Investigating the Role of Explanatory Social Avoidance and Distress, Academic Motivation and Self-Efficacy in Predicting Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Psychology, Urmia University, Azerbaijan–e-Gharbi, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Foreign languages Department, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Urmia University, Azerbaijan–e-Gharbi, Iran

3 PhD of Counseling, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

4 Psychology PhD student, University of Urmia, Iran

5 Department of Counseling, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.34785/J012.2019.831

Abstract

Foreign language class anxiety is one of the most important emotional elements in language learning. Experiencing the emotions that occur frequently throughout the classroom shapes the process of learning a foreign language. Foreign language anxiety affects the level of English language learning success, so high levels of anxiety can play a deterrent role for learners in the language acquisition device. Foreign language anxiety is influenced by factors such as learners, instructors, and teaching practice, and occurs when students have several negative experiences in foreign language contexts. Six potential reasons for foreign language anxiety are involved in language learners' learning, including individual and interpersonal factors, learner's beliefs about language learning, teacher's beliefs about language teaching, the interaction between learner and teacher, classroom methods, and language tests. Learning a foreign language is influenced by a variety of factors. The tool by which a foreign language is learned, and limitations such as the lack of a social environment, the skill limitation of a foreign language, the classroom atmosphere, and the anxiety of learners, put it in front of the first language, which is usually effortless and spontaneous. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of social avoidance and distress, academic motivation and academic self-efficacy as variables predicting anxiety in foreign language classroom anxiety.
The present study is based on the goals of descriptive research and in terms of data analysis method of correlation studies. The statistical population of the study included all students studying at Urmia University, which includes 16,750 students. Sampling was performed by multi-stage clustering. At first, among the faculties of Urmia University, according to the extensive volume of the research community and observing the principle of saving, the multi-stage sampling method should be used. Accordingly, in the first stage, three faculties of Economics and Management, Literature and Humanities, Technical and Engineering were randomly selected from different faculties, and then two faculties of Mechanics and Mining, Persian Literature and History and Economics and Business Management were randomly selected from each faculty. Were selected. At this stage, after each session, randomly and independently from the male and female students, a class was randomly selected and the subjects were examined. The criteria for entering the study in each group included at least two semesters of study so that in the current semester they have chosen the English language unit and are taking an English language course. The first language of these students was Persian, Turkish and Kurdish. Finally, 223 undergraduate students were selected, and after ensuring that the English language course was chosen in the current semester, the research questionnaires were provided to the students. The following tools were used to collect information. The following measures were used to collect data. They were then analyzed using SPSS version 22 using statistical methods of Pearson correlation and stepwise regression. The measures in this research include the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) Questionnaire, Watson and Friend's Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD), Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES), and Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). The study involved 223 people, three of whom were excluded from the analysis, so the data of 148 women and 72 men were analyzed. The age range of students was 18 to 32 years, with a mean of 19.84 years and a standard deviation of 2.19. To determine the share of distress and social avoidance variables with a mean of 6.69 and standard deviation of 4.62, academic motivation including internal motivation with a mean of 56.22 and standard deviation of 12.84, external motivation with a mean of 62.15 and standard deviation of 14.60 And motivation with a mean of 9.12 and standard deviation of 5.17, as well as academic self-efficacy with a mean of 29.51 and standard deviation of 6.72, in predicting foreign language class anxiety with a mean of 1.06 and standard deviation of 23.70 of correlation statistical methods. Pearson and step-by-step regression analysis were used with SPSS statistical software version 22, the results of which are presented below.
The results indicated that the correlations between social avoidance and distress and academic self-efficacy with foreign language anxiety were 0.36 and 0.32, respectively. Among the variables, social avoidance and distress and academic self-efficacy can predict the variance of English language class anxiety. Also, the share of predictor variables of distress and social avoidance and also self-efficacy in explanation of English language classroom anxiety were 0.134 and 0.108 respectively. In this research, the academic motivation variable did not get any explicit contribution. The research findings suggest a relationship model with self-efficacy, social avoidance, and distress that affects the anxiety of the foreign language class. When self-efficacy is low, there is a risk of negative self-assessment, often accompanied by concerns about the consequences of performance on the exam or concerns about exam anxiety, which can cause physiological-emotional arousal during class or exam, and vice versa when students Assess the ability to perform a variety of educational tasks and advance the goals they have set for themselves. They are successful in controlling anxiety states in the face of test anxiety and communication comprehension and fear of negative evaluation by others. Self-efficacy helps organize the mental space and can predict changes in language class anxiety. Research has shown that more encouragement and training opportunities by the instructor can help the student's self-efficacy and reduce language class anxiety levels, thus creating a negative relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety, which is consistent with the study's findings. Foreign language classroom anxiety is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, and its study requires consideration of various environmental and internal dimensions. Given that distress and social avoidance, as well as self-efficacy, were able to explain changes in language class anxiety, it is suggested that the manifestation of foreign language classroom anxiety, students' performance and their scores on foreign language exams must be evaluated.

Keywords

References

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