<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is perceived as a negative factor influencing learners’ language achievement. Targeting Chinese overseas students, this paper investigates whether communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and trait anxiety are related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. The present study also aims to examine how students perceive their speaking anxiety and coping strategies both from teachers and students. The questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were adopted for data collection. 80 TESOL students at the University of Edinburgh were invited to complete the questionnaires, with 6 students participating in the interviews to get deeper insights into Chinese students’ perception of their speaking anxiety. Research findings revealed that communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and traits anxiety were strongly related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. In the interviews, 6 respondents commented that instructors’ characteristics, such as patience and humor, and their preparation before class can alleviate their speaking anxiety in workshops. It is hoped that the current study can contribute to a deeper understanding of Chinese students’ speaking anxiety in UK universities.</p></abstract>

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is perceived as a negative factor influencing learners’ language achievement. Targeting Chinese overseas students, this paper investigates whether communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and trait anxiety are related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. The present study also aims to examine how students perceive their speaking anxiety and coping strategies both from teachers and students. The questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were adopted for data collection. 80 TESOL students at the University of Edinburgh were invited to complete the questionnaires, with 6 students participating in the interviews to get deeper insights into Chinese students’ perception of their speaking anxiety. Research findings revealed that communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and traits anxiety were strongly related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. In the interviews, 6 respondents commented that instructors’ characteristics, such as patience and humor, and their preparation before class can alleviate their speaking anxiety in workshops. It is hoped that the current study can contribute to a deeper understanding of Chinese students’ speaking anxiety in UK universities.

Chinese TESOL Students’ Perception of Their Speaking Anxiety in Workshops

Journal of Language and Cultural Education

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Chinese TESOL Students\u2019 Perception of Their Speaking Anxiety in Workshops"}

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is perceived as a negative factor influencing learners’ language achievement. Targeting Chinese overseas students, this paper...

Chinese TESOL Students’ Perception of Their Speaking Anxiety in Workshops

Published Online: Dec 05, 2019

Page range: 21 - 50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0010

Keywords
speaking anxiety, Chinese overseas students, instructors, communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English, trait anxiety

© 2019 Wu Huashan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Chinese TESOL Students’ Perception of Their Speaking Anxiety in Workshops

Published Online: Dec 05, 2019

Page range: 21 - 50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2019-0010

Keywordsspeaking anxiety, Chinese overseas students, instructors, communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English, trait anxiety

© 2019 Wu Huashan, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
speaking anxiety, Chinese overseas students, instructors, communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English, trait anxiety