A Study on Secondary School Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety: Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions

Year 2022, Volume: 23 Issue: 1, 324 - 364, 30.04.2022

Tuğba Özsarı , Kağan Büyükkarcı

https://doi.org/10.17679/inuefd.1026046

Abstract

This study examines secondary school students’ and their teachers’ perceptions of foreign language anxiety. Also, the current study aims to compare public and private secondary school students’ foreign language anxiety level. Demographic variables such as gender and grades were also investigated to reveal whether they were acting as provoking or easing factors for foreign language anxiety among students. The sample group of this study consisted of 379 secondary school students chosen randomly and 9 English language teachers from public and private secondary school in Sakarya province, Turkey. The data were collected through two measurement tools, a scale for students and a questionnaire for teachers, which included open and close-ended questions. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and for the qualitative data analysis, content analysis was conducted. The findings of the research revealed that public school students experience moderate level of foreign language anxiety, while private school students experience low level of foreign language anxiety. The findings of current study demonstrate that there is meaningful difference between public and private school students in terms of their foreign language anxiety. In both schools, females were more anxious than males; however, the difference between two gender groups was significant in private school. Grade was not a predicting factor for foreign language anxiety in the current study. However, in both schools, 8th graders are the most anxious group of all. As for the teachers, they were well aware of their students’ anxieties, and they implemented useful strategies for decreasing this anxiety. Also, they adapted their pedagogical instructions in order to reduce their students’ foreign language anxiety. However, research findings demonstrated that there was a discrepancy between teachers’ and students’ perceptions in terms of test anxiety.

Keywords

Foreign language anxiety, foreign language learning, student perceptions, teacher perceptions

Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin Yabancı Dil Kaygıları Üzerine Bir Çalışma: Öğrenci ve Öğretmen Algıları

Abstract

Bu araştırma, ortaokul öğrencilerinin ve öğretmenlerinin yabancı dil kaygısı algılarını incelemektedir. Ayrıca, bu çalışma devlet ve özel ortaokul öğrencilerinin yabancı dil kaygı düzeylerini karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Cinsiyet ve not gibi demografik değişkenler de öğrencilerde yabancı dil kaygısını kışkırtıcı mı yoksa hafifletici etkenler olarak mı hareket ettiklerini ortaya çıkarmak için araştırılmıştır. Bu araştırmanın örneklemini Türkiye'nin Sakarya ilindeki devlet ve özel ortaöğretim okullarından rastgele seçilen 379 ortaokul öğrencisi ve 9 İngilizce öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Veriler, öğrenciler için bir ölçek ve öğretmenler için açık ve kapalı uçlu sorular içeren bir anket olmak üzere iki ölçüm aracıyla toplanmıştır. Nicel veriler betimsel ve çıkarımsal istatistiklerle analiz edilmiş, nitel veri analizi için içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, devlet okulu öğrencilerinin orta düzeyde yabancı dil kaygısı yaşadıklarını, özel okul öğrencilerinin ise düşük düzeyde yabancı dil kaygısı yaşadıklarını ortaya koymuştur. Mevcut araştırmanın bulguları, devlet ve özel okul öğrencilerinin yabancı dil kaygıları arasında anlamlı bir farklılık olduğunu göstermektedir. Her iki okulda da kızlar erkeklere göre daha kaygılı; ancak özel okulda iki cinsiyet grubu arasındaki fark anlamlıydı. Bu çalışmada not, yabancı dil kaygısını yordayan bir faktör değildi. Ancak her iki okulda da 8. sınıflar en kaygılı gruptur. Öğretmenler ise öğrencilerinin kaygılarının farkındaydılar ve bu kaygıyı azaltmak için faydalı stratejiler uyguladılar. Ayrıca öğrencilerinin yabancı dil kaygısını azaltmak için pedagojik yönergelerini uyarlamışlardır. Ancak araştırma bulguları, öğretmen ve öğrenci algıları arasında sınav kaygısı açısından bir farklılık olduğunu göstermiştir.

Keywords

Yabancı dil kaygısı, yabancı dil öğrenme, öğrenci algıları, öğretmen algıları

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