A Correlational Study of Foreign Language Anxiety and Library Anxiety Among Non-native Speakers of English: A Case Study in a Malaysian Public University (original) (raw)
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Library anxiety has been identified as one of the academic related anxieties which can affect college students. The Library-Anxiety-Expectation Model indicated innate characteristics of students and environmental variables such as gender, race, and year of study, as possible antecedents of library anxiety. This means that the arousal of library anxiety can be influenced by students' other forms of inherent anxieties. The objective of this paper is therefore to investigate the level of academic related anxieties among final year undergraduates and the relationships among the dimensions of the anxieties. The scope of this study focuses on three anxieties; library anxiety, English language anxiety and communication anxiety. Three sets of survey instruments were used; Library Anxiety Scale (LAS), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24). All instruments were translated into the Malay language and statements with the word 'foreign language' in FLCAS were changed to 'English language'. The findings showed that final year students in this study experience only a moderate level of all three academic related anxieties. It was found that all four dimensions of communication anxiety – formal, interpersonal conversations, group discussion, and public speaking – correlated with at least one or more of the five dimensions of library anxiety – barriers with staff, library services barriers, library resources barriers, affective barriers, and internet services barriers. All three dimensions of language anxiety – speaking anxiety, classroom anxiety, and learner anxiety – correlated with at least one or more of library anxiety dimensions. Although the correlations were moderate, the study nevertheless provided empirical evidence that the dimensions of communication and language anxieties have relationship with the dimensions of library anxiety. Acknowledgment of the prevalence of these anxieties among students can help libraries and librarians to make learning in the library less stressful by focusing more on students and their problems instead of the library and its environment only.
Library Anxiety among International Students
2000
This study of 125 non-native English-speaking students at a Northeastern university investigated the prevalence of the dimensions of library anxiety among this population. Participants were administered the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS). This instrument has five subscales: barriers with staff; affective barriers; comfort with the library; knowledge of the library; and mechanical barriers. Of the five dimensions studied, mechanical barriers, which refers to feelings that emerge as a result of students' reliance on mechanical library equipment (e.g., computer printers, copy machines, and change machines) was the greatest source of library anxiety. Affective barriers, which refers to students' feeling of inadequacy about using the library, was the second most prevalent dimension, having statistically significantly higher mean ratings than the three remaining dimensions. This dimension was followed by barriers with staff and comfort with the library, respectively. Knowledge of the library was the source of least anxiety. Based on these finding, librarians and library educators should be cognizant of the role that technology plays in inducing library anxiety among international students. (Contains 21 references.) (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. yr-)
2015
Academic related anxieties are of relevant concern to libraries and librarians because substantial funds are spent annually to provide adequate information resources, services and facilities for students while the optimal use can be hindered by anxieties faced by students. Furthermore, a large portion of the print and electronic resources procured by the libraries are inevitably in the English language. Students in Malaysia who are non-native speakers of English are diversified in their competency of English language. At the University of Malaya, all undergraduates are required to register and pass the Information Skills Course since 1998. The mission is to produce quality graduates who are equipped with the relevant information skills for lifelong learning. Studies however, reveal that the students are more concerned with locating materials listed in their reading lists and favored internet sources, and only then the sources in the library. Why students do not optimize the use of l...
Examination of University Students' Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
Examination of University Students’ Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, 2016
Anxiety has been found to interfere with many types of learning. And, many researches such as MacIntyre and Gardner (1989) indicate there is a negative relationship between anxiety and second language learning achievement. In current study, it was aimed to determine whether the students' foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) display significant differences on the basis of gender, language level, receiving English preparatory training, and the kinds of high school they graduated from. The research group included 320 male (65.6 %) and 168 female (34.4 %) English preparatory students at Istanbul Technical University. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) and adapted in Turkish by Aydın (2001) was used as the data collection tool. Data were analysed using independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and the Scheffe's post-hoc test. T-test results showed female students' FLCA score is higher. But, there was not a statistically significant relationship between FLCA and receiving preparatory training. ANOVA results indicated high school differentiation does not affect it. Yet, Scheffe's test findings demonstrated the students' FLCA change over depending on their language level. In other words, female students are more appropriate to suffer from FLCA and FLCA is affected by students' language level.
Library & information science …, 2004
A modified version of the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) consisting of 34 statements, originally developed by Bostick in 1992 [Bostick, S. L. (1992). The development and validation of the Library Anxiety Scale. PhD dissertation, Wayne State University] using American students, was administered to 145 undergraduate biological sciences students in Kuwait to test its suitability for a culturally different population. Factor analysis was used to determine the appropriate number of factors and statement groupings in each of these factors. It was found that the factor groupings of the present study vary considerably from those of Bostick's suggesting that the LAS, in its present form was designed using American students and is not suitable for a different cultural group. The findings of this study suggest that gender and school library use do not have any significant relationship with library anxiety in the Kuwaiti population. The language of instruction in school and school library use does affect one of the four factors of library anxiety. More research on diverse populations is needed to test the suitability of the LAS further. The study also proposes a quantitative measure for determining the levels of library anxiety in terms of no anxiety, low anxiety, mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety.
Investigating Students' Foreign Language Anxiety
2007
This paper investigates Indonesian students' foreign language anxiety. It seeks to find out the types of anxiety experienced by FL learners and the strategies they use to cope with their anxiety. Questionnaires with a Likert scale ranging from disagree to agree were used to collect data. The findings revealed that the majority of students, despite their gender and level differences, experienced some kinds of FL anxiety and many of them also applied particular strategies to overcome their FL anxiety.
The present study investigated foreign language anxiety among students of Lasbela University, Baluchistan, Pakistan. The study adopted the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz et al., 1986). The respondents were (N = 240) including 26 female and 214 male. The data was run through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to present descriptive statistics of the respondents. Furthermore, ANOVA test indicated that there was no significant difference in majoring and non-majoring students’ level of anxiety, significantly, (F= value is equal to 3.348 and (P= value is equal to .011). Besides; no significant difference was also found in language anxiety between male and female respondents. Moreover, Pearson product-moment correlation showed a significant correlation among variables (CA=TA=FNE). The findings suggested that students of Lasbela University have fairly high anxiety in learning English
Exploring Foreign Language Anxiety among English-Major Undergraduate Students
2017
This study examined the foreign language (FL) anxiety level of Arabic-speaking university level students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia. Fifty undergraduate English-major students participated in this study. Participants completed the Arabic Foreign Language Anxiety Questionnaire (Al-Saraj, 2014), which is a modified version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Findings showed that participants experienced an average level of language anxiety. The main sources of language anxiety were speaking in front of classmates, concern about grades, and worry about being lost in class. In addition, results indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between students’ level of anxiety and their test scores. Suggestions about the best strategies to reduce anxiety are offered.
Foreign Language Anxiety among Students Studying Foreign Languages
2014
Background: Learning a foreign language is multi-dimensional and considered a source of stress. The purpose of the present study is to investigate foreign language classroom anxiety among university students in Jordan. The study makes use of a cross-sectional correlation design to collect data from 488 university students, employing a self-reported questionnaire of Foreign Language Anxiety. Results: 63.4% (n = 310) of the 488 students suffer foreign language classroom anxiety; mean score for communication apprehension is 54.7 (SD = 11.0), while the mean score for fear of negative evaluation is 22.8 (SD = 5.6), and mean score of test anxiety is 17.7 (SD = 3.1). The analysis shows that the highest anxiety level is experienced in terms of fear of negative evaluation and testing, while communication apprehension has the lowest level of fear. Conclusion: University students of foreign languages in Jordan have a high level of anxiety, which is undoubtedly associated with the level of acad...
The symptoms and consequences of foreign language anxiety should become readily identifiable to those concerned with language learning and teaching in order to achieve their goals.The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the level of proficiency and anxiety among the EFL Iranian sophomore and senior students. To this aim, 20 sophomore students and 20 senior students at the faculty of Literature and Humanities of ShahidChamran University of Ahvaz served as the participants of the study. The statistical analysis of the students' responses to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) showed that there is a significant relationship between anxiety and level of proficiency in the learning English as a foreign language. These results suggested that sophomore students and senior students studying English as a foreign language show different levels of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale.