Browsing by Subject "ways of coping"

Foreign language anxiety (FLA), defined as “the worry and negative emotional reaction aroused when learning or using a second language”, has been studied with increased interest for several decades. FLA can affect language learners academically, cognitively, socially, and physically, and it can be experienced due to multiple reasons such as learner- and teacher-related factors or the learning environment, as well as due to fear of communication, exams, and negative evaluation. Although FLA has been vastly researched, earlier studies have lacked interest in language teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the phenomenon. Additionally, even though researchers have been intrigued by the different ways in which teachers can reduce students’ FLA, there has been less attention paid to what strategies teachers say they use in the classroom. Thus, this study aims to reveal Finnish lower secondary EFL teachers’ perceptions, attitudes, and ways of coping regarding FLA. This qualitative study was conducted utilizing semi-structured interviews as the data collection method and qualitative content analysis as the data analysis method. The data consists of four teacher interviews that were transcribed and then analyzed according to the research objectives. Concerning the teachers’ perceptions of FLA, none of the teachers knew a precise definition of the phenomenon before participating in the study. Nevertheless, they seem to be aware of FLA and can recognize its occurrences in the EFL classroom, identify anxious and non-anxious students, as well as identify what causes the most and the least FLA among students. It can be stated that the teachers have a neutral and understanding attitude concerning their students experiencing feelings of anxiousness in the classroom. The teachers feel empathy toward students who struggle with FLA and do not view having to accommodate these issues in the classroom as a problem but rather something that is to be expected. Additionally, they confess to sometimes feeling insufficient in their abilities to help their students regarding FLA and hope they would have more tools to aid them. Lastly, the teachers alleviate their students’ FLA in multiple ways, such as by modifying exams and by creating a positive learning environment. The findings suggest that language teachers should be offered additional help regarding FLA – whether it is by including information about FLA and emotions in language learning in teacher training programs or by providing in-service teachers with supplementary education on the subject. In the Finnish context, future research would benefit from increased focus on in-practice EFL teachers’ and student teachers’ perspectives on FLA as well as from investigating both teachers’ and students’ perspectives simultaneously for accurate comparison.