The Study Of English Speaking Anxiety Of Non-English Majors

With the development of humanism, learners’emotional factors have been paid more and more attention. Anxiety, as one of the most important variables, is considered as the biggest obstacle that hinders the foreign language learning. Comparing with listening, reading and writing skills, spoken English is seen as one aspect of most likely to cause learners’ anxiety. In our country. there are few studies on English speaking anxiety of college students. especially non-English major students. Therefore, this thesis takes the study of English speaking anxiety of non-English majors as the research topic. Through the investigation and analysis of it. the thesis aims to find out the effective methods to lower English speaking anxiety, and improve the teaching quality of oral English.Based on the theoretical foundation of humanistic psychology and Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis, the thesis adopts the methods of questionnaire and interview, combines quantitative research with qualitative research. and attempts to investigate and analyze English speaking anxiety of non-English major students at college in our country. The results show that the overall level of English speaking anxiety of non-English major students is a little bit high. Secondly, there is not significant difference between male and female students. Thirdly, the major sources of English speaking anxiety include lack of self-confidence, negative evaluation from teacher and classmates, classroom activities and environment, the familiarity with the topic etc. Furthermore, the influence of different sources on English speaking anxiety is different. According to the findings of this study, the author puts forward some suggestions on how to reduce English speaking anxiety of non-English majors, such as strengthening motivation of oral English learning, creating favorable classroom environment, helping students set up confidence, encouraging cooperative learning and adopting formative assessment.