Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Rationale
The studies on foreign language anxiety in western 论文代写 academia could be tracedback to the 1940s and prospered in the 1970s. A great many of studies have beendone by scholars such as Gardner, Macintyre, Horwitz, Aida, Jane Arnold and Brownto explore the connection between anxiety and Second Language Acquisition (SLA).According to Arnold (2000)，"anxiety serves as the greatest affective impediment oflanguage acquisition. Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is a distinct complex ofself-perceptions, beliefs，feelings, and behaviors related to classroom languagelearning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process，，(Horwitz et al，1986). Horwitz and Young (1991) define foreign language anxiety firstly "as amanifestation or transfer of other types of anxiety …in the language learningcontext，，(Horwitz, Tallon，and Luo, 2010，p. 95)，and secondly as an anxiety that isspecific to situation.Foreign language anxiety as a pivotal affective variable negatively affectsstudents' ability in foreign language learning. However，tiiere are controversialdiscussions about the effects of anxiety. Although most studies focus on the"debilitating side of anxiety" (Arnold，2000; Gardner & Maclntyre, 1993a; Horwitz,2001; Maclntyre &Gardner, 1991 a; Young, 1991), "some language researchers assertthe positive mode of anxiety" (Chastain, 1975; Kleinmann, 1977). Many studies hasfound students in formal learning environment (for example, those who study Englishat schools) tend to bear stronger language anxiety than those in informal learning(learning at home or with peers) situation.
……………
1.2 Objectives
This Study aims to analyze different manifestations and causes of foreignlanguage learning anxiety between MBBS students and Chinese medical students. Aquantitative research is employed in this study. The instrument used in thequantitative study is the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (PLCAS;Horwitz et.al 1986). It is used to collect data to reveal the anxiety level of MBBSstudents and Chinese medical students. Through the analysis，factors causing anxietyare detected and coping methods are proposed. Due to the particularity of MBBSstudents and Chinese medical majors, it is hoped that the paper could providereinforcement for language teachers' classroom behavior: engage MBBS students atan appropriate level and push them to leam Chinese better. Help CM studentsovercome the anxiety in English speaking and listening. By comparative study andanalysis using Krashen's "Affective Filter Hypothesis,，，the paper will throw a lighton how to provide a good starting place for language teachers teaching MBBSstudents or medical majors to refine their teaching techniques and make the classroomexperience more enjoyable and productive for their students' self confidence andmotivation, thereby increasing language development and leading to a consistentlypositive classroom experience for language learners.
…………….
Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Definitions
The term of anxiety can be defined from different perspectives in terms ofvarious fields. Darwin (1872) described the feeling of anxiety as an emotionalreaction that is aroused when an organism feels physically under threat. This notion isnot perfect because in modem society, liiere are few situations that are reallythreatening, but a lot of people still complain about the problem of anxiety. May(1977) defined anxiety as "an emotional response to threat to some value that theindividual holds essential to his existence as a personality". May's definition is stillincomplete because his definition neglects the fact that tiiere are still some physicalthreats such as natural disasters or incurable diseases, etc. Beck (1985) and Emery(1985) considered anxiety as an emotional response originating from a defectiveperception of danger in the environment. That is to say it is one's own defectiveperception that leads to anxiety rather tihtan reality. As psychotherapists, they hadsuccessfully helped clients wdth defective perceptions. But the perception causinganxiety may not always be defective. Obviously，those definitions disagree with each other on the causes of anxiety.The specification of tiie causes seems to be a drawback of the definitions of anxiety.Therefore, Scovel (1978) avoided the pitfall, simply defining anxiety as a state of"apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated with an object”. Withoutgiving a clear cause，the definition is applicable to all cases of anxiety. It has beenwidely cited or quoted by fellow researchers.Spielberger (as cited in Horwitz，Horwitz & Cope，1991) defined anxiety as "thesubjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated withan arousal of the autonomic nervous system". He proposes that anxiety should not beviewed as an independent construct, rather that it should be examined from amulti-dimensional perspective.
…………
2.2 Classifications of Foreign Language Anxiety
At different times, according to the nature of anxiety, the manifestation modeand the function, foreign language learning anxiety has been divided into thefollowing categories: The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was developed as a research tool forthe study of anxiety. According to the developer of tiiis method，Spielberger(1972,1983), state anxiety reflects a “transitory emotional state or condition of thehuman organism that is characterized by subjective, consciously perceived feelings oftension and apprehension, and heightened autonomic nervous system activity."Spielberger(l 972,1983) goes on to say, "Trait anxiety denotes relatively stableindividual differences in anxiety proneness and refers to a general tendency torespond with anxiety to perceived threats in the environment." It means that "state"anxiety is the anxiety state we experience when something causes us to feelappropriately and temporarily anxious and this anxiety then retreats until we feel"normal" again. Trait anxiety is the "preset" level of anxiety experienced by anindividual who has a tendency to be more anxious; to react less appropriately toanxiety provoking stimuli.
…………
Chapter Three Research Methodology.......... 18
3.1 Research Questions........ 18
3.2 Subjects ........ 19
3.3 Instruments........ 19
3.4 Data collection procedure........ 20
3.5 Data analysis method ........22
Chapter Four Results and Discussion........ 25
4.1 Analysis of FLCAS ........27
4.2 Analysis of FLCAS factors........ 29
4.3 Anxiety and learners' background factors........ 30
4.4 Anxiety and language course placement........ 32
4.5 Analysis of the interview ........35
4.6 Summary ........ 39
Chapter Five Conclusion........ 42
5.1 Findings of the study ........ 42
5.2 Implications of the Study........ 47
5.3 Limitations of this study........ 48
5.4 Suggestions for further research........ 50
Chapter Four Results and Discussion
4.1 Analysis of FLCAS
In terms of social statistics, reliability refers to the "measuring tools to measureresults witii consistency and stability" (Qin Xiaoqing, 2003). Only when themeasuring tool is in consistency and stability, the measurement results can beaccurate. For quantitative study，reliability is a very important indicator. In order toensure the accuracy of the study results, there is a need for a reliability test of theFLCAS.We use the internal Cronbach's alpha to test the internal consistency of the scale.According to the principles of community statistics，Cronbach's alpha is a coefficientnumber between 0.00 and 1，the higher the note is，the stronger the internalconsistency of the scale is and the more reliable the results of the measurement toolsare. After metering the 130 valid questionnaires, SPSS 19.0 calculates the Cronbach'salpha by a factor of 0.89. We present Cronbach's Alpha coefficients of Horwitz andAida's previous researches for comparison. The results are shown in Table 4-1,
……………
Conclusion
Through statistical analysis of tiie survey, qualitative individual interviews andclassroom observation, we have found that both the MBBS students and Chinesemedical students have certain degree of anxiety (MBBS mean is 100.35; CM mean is97.22)，which doesn't show significant differences in statistics. The analysis results of the questionnaire reveal that MBBS studentsdemonstrate stronger Communication Apprehension than Chinese medical students.MBBS students are found to have less confidence in speaking TL in class than CMstudents do because they have rare opportunities to use it since the majority of theireducational time is in English. MBBS students are more nervous when talking tonative speakers of Chinese. MBBS students lack the Chinese language environmentand good motivation to leam Chinese language and Chinese acquisition has beenunsatisfactory. They feel a stronger sense of anxiety talking to Chinese nativespeakers.
…………
Reference (omitted)