A Qualitative Research on Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety

Authors

Selami Aydin, Balikesir University, Balikesir, TurkeyFollow

Abstract

While research mainly focuses on identification of anxiety, its causes and effects on the learning process and the ways to allay anxiety among foreign language learners, foreign language teaching anxiety has remained a research area that has not attracted much attention. Therefore, in the context of teaching anxiety among pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL), the current study aims to investigate the sources of foreign language teaching anxiety (FLTA). The sample group in the study consisted of 60 pre-service teachers. A background questionnaire, interviews, reflections and essay papers were used to collect qualitative data. The results indicated that pre-service teachers experience FLTA before, during and after their teaching activities. The study also concluded that the sources of FLTA are teachers’ personality, perceptions of low level language proficiency, fear of negative evaluation, teaching demotivation and amotivation, teaching inexperience and technical concerns. It was recommended that the curricula of pre- and in-service training programs should include topics to raise awareness of FLTA.

Keywords

English as a Foreign Language, Teaching, Pre-Service Teachers, Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety

Author Bio(s)

Selami Aydin is an associate professor at the Department of English Language Teaching at Balikesir University, Turkey. His research has been mainly in EFL writing, language testing, affective factors and technology in EFL learning and teaching. His articles appeared in national and international journals. Aydin teaches ELT courses for pre-service English teachers. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: saydin@balikesir.edu.tr.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the journal reviewers and Ronald Chenail, the Editor-in-Chief, who helped to improve the paper.

Publication Date

4-1-2016

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2232

Recommended APA Citation

Aydin, S. (2016). A Qualitative Research on Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety. The Qualitative Report, 21(4), 629-642. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2232