Perceptions of Foreign Language Anxiety with Non-English Majors: A Case Study in a Chinese University

Abstract

The present study examines the perceptions of foreign language anxiety with 50 non-English majors in a Chinese university. All the students, in accordance with certain principles, were divided into two groups as high-level foreign language learners and low-level foreign language learners. Combining the quantitative and qualitative methods in this study, a FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) questionnaire was administered to the students of each proficiency level to explore their foreign language anxiety and a semi-structured interview was conducted to 5 students of each level to acquire their perceptions and reasons behind perceptions. The results reveal that the foreign language anxiety is experienced by all the students of both high- and low-level. In addition, foreign language speaking anxiety is particularly prominent in both levels of the learners. The findings also indicate that the low-level foreign language learners experience much more anxiety than the high-level foreign language learners with various factors being cited as the contributing factors of this anxiety.