An investigation into the level of foreign language anxiety and its relationship with oral performance among English Major students at Thu Duc college

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

-----------------------------------------

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE LEVEL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY

AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ORAL PERFORMANCE

AMONG ENGLISH–MAJOR STUDENTS AT THU DUC COLLEGE

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts (TESOL)

Submitted by

HA NHAT LINH

Supervisor

Dr. NGUYEN THUY NGA

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents....................................................................................................... ii

Abstract ...................................................................................................................... v

Statement of Authorship ........................................................................................... vi

Acknowledgments....................................................................................................vii

List of Figures ........................................................................................................ viii

List of Tables............................................................................................................. ix

Abbreviations............................................................................................................ x

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................1

1.1. Background of the study................................................................................1

1.2. Personal motivation .......................................................................................2

1.3. Rationale for the research..............................................................................3

1.4. Aims of the study...........................................................................................4

1.5. Research questions ........................................................................................4

1.6. Significance of the study ...............................................................................4

1.7. Structure of the thesis....................................................................................5

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................7

2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................7

2.2. General anxiety and anxiety in language learning ........................................7

2.2.1. Anxiety as a psychological construct......................................................7

2.2.2. Anxiety and foreign language learning ..................................................9

2.3. Selected theories and models of foreign language anxiety .........................10

2.3.1. The effects of anxiety on learning from instruction (Tobias, 1979) .....10

2.3.2. Foreign language anxiety in classroom (Horwitz et al., 1986)............11

2.4. The constituents of foreign language anxiety Horwitz et al. (1986)...........14

2.4.1. Communication apprehension ..............................................................14

2.4.2. Fear of negative evaluation ..................................................................15

2.4.3. Test anxiety ...........................................................................................16

2.5. Foreign language anxiety and oral performance .........................................17

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2.5.1. Oral performance .................................................................................17

2.5.2. The effects of FLA on oral performance...............................................18

2.6. Previous study..............................................................................................20

2.7. My research model ......................................................................................27

2.8. Summary......................................................................................................28

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY............................................................................29

3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................29

3.2. Research site ................................................................................................29

3.3. Participants ..................................................................................................30

3.4. Research design and instruments.................................................................31

3.4.1. Research design – quantitative and qualitative....................................31

3.4.2. Questionnaire........................................................................................32

3.4.2.1. The foreign language classroom anxiety scale (Horwitz et al.

(1986) ........................................................................................................32

3.4.2.2. Construction and content...............................................................33

3.4.2.3. Piloting the questionnaire..............................................................37

3.4.3. IELTS Speaking Simulation Test ..........................................................38

3.4.4. Interview ...............................................................................................39

3.4.4.1. Rationale for using the interview...................................................39

3.4.4.2. Construction and content...............................................................40

3.5. Data collection procedure............................................................................41

3.5.1. Administering the questionnaire...........................................................42

3.5.2. Conducting the test ...............................................................................42

3.5.3. Conducting the interview......................................................................43

3.6. Data analysis................................................................................................45

3.6.1. FLCAS and speaking results.................................................................45

3.6.2. Interview analysis.................................................................................47

3.7. Summary......................................................................................................47

CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................48

4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................48

4.2. The levels of FLA among participants........................................................48

4.2.1. Characteristics of the sample ...............................................................48

4.2.2. The levels of FLA ..................................................................................49

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4.2.3. Response to each FLCAS item..............................................................51

4.3. The relationship between FLA and oral performance in tests.....................55

4.3.1. Exam results..........................................................................................55

4.3.2. Pearson correlation between FLA and speaking score........................57

4.3.3. Presentation and interpretation of the interview..................................58

4.3.2.1. Interviewees’ profile ......................................................................58

4.3.2.2. The relevance between self-reported FLA score and surveyed

results ........................................................................................................59

4.3.2.3. Students’ perceptions of the relationship of anxiety and their

performance ....................................................................................................60

4.4. Discussion of the findings ...........................................................................62

4.4.1. Summary the findings...........................................................................62

4.4.2. Discussion.............................................................................................63

4.4.2.1. The level of anxiety among students ..............................................63

4.4.2.2. Response to each FLA item............................................................63

4.4.2.3. The relationship between anxiety and oral performance ..............65

4.5. Summary......................................................................................................66

5.1. Introduction .................................................................................................67

5.2. Conclusion ...................................................................................................67

5.3. Contributions and Implications ...................................................................68

5.4. Recommendations .......................................................................................70

5.5. Limitations...................................................................................................72

5.6. Recommendations for future research.........................................................73

5.7. Summary......................................................................................................75

REFERENCES..........................................................................................................76

Appendix 1. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (English version)...........82

Appendix 2. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Vietnamese version)....84

Appendix 3.Interview guide .....................................................................................86

Appendix 4. Speaking marking criteria.....................................................................87

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ABSTRACT

The role of English communication has been set on top of most educational institutes

of Vietnam. Alongside with the developments in learning and teaching English,

relevant aspects such as psychology in language learning have been attracting the

attention of language educators. This study hopefully provides an understanding of

how students experience anxiety – a subjective feeling – during their learning process

in the Vietnamese context, especially with speaking performance. Thesis aims are to

measure the level of foreign language anxiety existing among English–major students

at Thu Duc College and examine its relationship with participant students’ oral

performance. There were 91 students in the first-year program, who are studying

speaking course 2 at the college, participating in the study. A questionnaire, IELTS

simulation speaking test, and interview were used as the instruments of the research.

The results of the questionnaire indicate that student participants are of a moderate

level of foreign language anxiety. In detail, there are medium levels of

communication apprehension and the fear of negative evaluation, while students are

experiencing high level of testing anxiety. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation

results reveal that foreign language anxiety is debilitating to the oral performance of

students. There were six interviewees from high and low anxiety groups participating

an open-ended interview to clarify the difference in the effects of FLA on oral

performance. Implications of the findings thus discuss the suggested solutions for this

problem and recommend research paths for future research in the Vietnamese

context.

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no

material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which

I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text

of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any

other tertiary institution.

All research procedures reported in this thesis were approved by the Graduate School,

Ho Chi Minh City Open University.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly, I wish to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Nguyen Thuy

Nga for her sound advice, instantaneous encouragement, and extensive support for

the development and completion of this study.

Secondly, I am so grateful to Mr. Pham Minh Trung, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Anh, Mr.

Bui Tri Vu Nam, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thien Khoa for their perceptive comments and

helpful advice on statistical analysis.

Thirdly, I am further indebted to the cooperation of students at Thu Duc College, who

have participated in the survey.

Finally, I would like to thank all members of my family, especially my father who is

my role model in life and research, for their love, patience and encouragement for

hanging in there until then.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2. 1. Model outlining the effects of anxiety on learning from instruction

(Tobias, 1979) ..................................................................................................... 11

Figure 2. 2. Inverted “U” relation between anxiety and performance (He, 2018)

.............................................................................................................................. 19

Figure 2. 3. Proposed research model on the relationship between FLA and oral

performance.......................................................................................................... 28

Figure 3. 1. Design of the present research.......................................................... 32

Figure 4. 1. Overview of FLA in the classroom and testing................................ 51

Figure 5. 1. The model of the relationship between foreign language anxiety and

oral performance .................................................................................................. 68

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2. 1. Summary of selected research on the relationship between language

anxiety and oral performance............................................................................... 26

Table 3. 1. The construct of questionnaire about Communication Apprehension

.............................................................................................................................. 36

Table 3. 2. The construct of questionnaire about Fear of negative evaluation .... 37

Table 3. 3. The construct of questionnaire about Test Anxiety........................... 37

Table 3. 4. The construct of interview questions................................................. 40

Table 3. 5. The research procedure ...................................................................... 42

Table 3. 6. Description of interview participants................................................. 44

Table 3. 7. The interpretation of FLCAS ............................................................. 45

Table 3. 8. Grading system .................................................................................. 46

Table 3. 9. The interpretation of Pearson Correlation value................................ 47

Table 4. 1. Response and Non–Response Distribution of Questionnaires .......... 48

Table 4. 2. Characteristics of questionnaire participants..................................... 49

Table 4. 3. Distribution of FLA levels................................................................. 50

Table 4. 4. Communication Apprehension .......................................................... 52

Table 4. 5. Fear of Negative Evaluation .............................................................. 53

Table 4. 6. Test Anxiety....................................................................................... 54

Table 4. 7. The description of FLA levels by three groups ................................. 54

Table 4. 8. The students’ achievement in speaking tests..................................... 55

Table 4. 9. Overall grade averages for students by anxiety groups (midterm test)

.............................................................................................................................. 56

Table 4. 10. Overall grade averages for students by anxiety groups (final

examination)......................................................................................................... 56

Table 4. 11. Pearson Correlation between FLA levels and speaking results from

midterm test and final examination...................................................................... 57

Table 4. 12. Interviewees’ profile ........................................................................ 58

Table 4. 13. Comparison between students’ FLA self-report and FLCAS.......... 58