This paper presents an empirical study of Foreign Language Anxiety in Chinese university students learning English as a foreign language.
The subjects of the present study were 344 college students from Mainland China. They responded to a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire adapted from Horwitz’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS).
Their responses to the questionnaire were submitted to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (with the help of statistical package of SPSS and AMOS) for identifying anxiety dimensions.
The results show that four dimensions of anxiety exist among the subjects and the two dimensions of the FLCAS were closely examined to find the extent to which that the four-factor model adequately fit the data. The fit indices suggested that the instrument measuring the dimensions of anxiety specific to college students in China was valid construct-wise and reliable for future use.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Literature Review
- 2.1 Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale
- 2.2 Factor analysis of FLCAS
- 3. Method
- 3.1 Participants
- 3.2 Instruments
- 3.3 Data collection and analysis
- 4. Results
- 4.1 The reliability and normality of FLCAS
- 4.2 Principal component analysis of the FLCAS
- 4.3 Confirmatory factor analysis of FLCAS
- 5. Discussion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study aims to identify the underlying dimensions of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) among Chinese university EFL learners. It investigates whether the existing structure of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) is applicable within the Chinese context and compares its findings with those from other cultural contexts.
- Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) in the Chinese context
- Factor analysis of the FLCAS
- Comparison of anxiety dimensions across cultures
- Validity and reliability of the FLCAS in China
- Implications for foreign language teaching and learning in China
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction lays out the significance of FLCA in foreign language learning and highlights the lack of research examining the FLCAS in the Chinese context. The literature review explores the development and use of the FLCAS, focusing on previous factor analysis studies that have investigated its underlying dimensions in various cultural settings. The methods section details the participants, instruments, and data collection and analysis procedures used in the current study. The results section presents the findings of the reliability and normality analyses of the FLCAS, as well as the principal component and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on the data. The discussion section interprets the findings, comparing them with previous research and discussing the implications for FLCA research and foreign language teaching and learning in China.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, FLCAS, Factor Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Chinese Mainland Context, EFL Learners, Anxiety Dimensions, Reliability, Validity.
- Quote paper
- Yin Xiaoteng (Author), 2016, Foreign Language Anxiety. A Case Study of Chinese University Students Learning English as a Foreign Language, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/343282
