Abstract:
Foreign language anxiety is a notion that many researchers have conducted
studies on and the impact of language anxiety on language acquisition cannot be
ignored. The ability to overcome the anxiety for university students is a fundamental
skill to be able to learn the language without any barriers. Moreover, understanding
the likely causes of language anxiety has also significant effect on language learning.
This study investigates the likely relationship between foreign language anxiety and
language proficiency in ELT.
The study was carried out at a foundation university, English Preparatory
School, in Istanbul, Turkey. The researcher pursued a descriptive and inferential
quantitative data collection method and utilized a questionnaire to understand the
relationship between foreign language anxiety and language proficiency in ELT. The
study was performed with 4 proficiency level of students responding to the
questionnaire. The sample size was 162 students, and they were randomly selected
among the whole students of English Preparatory Program which has totally 2.000
students. 87 female, 70 male and 5 prefer not to say students took part in. Their
language level was diagnosed through the English Proficiency Exam.
The results indicated that there is no significant relationship between foreign
language anxiety and language proficiency neither negatively nor positively. This
study provides data for both language teachers and students by shedding light on the
relationship of the foreign language anxiety and the proficiency level of the students.
Keywords: Anxiety, Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety, Fear of failure, Foreign
Language Proficiency, Attitude
