A study on the correlation between self-confidence and foreign language learning anxiety

This study investigates the relationship between two affective factors, self-confidence as a personality trait and foreign language learning anxiety, in the context of a preparatory school students at a foundation university in İstanbul, Türkiye. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage two scales were applied to the learners: self-confidence scale and foreign language learning anxiety scales. Participants of the first stage were 117 English preparatory school students at a university. In the second stage, a group of 17 students were interviewed to find out the possible reasons of foreign language learning anxiety. Overall results showed that participants had high level of self-confidence and medium level of foreign language learning anxiety. Also, it was revealed that gender didn't play an important role in the levels of self-confidence of the learners. However, it was found that female learners had higher levels of foreign language learning anxiety compared to their male counterparts. For both affective factors, high school graduation and years of learning a foreign language didn't have a significant effect on the results. Furthermore, it was found that there is a moderate level of negative correlation between self-confidence and foreign language learning anxiety. The interviews revealed six main themes as the reasons of foreign language learning anxiety; interacting in the target language, fear of being teased, reactions of the teachers, being in an unfamiliar environment, not having enough knowledge of the language and tests / being graded. Finally, it was concluded that self-confidence and foreign language learning anxiety are negatively affected by one another, and apart from self-confidence levels, six themes were revealed that cause anxiety in foreign language learning. It was suggested that being aware of these possible reasons can guide the instructors to take precautions to reduce the levels of anxiety in the learning environments.