A Study Of The Countermeasures For The Alleviation Of The Anxiety Of Middle School Students In Their Foreign Language Learning

With the advent of humanistic psychology, foreign language educators and researchers have been paying much attention to learners’"affective variables" in foreign language learning since the1960s. They have increasingly recognized affective variables as the significant factors in accounting for learners’ individual differences in foreign language learning. Foreign language learning is a specific situation, which is filled with ego-threats and is prone to cause anxiety. Foreign language learning anxiety, as one variable of the most important emotional factors, is a combination of many kinds of negative emotional states. Of all the affective factors, language learning anxiety has been proved to be one of the most pervasive obstructions in foreign language learning.Due to the environment and method of education, most Chinese students are much affected by their English learning anxiety. However, their affective variables have not gotten as much attention as it should have and few studies on English learning anxiety have been carried out in middle school students’ English classroom. Being aware of this, the author of this thesis, with a field work as the basis, has undertaken a tentative and empirical study to explore some basic questions.The thesis starts by reviewing the previous researches on anxiety at home and abroad. The research methods in this study consist of both quantitative and qualitative surveys. The quantitative research is conducted in the form of four questionnaires and the qualitative research is conducted through some open questions by means of interview. The issues of the research mainly include five aspects:1.students’ levels of English learning anxiety;2.the correlation between anxiety and English achievement;3.the correlation between gender and English learning anxiety;4.the correlation between students’ English learning anxiety and their family background;5.the complicated sources of anxiety and countermeasures to alleviate students’ English learning anxiety. The subjects of this survey are113middle school students of Xi’an Zi Da Middle School. The data of the questionnaire reveals that:1.Most of the middle school students’ have high-level or intermediate-level English learning anxiety;2.Their English learning is negatively affected by anxiety, so there is a negative correlation between English achievement and English learning anxiety;3.Male students have higher level of anxiety than female students, and rural students’ English learning anxiety is stronger than urban students. Through the interview the author finds some dominating anxiety-generating factors, such as introvert personality, students’ low-proficiency, teachers’ harsh correction, culture shock, mother tongue interference, students’ misunderstanding of English learning, lacking of self-confidence, and so on.On the basis of the research and some relevant studies, some countermeasures for reducing students’ English learning anxiety are recommended. For teachers of English, they should help students to realize their English learning anxiety, creating a favorable and relaxed classroom environment, improving the way to evaluate students, correcting students’ mistakes in a proper manner, and so on. For students of English, they should realize their English learning anxiety and develop good psychological quality, developing their interest in English, being well prepared for English class, and so on. It is sincerely expected that with these countermeasures teachers can teach English better and students can learn English more efficiently.It should be pointed out that there are so many variables that can cause English learning anxiety. Some of the variables are universal, while some vary from person to person and from matter to matter. In all, this issue is complicated and some further researches are still needed.