Beliefs about language learning and foreign language anxiety: A study of university students learning English as a foreign language in Mainland China Nan Wang B.A., Northwest University, 1998 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction 0N an Wang, 2005 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. -1 t Supervisor: Dr. Robert Anthony ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate foreign language anxiety and beliefs about language learning of university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in mainland China. In addition, the relationship between foreign language anxiety and students7b eliefs about language learning was studied. A total of 175 first and second year university students participated in the study. A set of questionnaires consisting of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (Honvitz, 1987), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Honvitz, 1983) and a background questionnaire were translated into Chinese and administered to the subjects. Several similarities and differences were observed between the Chinese subjects7r esponses to the BALLI and those of American foreign language students (Honvitz, 1988), Taiwanese EFL students (Yang, 1992), Korean EFL students (Truitt, 1995), American students of French (Kern, 1995), American students of Japanese (Oh, 1996), and Turkish-speaking students of English (Kunt, 1997). The Chinese subjects in this study reported higher levels of foreign language anxiety than the subjects in previous studies. Two BALLI factors were found to be significantly correlated with foreign language anxiety: "the difficulty about language learning" (r = .544 p< .01) and "beliefs about foreign language aptitude" (r = -.255 p< .01), suggesting that Chinese EFL students who believe English is not a very difficult language and perceive themselves as having higher language aptitude in language learning tend to have lower levels of language anxiety. This study contributes to the understanding of EFL students7b eliefs about language learning, and the frustrations and difficulties they experience in foreign language classrooms. Supervisor: Dr. Robert Anthony, (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) TABLE OF CONTENTS . . Abstract.. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. .. . . . . .. . .. .. .. . . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. .................. , i i ... Table of Contents.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . ... , 111 ... List of Tables.. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. .. .. .. . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. .. . ......... LIII Acknowledgements.. .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. .. . . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. ... x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Problem 1 Objectives of the Study 3 EFL in China 4 Definition of Terms Anxiety Foreign Language Anxiety and Language Anxiety Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) Beliefs about Language Learning Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) English as Second Language (ESL) Why This Study? 10 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 12 Foreign Language Anxiety Definitions of General Anxiety Approaches to the Study of Anxiety Trait Anxiety State Anxiety Situation-specific Anxiety Types of Anxiety Conceptualization of Foreign Language Anxiety Communication Apprehension Test Anxiety Fear of Negative Evaluation Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety on Course Grades Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety on Oral Performance and Listening Effects of Language Anxiety on Reading and Writing Effects of Foreign Language Anxiety on Learning Process Sources of Foreign Language Anxiety Personal and Interpersonal Issues Instructor Beliefs about Language Teaching Instructor-learner Interaction Classroom Procedures Language Testing Learner Beliefs about Language Learning Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning Research on Beliefs about Language Learning Relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety and Beliefs about Language Learning37 Identifying Research Gaps 40 CHAPTER 3 : METHODS Research Questions Participants 42 Instruments The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) The Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) Background Questionnaire Data Collection Procedures 4 8 Data Analysis Techniques 50 Purposes of the Statistical Procedures Descriptive Statistics Factor Analysis and Factor Scores Factor Analysis Factor Scores Pearson Correlation Analysis Multiple Regression Analysis CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS Research Question 1: What are the beIiefs of Chinese EFT. university students concerning language learning? 54 Difficulty of Language Leaning 55 Foreign Language Aptitude 57 Nature of Language Learning 60 Learning and Communication Strategies 61 Motivations and Expectations 64 Summary 66 Research Question 2: What are the levels of foreign language anxiety of Chinese EFL university students? FLCAS Scale Analysis FLCAS Item Analysis Summary Research Question 3: What is the relationship between Chinese EFL university students' beliefs about language learning and their levels of foreign language anxiety? 75 Factor Analysis 76 Principal Component Analysis on the BALL1 76 Factor Scores 83 Correlations and Multiple Regression Analysis 84 Correlations of BALL1 Factors and FLCAS Scores 84 Multiple Regression Analysis 86 Summary 90 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 9 1 Summary and Discussions 9 1 Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning 93 Comparison with Previous Studies Using BALL1 95 Foreign Language Anxiety 106 Relationship between Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning and Foreign Language Anxiety 109 Conclusions 111 Pedagogical Implications 113 Limitations 118 Recommendations for Future Research 120 REFERENCES 123 APPENDIX A HREC CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL 128 APPENDIX B PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORMS AND INVITATION LETTERS 129 APPENDIX C BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE 139 APPENDIX D BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING INVENTORY 141 APPENDIX E FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM ANXIETY SCALE 149 APPENDIX F FACTOR ANALYSIS FOR THE BALL1 157 APPENDIX H PERSONAL COMMUNICATION 162 - - -- - - - LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Total and Percentage of Subjects by Gender Table 4.1 The Difficulty of Language Leaming Table 4.2 Foreign Language Aptitude Table 4.3 The Nature of Language Learning Table 4.4 Leaming and Communication Strategies Table 4.5 Motivations and Expectations Table 4.6 Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale Results Table 4.7 BALLI Factor 1 (Motivational Beliefs and Communication Strategies) Table 4.8 BALLI Factor 2 (the Difficulty of English Learning) Table 4.9 BALLI Factor 3 (Language differences/value of Learning English) Table 4.10 BALLI Factor 4 (Importance of Formal Learning) Table 4.11 BALLI Factor 5 (Beliefs about Foreign Language Aptitude) Table 4.12 Correlation of the BALLI Factors and the FLCAS Scores Table 4.13 Multiple Regression Analysis of BALLI Factors on the FLCAS Scores Table 4.14 Model Summary of Multiple Regression Analysis Table 5.1 Comparison of the BALII: the Difficulty of Language Learning Table 5.2 Comparison of the BALLI: Foreign Language Aptitude -ix Table 5.3 Comparison of the BALLI: the Nature of Language Learning 10 1 Table 5.4 Comparison of the ALLI: Learning and Communication Strategies 103 Table 5.5 Comparison of the BALLI: Motivations and Expectations 105 Table 5.6 Summary of Foreign Anxiety Studies Using the FLCAS (EFL Groups) 107 Table 5.7 Summary of Foreign Anxiety Studies Using the FLCAS (American Groups)l08 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Robert Anthony, my supervisor, for his patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement over the past two years. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the other members of my thesis committee: Dr. Kathy Sanford and Dr. Sylvia Pantaleo for their invaluable suggestions and constant support. Sincere appreciation is also extended to Dr. John Walsh for his constructive comments in statistical analyses of my study and Dr. E.K. Horwitz for her invaluable suggestions. I would like to thank my dear dad and mom for their love, support, and encouragement. They are always there to be of help when I need them and I am so blessed to be their daughter. My special thanks also go to my research assistant, Miss Song Bai, in China. She devoted plenty of time to helping me distribute and collect questionnaires used in my research. I really appreciate her warm-hearted nature, support and cooperation. I wish to extend my special thanks to my friends, Miss Citing Li and Ting Min, who generously volunteered their editing expertise and helped me verify the Chinese versions of the questionnaires. Also, 1 would like to express my deep appreciation to so many anonymous participants in my research. Their time is precious. Finally, I want to thank all my friends around me, both those in China and here in Canada, for their constructive and insightful suggestions, their warmth and support, and their friendship.