A study of upper-secondary school EFL Thai students’ anxiety in english language classroom
Issued Date
2015
Resource Type
Language
eng
Rights
Mahidol University
Rights Holder(s)
Faculty of Liberal Arts Mahidol University
Suggested Citation
Kornsiri Boonyaprakob, Wiwat Puntai, Wipawanee Ponata (2015). A study of upper-secondary school EFL Thai students’ anxiety in english language classroom. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/12950
Title
A study of upper-secondary school EFL Thai students’ anxiety in english language classroom
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
The present study investigated upper-secondary school EFL Thai students’ anxiety in English language
classroom. The participants were 40 Matthayomsuksa 4 students (relatively equivalent to grade 10) enrolling
in the first semester of 2014 academic year at the K.M. school (pseudonym). They were 14 males and 26
females. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used
to measure the extent to which the students felt anxious in EFL classroom. Based on items in FLCAS scale,
anxiety has three components: communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. The
results revealed that overall the majority of the participants (75%) experienced moderate or high level of EFL
classroom anxiety. As indicated by the FLCAS gained scores, the participating students could be grouped
according to level of anxiety as having low ( x =0-1.69), average ( x =1.70-3.49), and high ( x ≥ 3.5) anxiety.
Regarding the components of foreign language anxiety, fear of negative evaluation was the situation that
made students the most anxious. Moreover, the majority of the participating students reported that they
worried about the consequences of failing their English class the most ( x =3.90). Furthermore, those with
high and low anxiety noticeably shared fear of negative evaluation as the variable that made them most
anxious, while those with average anxiety were found to be most anxious about communication apprehension.
Consequently, the finding of present study shed light on the importance of teacher’s attention to student’s
anxiety which could take place in the process of teaching and learning.
Description
The International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture and Education (ICLLCE) 25th–26th April 2015 Kota Kinabalux, Malaysia, page 76-88