INVESTIGATING FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND LEARNER BELIEFS IN SPOKEN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK WITH A FOCUS ON LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Abstract

Research on the role of language proficiency on foreign language anxiety and learner corrective feedback beliefs in oral practice has not reached conclusive results. This study investigates whether level of proficiency affects foreign language anxiety and learner beliefs about spoken corrective feedback in an EFL context. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling. A total of 204 participants, who were all tertiary level university learners of English from four different proficiency groups, responded to two scales: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) and Corrective Feedback Belief Scale (Fukuda, 2004). A series of one-way ANOVA analyses and Bonferroni adjusted post-hoc corrections were run to test significance between and within groups. The four proficiency groups were statistically different from each other in terms of foreign language anxiety and spoken corrective feedback preferences. The findings revealed that the learners with a low proficiency level appreciated immediate feedback, but those with a higher level of language proficiency preferred delayed feedback. Clarification requests, elicitation and metalinguistic feedback were rated more positively by the beginner group than the other groups. In terms of the choice of correctors, language proficiency did not play a role; however, all the groups valued teachers as the main agents of correction. This study is one of the very few comprehensive studies (e.g., Tercan & Dikilitaş, 2016; Uyanıker, 2018) focusing on the role of language proficiency in anxiety and feedback preferences of high achiever tertiary level learners of English who will pursue their undergraduate studies in an English medium public university in Turkey.

Keywords

• language anxiety,oral corrective feedback,EFL learners

YABANCI DİL KAYGISI VE ÖĞRENİCİLERİN SÖZLÜ DÜZELTİCİ GERİBİLDİRİM İNANIŞLARININ DİL YETERLİLİK DÜZEYİ ODAKLI İNCELENMESİ

Abstract

Dil başarı seviyesinin, yabancı dil kaygısı ve öğrenicilerin sözlü iletişimdeki düzeltici geribildirim inanışları üzerindeki rolü hakkındaki çalışmalar kesin bir sonuca ulaşmamıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, yabancı dil olarak İngilizce’nin öğretildiği bir bağlamda, dil seviyesinin, yabancı dil kaygısı ve öğrenicilerin sözlü düzeltici geribildirim inançları üzerinde etkisi olup olmadığını araştırmaktır. Katılımcılar üniversitedeki hazırlık sınıflarından seçkisiz örneklem üzerinden seçilmiş dört faklı dil seviyesindeki gruplardan oluşmaktadır. Ölçek olarak Yabancı Dil Sınıf Kaygı Ölçeği (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) ve Düzeltici Geribildirim İnanç Ölçeği (Fukuda, 2004) uygulanmıştır. Her iki ölçek toplamda 204 kişi tarafından cevaplanmıştır. Grup içi ve gruplar arası anlamlı farklılıkları test etmek için bir seri tek faktörlü varyans analizi ve Bonferroni düzeltmesi yapılmıştır. Dört seviye grubu yabancı dil kaygısı ve sözlü düzeltici geribildirim tercihleri açısından anlamlı bir şekilde ayrışmaktadırlar. Alt dil seviyesindeki öğreniciler, açıklama talebi isteği, söyletim ve üstdilsel geribildirimi üst dil seviyesine sahip öğrenicilerden daha olumlu değerlendirmişlerdir. Yapılan yanlışları düzelten kişiler açısından, dil seviyesinin herhangi anlamlı bir etkisi görülmemiştir, fakat tüm gruplar hata düzeltici mekanizma olarak öğretmeni ve kendilerini daha güvenilir olarak değerlendirmişlerdir. Bu çalışma eğitim öğretim dili İngilizce olan yüksek başarı gruplarından oluşan Türkiye’deki bir devlet üniversitedeki hazırlık okulu öğrenicilerinin dil yeterliliklerinin kaygı ve geribildirim tercihlerine etkisine odaklanan birkaç kapsayıcı çalışmadan (örn., Tercan & Dikilitaş, 2016; Uyanıker, 2018) biridir. 

Keywords

• dil kaygısı,sözlü düzeltici geribildirim,yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenenler

Thanks

I would like to thank Gönül Tuğba Akdağ, Melike Yılmaz Baştuğ, Yeşim Erdoğru, Anna Maria Ivan, Elifcan Ata Kıl, Çağdaş Kalafat, David Albachten, Özlem Tuna, Feyza Çeliktaş, Neil Warrington, Seçil Baran, Ian Fitzmorris, Gökçe Kuruçay Aydın, Joslynn Merkel and Bekir Ateş for their help in data collection and of course Boğaziçi University School of Foreign Languages students who volunteered to take part in the study.

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