PROPOSAL

Proposal

Proposal

This proposal is related to an study discussing in anxiety and affective barriers in foreign language learning among Saudi Students.

Foreign Language Anxiety, recognized as an affective factor in foreign language learning and normally discussed alongside other individual learner differences (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1992, 1993), is still considered to be a relatively new and developing area within foreign language research. In order to understand its nature, it is necessary to present an overview of anxiety in general and consider the different forms it may manifest itself in.

Different researchers have approached Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) from different aspects. From a broader perspective, anxiety itself is defined by psychologists as “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (Spielberger, as cited in Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1991, p. 27). Literature usually differentiates between three types of anxiety:

• trait anxiety - which is a personality trait (Eysenck, 1979)

• state anxiety - which is apprehension experienced at a particular moment in time

• situational anxiety - which is anxiety experienced in a well-defined situation (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991a)

Foreign Language Anxiety, or more precisely, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) is considered to be a situational anxiety experienced in the well-defined situation of the foreign language classroom (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991a, 1991b, 1994). As such, Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1991) view FLCA 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” (in Horwitz & Young, 1991, p.31) In all of these specifications, the context or situation dependent nature of foreign language anxiety is emphasized.

Many researchers Researchers have consistently revealed that anxiety can impede foreign language production and achievement. Indeed, Campbell & Ortiz, (1991) report perhaps one-half of all language students experience a startling level of anxiety. Language anxiety is experienced by learners of both foreign and second language and poses potential problems "because it can interfere with the acquisition, retention and production of the new language" (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991, p. 86).

Krashen (1985a, 1985b) maintained that anxiety inhibits the learner's ability to process incoming language and short-circuits the process of acquisition.  An interaction is often found among anxiety, task difficulty, and ability, which interferes at the input, processing, retrieval, and at the output level. If anxiety impairs cognitive function, students who are anxious may learn less and also may not be able to demonstrate what they have learned. Therefore, they may experience even more failure, which in turn escalates their anxiety. Furthermore, Crookall and Oxford (1991) reported that serious language anxiety may cause other related problems with self-esteem, self-confidence, and risk-taking ability, and ultimately hampers proficiency in the second language. Foreign language anxiety is a complex psychological construct, difficult to precisely define, perhaps due to the intricate hierarchy of intervening variables as noted by Trylong (1987).

The goal and methods of the present research

The primary goal of this research was to identify those factors, as perceived by students, that may contribute to ...