(2017) Science and education, 7, 102-106. Odessa.

Svitlana Tsymbal,
Ph.D. (Psychology), associate professor,
National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

OVERCOMING LANGUAGE ANXIETY AMONG THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE LEARNERS: PSYCHO-PEDAGOGICAL ASPECT

Foreign language anxiety, the feeling of tension and apprehension specifically associated with learning a foreign language is considered to be the major factor encountered by language learners around the world. The consideration of language anxiety in the modern English classroom is highly significant to help learners boost their confidence and develop their communication skills in the target language. The current study addresses the following research questions: 1. What factors may cause the anxiety that university students encounter in the process of learning English? 2. What psychological and pedagogical strategies in reducing the language anxiety among English language learners to cope with the language anxiety can be utilized? The research is of qualitative and descriptive type. A survey questionnaire (by Horwitz et al.) was suggested to 86 students of National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv. The findings of this study clearly indicate that in spite of the use of modern communicative approaches and techniques by university teachers, the problem of English language anxiety still persists among the students. Teachers should do their best to reduce anxiety in their students by creating an attractive, warm atmosphere inside the classrooms and increasing students’ motivation in learning English. They should help their students to cope with negative attitudes and unpleasant feelings towards learning English. Furthermore, they should build students’ self-confidence by using positive reinforcement, encouragements. Coping strategies for foreign language anxiety may include those helping the students learn to deal with the context provoking anxiety and those making the learning context less stressful. In order to reduce the language anxiety, special trainings, activities and sessions should be used for language learners such as direct discussing students’ anxieties, cooperative learning activities, progressive relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, soothing music and humor, encouraging statements as well.

foreign language anxiety, English as a second language, coping strategies

1. Gardner, R., & MacIntyre, P. (1993). A student’s contribution to second language learning. Part II: affect variables. Language Teaching, 26, 1-11 [in English].
2. Hilgard, E. R., Atkinson, R. C., & Atkinson, R. L. (1971). Introduction to psychology (5th ed.). New York: Harcourt [in English].
3. Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. A. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, The Modern Language Journal, Vol. (2), (pp. 125-132) [in English].
4. Kagan, S., & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing [in English].
5. MacIntyre, P.D., & Gardner, R.C. (1994). The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44, рр. 283- 305 [in English].
6. Oxford, R. (1990). Applying indirect strategies to the four language skills. In Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know (pp. 151-191). Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle [in English].
7. Oxford, R.L. (1999). Strategy research compendium: Language learning strategies in the context of autonomy. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University/ Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama [in English].
8. Young, D.J. (1990). An investigation of students’ perspectives on anxiety and speaking. Foreign Language Annals, 23(6), 539-553 [in English].
9. Young, D.J. (1994). New directions in language anxiety research. In C.A. Klee (Ed.). Faces in a crowd: The individual learner in multisection courses. MA: Heinle & Heinle [in English].