Drama activities and anxiety in a Turkish secondary school English as a foreign language classroom

The main objective of this study is to explore foreign language classroom anxiety in a secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom and the role of dramatized instruction in reducing foreign language anxiety. This study also attempts to identify the sources of foreign language anxiety by defining the most anxiety provoking situations in this particular setting. The study was carried out with 22 regular seventh grade students in a private school, in Turkey. In this mixed-methodology study, the Turkish version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), developed by Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope (1986) was administered as a pre and post-test. Following the eight weeks of dramatic intervention, students' self-reflective drama portfolios, teacher's observational field notes and drama lesson plans were also analyzed, in order to verify the data. Results of this study revealed that seventh grade EFL learners tend to experience moderately high levels of anxiety. Fear of making mistakes, teachers' instructions, test anxiety, negative social comparisons and lack of self-confidence in speaking English represent the possible sources of secondary school students' foreign language anxiety. The overall findings of this study is also consistent with the previous studies which have shown that drama activities have a significant positive effect on reducing students' fears, worries and anxieties arising from the unique settings of foreign/second language classrooms. Key words: English as a Foreign Language, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, Drama in Education, Drama in Language Teaching.