Final Project on Anxiety
Instructor: Dr. Yang
Presenter: Katherine
Anxiety
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Zeidner 1998; Naveh-Benjamin 1991; Leibert
and Morris 1967:
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Worry: cognitive reactions
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Self-deprecating thoughts or task irrelevant thoughts.
Emotionality:
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physiological reaction: blushing or racing heart
behavioural reaction : stammering and fidgeting.
Language anxiety
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Early research– results are inconsistent.
(Scovel 1978; Young 1991)
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Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986):
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MacIntyre and Gardner (1989, 1991a)
Anxiety
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Anxiety may occur during one or more stages in
learning process: Input, Processing, Output
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(Mastsumoto et al. 1988)
 Input:
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processing (mental planning)
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“being called on by teacher “
“didn’t understand teacher’s question or comment”
“Did not know how to say something in English.”
“Remained silent (mind went blank)”
Output
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“Embarrassed to use simple or broken English”
“Worried about pronunciation”
Anxiety
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Tobias 1985:
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Interference retrieval model vs skills deficit model
Classify: (3types)
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Trait anxiety:
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It is a relatively stable personality trait. A person
who is trait anxious is likely to feel anxious in a
variety of situations. (Spielberger, 1983).
Classify:
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State anxiety:
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on the other hand, is a temporary condition
experienced at a particular moment. (Cattell &
Scheier, 1963)
Classify:
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Situation-specific anxiety
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can be considered to be the probability of
becoming anxious in a particular type of situation,
such as during tests (labeled as “test anxiety”,
speaking a second language “language anxiety”).
Sources of Language Anxiety
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Personal and interpersonal anxieties
Learner beliefs about language learning
Instructor beliefs about language teaching
Instructor-learner interactions
Classroom procedures
Language testing
Variables
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Situational variables
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Course level
Course organizations
Course activities
Instructor behavior and attitudes
Social interaction among learners
Learner variables
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Ability
Age
Attitudes
Beliefs
Culture
Gender
Learning styles
Personality variables among others
Reduce language learning
anxiety
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Neville (1989)
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“The anxious classroom is toxic.”
Visualization