THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN ELT

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