Heartbeat - School Anxiety

   Language anxiety has gained researchers interest for a long time.  This interest is an outcome of the high effect of anxiety in classroom on students’ comprehension and understanding when students feel stress, doubt, fear, apprehension, low confidence, and negative feelings when they are required to use the language. Accordingly, the level of achievement and success in the language is affected sharply by the level of anxiety.   Students with a high level of anxiety will suffers in taking tests or when they in place of evaluation; this feeling will hinder their ability to do well, even if they studied and prepared for the tests. They may freeze and their minds go blank. 
 In addition, the classrooms’ environment should be clear of any provoking
situations of anxiety.  The classrooms should be friendly and non-judgmental environments.  

Teachers can benefit from programs such as English Central in understanding and knowing how to avoid creating such a negative feeling in their students.  English Central is a blog which students and teachers use in the learning and teaching process; it gives teachers ideas and tools can be applied in the classroom to create secure and free of any stressful situation could make learners anxious. (“Foreign Language anxiety”). Speaking practice, for instance, in the blog is a free and beneficial practice and teachers can guide their students to practice by using it; moreover, they can make students record the speaking at home, where they are comfortable, and then they can grade students speaking.  Furthermore, the encouraging articles and thoughts in this blog inspire teachers.                                                                     

Many teachers apply these ideas and they report surprising results; that is, their students become less anxious and more confident in their abilities because they had the opportunities to practice English outside the classroom until they become ready, especially, in speaking in front of their peers. Unlike traditional classroom, in English practice, their students feel more control and have the power in their learning process, which increases their self-esteem and their perception of themselves. Further, to have a closer connection to students and to recognize anxious students, teachers can use the foreign language anxiety scale (Horwitx, 1986) to assess the level of anxiety that their students have.  It is important to give this scale to the students in their first language to avoid any misconception. This scale is provided in different languages in the blog.

               Anxiety in the Classroom - Video Presentation of Survey Results

Reference

Foreign language anxiety. (February 17, 2013). English Central. Retrieved on March 17,2013, from 
http://blog.englishcentral.com/2013/02/17/foreign-language-anxiety/

Horwitz, E. K. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70 (2),
 125-132.
(2009, Aug 19). Healthbeat-School Anxiety. podcast. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JDPoEyQqF5c&feature=player_embedded

(2009, Jun 23). Anxiety in the classroom-Video presation of survey Results. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR1SolZa0js&feature=player_embedded

Cause of Anxiety

Students’ anxiety in classrooms is caused by many reasons. Mispronouncing the words or misuse of grammar causes misunderstanding, embarrassment, and negative assessment. They report high level of anxiety when it comes to speaking orally and they take tests. Students’ anxiety is aggregated when they speak in front of their peers or are laughed at,when they feel they are making a fool of themselves and are embarrassed. Furthermore, the students’ inability to express their thoughts, ideas, or explain their opinions can be assigned to anxiety. Moreover, native speakers of a language in the classroom are depicted as a factor which provokes students’ anxiety. They are worried about being compared with native speakers in the classroom.  Anxious students limit  This video explains the causes of anxiety their verbal communication in the classroom due to the need of confidence in their ability to pronounce the sentences and using the grammar correctly (Szyszka, 2011;Von worde, 2003; Williams & Andrade, ). Students’ fear of negative assessment would lead students to fail in participating in classroom activities such as volunteering to answer questions or initiating questions. While these reasons differ owing to students’ differences, ability, level of the language, and age, they may contribute to one cause that is fear of negative impression or assessment.             Also, some teachers are the cause of students’ anxiety in the classroom.  Calling the student’s name can create anxious students, that is, choosing randomly or predictable selection makes students think that they will be called upon next. They may feel nervous and worried about what they can say and how the teacher will evaluate them. Teachers’ management of class affects students’ feelings; for example, they do not give students enough time to think in the questions. In addition, the overwhelming assignments, and the methods employed by the teacher, short time to practice, and immediate assessment of students can create students’ anxiety. Furthermore, teachers may not clarify their planning in teaching which provokes the fear of poor accomplishment in students. When teachers give assignments students do not understand, they become worried about their grade (Williams & Andrade, 2008).  According to Tasee (2009),  “Manifestation of negative evaluation can be apparently seen in language learners’ various forms of behaviors. Learners with high concern about negative evaluation tend to become nervous in an evaluation situation that other people would perceive them unfavorably and work hard to be better than they are” (p. 40).  Learners’ fear of being evaluated negatively or perceived unfavorably is a real nightmare for those learners; this make the students exert their effort to be better learners.                This video helps  how to overcome classrooms' anxiety

References

Szyszka, M. (2011). Foreign language anxiety and self-perceived English pronunciation competence. Studies in Second Language, 1(2), 283-300.‏

Tasee, P. (2009). Factors affecting English major students anxiety about speaking English. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima.‏

Von Wörde, R. (2003). Students’ perspectives on foreign language anxiety. Inquiry, 8(1), 21-40.‏

Williams, K. E., & Andrade, M. R. (2008). Foreign language learning anxiety in Japanese EFL

university classes: Causes, coping, and locus of control. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 5(2), 181-191.‏

fergsyful. (2012, Dec 7). Second language anxiety film. Retrieved from:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaL117XpsnI&feature=player_embedded#at=13

missdiorgirl. (2013, Jan 12). How to deal with anxiety. Retrieved from:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS0PEwVTGS0

               

              Anxiety is the feeling of nervousness, apprehension, and worry; this feeling is aggregated when learners of foreign language face situations that require them to produce the language. Many researchers agree that such a feeling is necessary in order to achieve a great level in learning the language; however, a little anxiety is necessary and much anxiety is harmful and detrimental. Anxiety is a common feeling for all students in learning language; however, it differs in types and the level.  Research has been classified anxiety into three types: trait anxiety, state anxiety, and test anxiety (Zheng, 2008). State anxiety is different from trait anxiety, that is, state anxiety is connected to one thing or one situation, but trait anxiety is connected to different things at the same time.In other words, state anxiety is emotional and bodily reaction to a stimulus, and it is temporarily related to a specific situation and lasts for a short time. Several types of anxiety go under state or situational anxiety These types include fear of negative evaluation, listening anxiety, communicative anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety, and interpersonal anxiety. On the other hand, trait anxiety is related to personality and individual differences, and it is stable all the time; learners with trait anxiety see the world as threatening and they overact in any difficult situation they face while 

This types of Anxiety

 learning the language. Test anxiety, however, can occur in communicative situations and test performance; it is performance anxiety. Sometimes people with test anxiety feel stomachache, tension, headache, shaky, sweaty, or their heart beating (Arnold, J. Ed., 1999, Liu & Huang, 2011, Zheng, 2008).   with test anxiety will face difficulties in concentrating or focusing on the task at hand, which affects negatively on their performance or production of the language. However, the effect of anxiety in learning language achievement is the only thing that matters.  Based on its effects, anxiety has been categorized into two kinds: debilitating anxiety and facilitating anxiety.  Debilitating anxiety is the negative kind of anxiety that hinders and disrupts

                                         Even if the names are different, the manning is one

learning process directly and indirectly. Anxious students who do not perform or participate in the language are impacted directly and they are indirectly impacted through worry and self doubt.  Debilitating or negative anxiety may cause low motivation, negative attitudes and beliefs, and language performance difficulties (Arnold, J. Ed., 1999, Liu & Huang, 2011, Zheng, 2008).  On the other hand, facilitating anxiety (positive) is the kind of anxiety that helps students in their learning language process; in other words, students with facilitating anxiety are more aware and alert in the class.

                                          

References

ifonly. (2010, Jun 12). The 5 types of anxiety disorders. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjtIO9PP8w4&feature=player_embedded

Figure 1:http://www.smartdriving.co.uk/Driving/Attitude/Phobia/Driving_phobia.htm

(2013, Mar 16). Anxiety treatment camrose. Retrieved from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=XTkHlabuocY&feature=player_embedded

Arnold, J. (Ed.). (1999). Affect in language learning. Ernst Klett Sprachen.‏Liu, M., & Huang, W. (2011). An exploration of foreign language anxiety and English learning       motivation. Education Research International.

Zheng, Y. (2008). Anxiety and second/foreignlanguage learning revisited. CJNSE/RCJCÉ, 1(1).‏