A Correlational Study Of English Reading Anxiety And Self-efficacy In Reading Performance

Reading is one of the most basic and significant parts for students in the process of learning a foreign language,and reading score accounts for 40 percent of the total sore in English exams.So improving reading ability is the major task in the process of learning English for high school students.Ample studies have shown that emotional factors involved in reading have a direct impact on reading performance.Students’ reading self-efficacy can influence students’ behavior and ability in reading performance and reading anxiety is the filter that impedes the input of language learning.Many researchers have explored the relation among academic performance,self-efficacy and anxiety,but few studies have focused on high school students’ English reading.This study aims to investigate the correlation of anxiety and self-efficacy in English reading.123 grade-two high school students from Wenjiang high school in Chengdu are chosen as subjects in this study,the instruments include FLRAS(Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale)and ERSES(English Reading Self-Efficacy Scale)assessing the level of students’ reading anxiety and self-efficacy.Meanwhile,gender is considered as a flexible factor in the assessing of reading anxiety and reading self-efficacy.The study finds that:(1): High school students experience a relatively moderate degree of anxiety and self-efficacy in English reading;(2)Reading anxiety is significantly and negatively related with English reading performance;(3)Students’ self-efficacy to read is significantly and positively correlated to English reading performance;(4)Reading self-efficacy is significantly and negatively associated with reading anxiety;(5)There is no significant gender difference in reading self-efficacy and reading anxiety.According to these results,some suggestions for teachers and instructors are offered,and further research suggestions are also discussed.