Alleviating Foreign Language Anxiety: A Qualitative Study on Classroom Situations and Effective Teacher Strategies
2025 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (professional degree), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
In many foreign language classrooms today, students fear speaking in front of peers and teachers, experiencing anxiety when they are tasked with an oral presentation. The term Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) was coined and developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) who described it as ''a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process''. This study aims to identify anxiety-inducing situations through teachers' perceptions and explore if English teachers use strategies to alleviate anxiety for their students. Eight English secondary and upper secondary school teachers participated in semi-structured interviews to contribute with their experiences and strategies. The interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis to gain insight into the participants' perspectives of language anxiety and how they would work with it. The results show that oral presentation tasks in the English subject are the most anxiety-inducing for students. The most prominent strategies used by the teachers to alleviate language anxiety were task strategies, motivational strategies, emotional strategies, and practice strategies.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 96
Keywords [en]
Second language learning, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), Anxiety, Teacher Approach, Teacher Strategies, Situations, Language Development
National Category
Studies of Specific Languages Pedagogy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-23317Local ID: EXE601OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-23317DiVA, id: diva2:1956189
Subject / course
English
Educational program
Teacher Traning Programme
Examiners
2025-05-052025-05-052025-05-09Bibliographically approved