FOREIGN LANGUAGE READING ANXIETY AMONG ADVANCED STUDENTS OF ENGLISH – A PILOT STUDY

• Authors: Marzec-Stawiarska Małgorzata
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article discusses the problem of foreign language reading anxiety among advanced students of English. It describes a pilot study whose aim was to check whether reading apprehension exists in this group of participants, to investigate cognitive, behavioural and somatic symptoms of anxiety and to create an instrument which would allow for its multidimensional analysis. The study shows that reading anxiety exists at advanced levels of linguistic proficiency. Within cognitive framework of anxiety testing apprehension was found to be prevailing. As far as anxiety generating factors are concerned students are most stressed by inability to understand a text, by activities accompanying reading tasks and by reading aloud. Behavioural and somatic symptoms exist in a small degree in this group of respondents.

Keywords

EN

reading anxiety; reading apprehension; advanced students

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
• Journal: Acta Neophilologica
• Year: 2013
• Volume: XV/1
• Pages: 89-102

Dates

published

2013-06-01

Contributors

author

Marzec-Stawiarska Małgorzata

• Instytut Neofilologii Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny w Krakowie

References

• Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s Construct of Language Anxiety: The Case of Students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal 78, 155−168.
• Bektas-Cetinkaya, Y. (2011). Foreign Language Reading Anxiety: A Turkish Case. The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning 1(2), 44−56.
• Brantmeier, C. (2005). Anxiety about L2 Reading or L2 Reading Tasks? A Study with Advanced Language Learners. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal 5(2), 67–85.
• Cheng, Y.-S. (2004). A Measure of Second Language Writing Anxiety: Scale Development and Preliminary Validation. Journal of Second Language Writing 13, 313–335.
• Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B., Cope, J. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal 70(2), 123−132.
• Jalongo, M.R., Hirsh, R.A. (2010). Understanding Reading Anxiety: New Insights from Nneuroscience. Early Childhood Education Journal 37, 431−435.
• Lang, P.J. (1971). The Application of Psychophysiological Methods to the Study of Psychotherapy and Behavior Modification. In: A.E. Bergin, S.L. Garfield (ed.). Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavior Change, New York, Wiley, 75–125.
• Rai, M.K., Loschky, L.C., Harris, R.J., Peck, N.R., Cook, L.G. (2011). Effects of Stress and Working Memory Capacity on Foreign Language Readers’ Inferential Processing During Comprehension. Language Learning 61(1), 187–218.
• Saito, Y., Horwitz, E., Garza, J. (1999). Foreign Language Reading Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal 83, 202−218.
• Sellers, V. (2000). Anxiety and Reading Comprehension in Spanish as a Foreign Language. Foreign Language Annals 33(5), 512−521.
• Wu, H.-J. (2011). Anxiety and Reading Comprehension Performance in English as a Foreign Language. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly 13(2), 273−307.
• Zhang, L.J. (2000). Uncovering ESL Students’ Reading Anxiety. Asia Pacific Journal in Education 3(2), 31−56.