Foreign language anxiety in English language learning

This study contributes to the literature by examining the issue of foreign language anxiety (FLA) from the perspectives of both the foreign language learners and the teachers. It aims to reveal the causes of FLA of preparatory school students in English lessons and identify the ways to reduce or overcome FLA of preparatory school students. This study was conducted at a foundation university in Konya and 60 students participated in the research. The data was collected through two instruments. The first data collection instrument was a Translated Turkish Version of Foreign Language Anxiety Scale by Horwitz (1986) including 33 items of four categories: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety and classroom procedure. The second data collection instrument was semi-structured interviews conducted with 5 students and 4 lecturers. The data obtained from the semi-structured interviews were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings from the study revealed that there is statistical difference among the classes related to communication apprehension. Similarly, significant differences among the classes were found related to the fear of negative evaluation. However, there were no significant differences among the classes in terms of test anxiety and classroom procedure. Additionally, the study showed that there were some causes of foreign language anxiety and also some ways in order to decrease or overcome this feeling.