated.Research methods such as scaling (the modified Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale is used), open-ended questionnaire and group talks are used to prove the above-mentioned hypothesis and help to get learners' information on the sources of anxiety, their advice on how to reduce their language anxiety and the feedback of teachers and learners after a certain means of reducing anxiety is adopted.The related data shows that the hypothesis is true. Namely, the higher the learners' language anxiety, the lower the learners' school achievement. In other words, they are negatively correlated. From the open-ended questionnaire and group talks, the writer sought out and discussed the sources causing language anxiety. They are mainly as follows: over-expectations from parents, heavy school load,frequent tests, weak base of knowledge, unscientific beliefs, incorrect attribution of success and failure, poor risk-taking, poor sense of competition, low tolerance of ambiguity, slow identification and culture shock, poor self-esteem, unpopular track system, problems in instructor and learner interactions.Since the language anxiety is negatively correlated to language learning and the sources have been sought out, in order to reduce the learners' language anxiety, certain strategies should be adopted. Interest is in the opposite direction to language anxiety. English teachers should try to arouse learners' interest in English and English teachers. Cooperative learning, task-based teaching approach, change of ways of corrections, test improvement, music and songs, humanistic exercises, role-shifting of teachers, understanding and satisfying the need of learners and so forth, are worth trying. It works to let learners learn to face language anxiety such as what LiYang called "enjoying losing face and meeting frustration", and self-talk training. In addition, other means are helpful such as learners learning cross-culture, seating arrangements, parents accepting scientific education beliefs.Conclusions have been drawn in this paper as follows: the hypothesis is true that the English learners' language anxiety in senior high schools is negatively correlated to English learning. English teachers should pay more attention to learners' language anxiety in language learning, realize its sources and adopt certain strategies to reduce language anxiety in order to create a relaxed classroom atmosphere and improve the quality of English teaching.