EFL Teacher Strategies for Reducing Student Anxiety in Learning English

Syahrunnisa Syahrunnisa; Haryanto Atmowardoyo; La Sunra

doi:10.56209/badi.v2i3.89

Authors

Syahrunnisa Faculty of English education, State University of Makassar, Indonesia
Haryanto Atmowardoyo Faculty of English education, State University of Makassar, Indonesia
La Sunra Faculty of English education, State University of Makassar, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56209/badi.v2i3.89

Keywords:

EFL Teacher Strategies, Students’ Anxiety, Learning English

Abstract

This research aims at identifying the measures that EFL teachers take to minimize learners’ anxiety in English learning at MA Arifah Indonesia particularly from the aspect of anxiety and second language acquisition. The study adopted a concurrent triangulation design in which quantitative data was collected from the questionnaires while qualitative data was collected from interviews. The study shows that anxiety arising from fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and test, hurts the students’ performance in speaking activities and academic achievement. Most of the students benefited from approaches adopted by the teacher such as behaviour modification and support from classmates and Gradualiliarly Increasing the Task Difficulty. But as the results of the students’ feedback reveal, it is not enough for the students, especially those with higher levels of anxiety, to employ these methods; therefore, they require other kinds of interventions, including practices based on mindfulness. The study also brings out the impact of worry on test performance, and there is a need to analyse the existing strategies of assessments to provide for the worried students. Such results suggest that EFL education needs to be more comprehensive to include psychological intervention into learners’ mental state and teaching methods that are best suited for these learners in order to introduce change for a better learning environment.

References

Adler, J. (2000). Conceptualising resources as a theme for teacher education. Journal of mathematics teacher education, 3(3), 205-224. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009903206236

Al Hakim, M. A. (2021). Revealing the potential impacts of English-medium instruction (EMI) in Indonesian higher education context. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 9(2), 461-472. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v9i2.2343

Al-Saraj, T. M. (2014). Revisiting the foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS): The anxiety of female English language learners in Saudi Arabia. L2 Journal: An electronic refereed journal for foreign and second language educators, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5070/L26121650

Avancini, C. (2019). From working memory to maths: A multi-measure physiological investigation of the impact of anxiety (Doctoral dissertation). https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.45777

Birch, S. H., & Ladd, G. W. (1997). The teacher-child relationship and children's early school adjustment. Journal of school psychology, 35(1), 61-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(96)00029-5

Borthick, A. F., Jones, D. R., & Wakai, S. (2003). Designing Learning Experiences within Learners' Zones of Proximal Development (ZPDs): Enabling Collaborative Learning On‐Site and Online. Journal of Information Systems, 17(1), 107-134. https://doi.org/10.2308/jis.2003.17.1.107

Brown, A. L., & Palincsar, A. S. (2018). Guided, cooperative learning and individual knowledge acquisition. In Knowing, learning, and instruction (pp. 393-451). Routledge.

Casteel, A., & Bridier, N. L. (2021). DESCRIBING POPULATIONS AND SAMPLES IN DOCTORAL STUDENT RESEARCH. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.28945/4766

Chen, Z., & Goh, C. (2011). Teaching oral English in higher education: Challenges to EFL teachers. Teaching in higher education, 16(3), 333-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2010.546527

Cho, H., Ryu, S., Noh, J., & Lee, J. (2016). The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students. PloS one, 11(10), e0164822. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164822

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive learning environments: Creating and maintaining productive classrooms. Cengage AU.

Denham, K., & Lobeck, A. (Eds.). (2010). Linguistics at school: Language awareness in primary and secondary education. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1395.2013.01162.x

Dikmen, M. (2021). EFL Learners' Foreign Language Learning Anxiety and Language Performance: A Meta-Analysis Study. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 8(3), 206-222. https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.908048

Effiong, M. (2013). Factors influencing foreign language classroom anxiety: An investigation of English learners in four Japanese universities (Doctoral dissertation, University of Southampton).

Ewald, J. D. (2007). Foreign language learning anxiety in upper‐level classes: Involving students as researchers. Foreign Language Annals, 40(1), 122-142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2007.tb02857.x

Fani, T., & Ghaemi, F. (2011). Implications of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) in teacher education: ZPTD and self-scaffolding. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 1549-1554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.396

Farfán, I. D. L. Á. G., & Medranda, E. M. M. (2022). Teachers´ strategies to encourage students to speak in the classroom. Polo del Conocimiento: Revista científico-profesional, 7(10), 1035-1050.

Fathi, J., Torabi, S., & Arashpour, K. (2019). A qualitative exploration of demotivating factors in English language learning among Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of English Language, 1-11.

Herwanto, R. (2013). Factors that cause language anxiety in the English classroom speaking performance in SMP Negeri 4 Pakem Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta State University.

Holt, D. D. (1993). Cooperative Learning: A Response to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity. Language in Education: Theory and Practice 81. Delta Systems, Inc., 1400 Miller Parkway, McHenry, IL 60050-7030.

Honeycutt, J. M., Choi, C. W., & DeBerry, J. R. (2009). Communication apprehension and imagined interactions. Communication Research Reports, 26(3), 228-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824090903074423

Jee, M. J. (2016). Exploring Korean heritage language learners’ anxiety:‘We are not afraid of Korean!’. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(1), 56-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1029933

Kanesan, P., & Fauzan, N. (2019). Models of emotional intelligence: A review. e-BANGI Journal, 16(7).

Kasmiati, K. (2021). Students’ Anxiety In Learning English Of The Eight Grade at SMP Negeri 1 Sarjo (Doctoral dissertation, IAIN Palu).

Kayaoğlu, M. N., & Sağlamel, H. (2013). Students’ perceptions of language anxiety in speaking classes. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 2(2), 142-160. https://doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v2i2.245

Litz, B. T., & Keane, T. M. (1989). Information processing in anxiety disorders: Application to the understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 9(2), 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(89)90030-5

Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A. (2020). Breaking the vicious cycle of language anxiety: Growth language mindsets improve lower-competence ESL students’ intercultural interactions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, 101847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101847

MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Language anxiety: Its relationship to other anxieties and to processing in native and second languages. Language learning, 41(4), 513-534. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1991.tb00691.x

MacIntyre, P., & Gregersen, T. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination. Studies in second language learning and teaching, 2(2), 193-213. Https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2012.2.2.4

Marinis, T. (2010). Using on-line processing methods in language acquisition research. Experimental methods in language acquisition research, 27. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.27.09mar

McDonald, M., Kazemi, E., & Kavanagh, S. S. (2013). Core practices and pedagogies of teacher education: A call for a common language and collective activity. Journal of teacher education, 64(5), 378-386. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487113493807

Muslim, A. (2013). An investigation into the oral communication skills component in the English language syllabuses of the Malaysian polytechnics. University of Strathclyde. Https://doi.org/10.48730/z3y7-bh94

Nath, P. R., Mohamad, M., & Yamat, H. (2017). The effects of movies on the affective filter and English acquisition of low-achieving English learners. Creative Education, 8(08), 1357. Https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2017.88096

Northern, J. J. (2010). Anxiety and cognitive performance: A test of predictions made by cognitive interference theory and attentional control theory (Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University).

Oller, J. (1992, August). Language testing research: Lessons applied to LEP students and programs. In Proceedings of the second national research symposium on limited English proficient student issues: Focus on evaluation and measurement (Vol. 2, pp. 43-123). Washingon, DC: US Department of Education.

Oosterheert, I. E., & Vermunt, J. D. (2003). Knowledge construction in learning to teach: The role of dynamic sources. Teachers and teaching, 9(2), 157-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600309376

Pintrich, P. R. (2002). The role of metacognitive knowledge in learning, teaching, and assessing. Theory into practice, 41(4), 219-225. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_3

Pyun, D. O., Kim, J. S., Cho, H. Y., & Lee, J. H. (2014). Impact of affective variables on Korean as a foreign language learners' oral achievement. System, 47, 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.09.017

Rachmawati, D. I. (2020). Jurianto.(2020). Investigating English department students’ foreign language speaking anxiety: a case study in Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia. Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Journal (SHE Journal), 1(2), 22-34. http://doi.org/10.25273/she.v1i2.6624

Ramasubramanian, S. (2017). Mindfulness, stress coping and everyday resilience among emerging youth in a university setting: a mixed methods approach. International Journal of adolescence and youth, 22(3), 308-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2016.1175361

Sham, R. M., & Azmi, M. N. L. (2018). The reliability of foreign language anxiety scale in Malay version based on Cronbach’s alpha. Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching, 2(1), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.30743/ll.v2i1.490

Shooshtari, Z. G., & Mir, F. (2014). ZPD, tutor; peer scaffolding: Sociocultural theory in writing strategies application. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1771-1776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.605

Slavin, R. E. (1996). Research on cooperative learning and achievement: What we know, what we need to know. Contemporary educational psychology, 21(1), 43-69. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1996.0004

Sullivan, A. K., & Strang, H. R. (2002). Bibliotherapy in the classroom using literature to promote the development of emotional intelligence. Childhood Education, 79(2), 74-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2003.10522773

Suparlan, S. (2021). Factors contributing students’ speaking anxiety. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 9(2), 160-169. https://doi.org/10.33394/jollt.v9i2.3321

Swainston, J. (2020). Understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms and improving cognitive and emotional health in female survivors of breast cancer (Doctoral dissertation, Birkbeck, University of London). https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00040477

Yulia, Y. (2013). Teaching challenges in Indonesia: Motivating students and teachers’ classroom language. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v3i1.186