Exploring Foreign Learners’ Language Anxiety: The Case of Pre-University English Orientation Students

Abstract

Language anxiety has been identified as a contributory factor in language learning. However, there are contrasting results from different studies, which seem to stem from students’ socio-cultural differences. In Silliman University, the English Orientation Program (EOP) is designed for pre-university students from a non-English medium background and have various proficiency levels upon entry. This being the case, the researchers attempted to explore the students’ level of language anxiety and how socio-cultural differences play a role in their language learning. Using a mixed-method research, the study involved 12 EOP students. Quantitative data were elicited using the modified Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986). The instrument addresses four sources of language anxiety: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, and anxiety of an English class. Qualitative data were solicited through a focus group discussion with selected students. The weighted mean reveals that students’ anxiety level is average (x̄ = 2.575, 2.5111, 2.56, and 2.66364 for each predetermined category, respectively), indicating that students are not anxious at all. However, insights gathered
from the focus group discussion reveal that students’ language anxiety is relatively high during test-taking, which is customarily performancebased; they get inhibited from performing to a big audience. Students also do retrospection and feel upset for unsatisfactory performance. Results of the study provide many pedagogical implications, specifically on limiting students’ anxiety and improving students’ motivation to learn English.