A Conceptualization of Strategies for Reducing Students' Language Anxiety

Language anxiety has long been considered to have a negative effect on second language learning. Despite this, only a few studies have been conducted that have focused on possible strategies for reducing students' language anxiety. This current study aims to ascertain: (1) what strategies students believe to be effective in decreasing anxiety in an English classroom, (2) how the strategies can be classified, and (3) the correlations among the different factors. In this study, a questionnaire was compiled based on suggestions and proposals made for reducing language anxieties in previous studies. In addition, the degree of students’ language anxiety was measured and the students were divided into groups according to anxiety level. The participants were 114 undergraduate non-English majors at a national university in Sapporo, Japan. Based on these data, item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis were conducted. The questionnaire items that attracted higher mean scores differed slightly from high-anxious students to low-anxious students. From a factor analysis, four factor structures were clarified: cooperation with others; building confidence; assistance from the teacher; and less-stressful teaching methods. The subscale scores were calculated according to these factor structures, and correlation analysis was conducted to compare the results of high-anxious students and low-anxious students. One of the findings from the results is that high-anxious students consider a teacher’s assistance to be just as important as cooperation with others. The findings of this study can be applied in future studies in order to reduce the language anxiety of high-anxious students