Exploring foreign language anxiety among English-major undergraduate students

Abstract EN

This study examined the foreign language (FL) anxiety level of Arabic-speaking university level students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia.

Fifty undergraduate English-major students participated in this study.

Participants completed the Arabic Foreign Language Anxiety Questionnaire (Al-Saraj, 2014), which is a modified version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986).

Findings showed that participants experienced an average level of language anxiety.

The main sources of language anxiety were speaking in front of classmates, concern about grades, and worry about being lost in class.

In addition, results indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between students’ level of anxiety and their test scores.

Suggestions about the best strategies to reduce anxiety are offered.