, pupils’ emotion, American psychological linguists Krashen’s fifth assumption, is involved the process of language acquisition and filters language input just like a protection screen controlling the input variables and inhaled quantity that they could touch. Therefore, anxiety, as a negative emotion factor, severely affects elementary students’ motivation in English learning. Krashen (1982) also clearly indicates that pupils’ emotional filtering device through affecting its input variables. Thus the higher learning anxiety, the more the input prevented by the affective filter device which leads to language learning failure (Krashen, 1985). Spielberg (1996) studies show that 20% students give up because of anxiety and although 6% of them is only mild anxiety.
By understanding the correlation between the language anxiety (LA) and English speaking proficiency of pupils, teachers can help reduce the students’ level of LA and produce better learning effects in the low—anxiety 1eaming environment. It is hoped that the findings will draw teachers’ attention to students’ leaning needs and recognize what and why pupils like to do in classroom.
The final and necessary significance is to get the pedagogical solutions based on author’s research and know how to provide a low anxious environment for the students and make them learn English more efficiently and happy.
1.2 The background of researching pupils’ anxiety
Anxiety plays a core in language learning. Lessening the negative effect of anxiety and reasonable utilization of anxiety have become essential parts of L2 learning. Therefore, pupils’ anxiety has now drawn much attention from both linguists and language teachers. In other words the importance of pupils’ anxiety has received more and more attention in the past twenty years or so.
From late 1970s to 1980s, some scholars showed their concerns about affective domains. Many theories such as Krashen’s monitor model discuss the significant role of affective variables. In Krashen’s theories,the well known affective filter hypo
thesis describes the relationship between affective factors and L2 acquisition. The natural approach by Krashen and Terrell (1983) is an instance, which is designed to help beginners become intermediates. It provides comprehensible input to learners by adopting different kinds of techniques and activities. Bailey (1983) analyzed that the LA is caused by competition, examination and interpersonal relationship between teachers and pupils. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) were the first to treat foreign LA separate and distinct phenomenon particular to language learning.
Since 1990s, researches into anxiety study began gradually have become a focus of present study. MacIntyre wrote, in 1999, that “the term foreign LA, or more simply LA, was just beginning to be used in the literature”. Trait anxiety has been improved to impact cognitive functioning,disrupt memory, lead to avoidance behavior and some other effects (MacIntyre & Gardner 1991 a). Gardner and MacIntyre stated that the strongest (negative)correlate of language achievement is anxiety (1993). Studies show the negative correlation of anxiety with the following: self-esteem, i.e., the judgment of one’s own worth (Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope 1 986; Price 1991; Scarcella and Oxford 1 992)
Since now, Chinese scholars also begin to focus on anxiety in learning and te
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