Changes in and Effects of Anxiety on English Test Performance in Chinese Postgraduate EFL Classrooms

Abstract

As an important affective factor in language learning, foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been extensively researched. Nevertheless, not many studies have targeted postgraduate students or been longitudinal to reveal the dynamic nature of FLA. Hence, the present quantitative study examined changes in and effects of FLA on postgraduate students’ performance over a 10-week period. A total of 324 postgraduate students from a prestigious university took a pretest and posttest, answered a set of questionnaires before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) the 10-week period, respectively. Analyses of the data revealed three major findings: (1) Toward the end of the period, the respondents became significantly less apprehensive of speech communication in English and less worried about the English class, English classroom performance, and other students’ performance. Their overall English language classroom anxiety was significantly lower as well, though they became significantly more worried about tests. (2) In both phases, anxiety was largely highly related to students’ performance in English speaking, listening, reading, and writing tests as well as the overall test performance, especially speaking test performance. Nevertheless, this correlation became weaker in phase 2. (3) In both phases, foreign language classroom anxiety and achievement anxiety powerfully predicted students’ English test performance, especially speaking test performance. These results show that FLA is an important issue even for postgraduate students, affecting their test performance to varying degrees over time. Based on these findings, implications and suggestions are discussed.

Teaching Anxiety and Foreign Language Anxiety Among Chinese College English Teachers

“…Although some respondents reported that anxiety could be a motivator and urged them to do better, more respondents reported it to be a debilitator, as found in studies on SL/FL learners' FLA (Horwitz et al, 1986;Liu & Xiangming, 2019;Tobias, 1979;Tum, 2014). As confided by the respondents, anxiety led to a series of bad consequences, the worst of which were bad sleep, depression, lowered devotion to teaching, lowered motivation to work, becoming nervous, bad-temper, inability to focus on something, gray hair, procrastination, sickness, and lowered confidence, as found in similar studies (Cheung & Hui, 2011;Liu & Yan, 2020;Robinson & Clay, 2005;Yazici & Altun, 2013).…”

“…Consequently, SL/FL learners may doubt their abilities, worry about their performance, and even have a mental block (Horwitz et al, 1986;Tobias, 1979). Studies using various methods like surveys, interviews, and diaries generally reveal a predominantly debilitating effect of FLA on SL/FL learning (Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018;Horwitz, 2010;Horwitz et al, 1986;Liu & Xiangming, 2019). For example, Liu and Xiangming's (2019) longitudinal study on 324 Chinese postgraduate students found that FLA was highly related to the students' overall test performance as well as performance in English speaking, reading, listening, and writing, and that FLA was a powerful predictor of the latter, especially speaking test performance.…”

Changes in and Effects of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Listening Anxiety on Chinese Undergraduate Students’ English Proficiency in the COVID-19 Context

“…As reviewed below, Chinese learners of English at different educational levels often experience anxiety to varying degrees, which is largely because they have limited use of English in daily life (Liu, 2006(Liu, , 2016Lu and Liu, 2015;Liu and Xiangming, 2019). They may experience greater anxiety in online learning classrooms when they have even less use of English due to limited interaction and low motivation (Chen, 2010;O'Doherty et al, 2018).…”

“…Meanwhile, although the current literature shows that foreign language anxiety, including FLCA and FLLA, is dynamic and multifaceted, studies on changes in different types of anxiety are still inadequate (Liu and Xiangming, 2019;Gregersen, 2020). Even fewer studies are available on the interaction of FLCA and FLLA though they have been shown to be independent constructs of foreign language anxiety (Horwitz et al, 1986;Elkhafaifi, 2005;Bekleyen, 2009).…”

Fluctuations in self-perceived foreign language anxiety during visits to Second Life: a case study

“…Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been found as a prevailing phenomenon among foreign language learners (Dewaele and Li 2020;Gkonou 2013;Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope 1986). This is because the language classroom seems to be conducive to language anxiety as students can find themselves in inauthentic situations when they have to produce output in a language they have not mastered yet, speak publicly in that language and be subject to negative evaluations from their teachers or peers (Gkonou 2013;Liu and Xiangming 2019;Price 1991). In fact, speaking in a foreign language has been considered as one of the most face-threatening experiences for language learners (Dörnyei 2001;Gkonou 2011;Young 1999).…”