Investigating the Perceptions of L2 Learners on Language Learning Anxiety: A Study of Undergraduate Students at Public Sector University, Sindh Pakistan

Abstract

English has got the position of authorized language in Pakistan, widely used in various domains. In academic studies it is mandatory to teach English up to higher education. Mansoor (2004) estimates that newly graduate have studied English for at least 9 years recently. English is used as means for instruction in professional education like medicine, engineering and law.

One of the most common issues in learning a foreign language is anxiety. Among the three affective factors (attitudes, motivation, anxiety), language anxiety is the most common issue. It is also one of the factors which influence language learning (Henter, 2013). Anxiety is defined as “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (cited by Spielberger.1983). Horwitz (1986) revealed that in academic as well as social context anxiety in a foreign language is related to performance and suggested three kinds of anxiety. (1) Communication apprehension (2) Fear of negative evaluation (3) Test anxiety.

 This study aims to know the perceptions of English Language Learners on Language learning Anxiety in EFL classroom. The purpose of this study is to find or reveal the type of anxiety that learners feel in English as a foreign language classroom at University level.

The participants in this research are from one engineering university (MUET Jamshoro) of the Sindh and the size of the sample is also little (n=140). For a clear view of this area further large scale studies in different contexts of the country are needed for having a good platform for foreign language learning.

The present study used quantitative method for data collection to get unbiased results. Participants of the study are first year students of different engineering fields of Mehran University who learn English as a foreign language. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) given by (Horwitz, 1986) has been adapted and applied for data collection. The questionnaire was bifurcated into two parts, the initial part of questionnaire was for demographic information and the second part was for knowing the perceptions of students on anxiety. The data results were evaluated after doing different tests in SPSS software. The findings of the study reveal the learners feel anxiety during EFL classrooms and communication apprehension anxiety experienced by students is at a higher level from the learner’s perspective.

This will be beneficial for learners, educators and helpful to policy makers of the education system to make good and valid policies that will improve the learning of foreign language in a better way and suitable environment. It will be a significant contribution in the research domain.