THE LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND POSSIBLE WAYS OF REDUCTION IT IN EFL CLASSES

Öz

One of the biggest problems for university students in Turkey complaining about English language is that they can’t speak it in a desired way. There are many reasons behind it. The most vital one is language anxiety that students often experience. Language anxiety is defined as the worry and negative emotional reaction when learning and using second language (MacIntyre, 1999). This study examined the anxieties of 90 students from English language teaching (ELT) department at Abant Izzet Baysal University by using the Horwitz’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Whether or not gender, overall grade point average(GPA) and pupil’s grade affect anxiety was investigated in this study. Findings showed that females had higher anxiety than males, that freshmen students had higher anxiety than other class levels and anxiety was negatively correlated with GPA. Findings were discussed in lights of the relevant literature.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Language anxiety; EFL; English language teaching; speaking anxiety; reduction of language speaking anxiety

DİL KAYGISI VE YABANCI DİL SINIFLARINDA AZALTILMASININ OLASI YOLLARI

Öz

Türkiye’de İngilizce öğrenenlerin şikayet ettikleri en önemli sorunların başında istendik bir şekilde konuşulamamasıdır. Bunun arkasında birçok neden olduğu düşünülmektedir. Ama en önemli olanı ise kaygı olarak düşünülmektedir. Bu noktada kaygı ikinci dil öğrenilirken ya da kullanılırken ortaya çıkan endişe verici ve negatif bir duygudur (MacIntyre, 1999). Bu araştırmaya Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi İngilizce öğretmenliği bölümünden 90 öğrenci katılmıştır. Bu araştırmada Horwitz’s Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale kullanılmıştır. Kaygının cinsiyete, genel not ortalamasına ve öğrencinin bulunduğu sınıf düzeyine göre etkilenip etkilenmediği incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları kız öğrencilerin kaygısının erkeklere göre daha yüksek, birinci sınıfta kaygının diğer sınıflara göre daha yüksek olduğunu ve bu kaygının akademik başarıyla negatif olarak ilişkili olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu bulgular ilgili literatür ışığı altında tartışılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dil Kaygısı,Yabancı Dil Öğrenimi,İngilizce Öğretimi,Konuşma kaygısı,dil konuşma kaygısının azaltılması

Kaynakça

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