The link between Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity and Self-rated English proficiency among Chinese learners
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Date
2013-03
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Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
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Abstract
Previous research has suggested that high levels of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
(FLCA) have a negative effect on foreign language learning (Horwitz, 2001; Lu & Liu,
2011) while moderate levels of Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity (SLTA) are believed
to boost foreign language learning (Ely, 1995). There is prima facie evidence that
both dimensions are inversely related as Foreign Language Learning contexts are full of
ambiguities which may contribute to anxiety. However, the relationship between FLCA
and SLTA has been under-researched. The present study is an attempt to fill this gap by
investigating the link between SLTA and FLCA in English of 73 secondary school students
in Hong Kong. They filled out an online questionnaire consisting of the Foreign Language
Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and the Second Language
Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (Ely, 1995). Statistical analyses revealed that FLCA,
SLTA and Self-rated English proficiency predict half of the variance in each other; in other
words, students who were more tolerant of second language ambiguity were less
anxious in their EFL classes and they also felt more proficient.
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Keywords
Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (SLTAS), Self-rated proficiency, Foreign Language Anxiety, Tolerance of Ambiguity, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), English as a Foreign Language
Citation
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2013, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 47-66.