Pilot Validation Study of “Students’ Attitudes, Motivation, and Anxiety Towards English Language Learning” Questionnaire to the Kuwaiti Context (Published)
Attitudes, motivation, and anxiety are three factors that can determine how successful a student is in learning a second language. This research is a pilot study to validate the survey questionnaire that is used by Shams (2008), which is originally taken from Gardner (1985), and see whether the survey items can be applied and are considered suitable for the Kuwaiti culture. The pilot study was practiced on 34 students that were randomly selected at PAAET, Kuwait, and consisted of both male and female students. Despite that some survey items were dropped due to them having low factor findings for not confirming with the criteria of component analysis, the rest of the survey items were found to be applicable to the Kuwaiti context and the analysis resulted in having three major components for achieving optimal English language learning. The three components are communication anxiety and confidence that talks about students’ nervousness and fear of being judged while speaking in English; perceived value and practicality of English that talks about how students perceive the English language and its practical benefits; and motivation drive for English fluency that talks about the motivation that students need to maintain their ambition in wanting to learn English. The current study concludes with believing that such three components are vital in every language learning environment, making the components applicable worldwide and not specific to one cultural context.
Keywords: Anxiety, Attitudes, English Language Learning, Kuwait, Motivation, PAAET
The Study on Motivation and Anxiety of English Learning of Students at a Taiwan Technical University (Published)
The purpose of this study is to investigate inner motivation and anxiety of English learning as it is experienced by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with respect to various majors, differences in genders and language proficiency. Specifically, it studies EFL students at a technical university in Taiwan. This study surveyed and analyzed 857 freshmen from a technical university in Taiwan. Based on the analyses of structural equation modeling, the results indicated that English learning anxiety impacted English learning motivation in different ways depending on genders and majors. On the other hand, English learning anxiety had little effect on English learning motivation for the different levels of language proficiency groups, especially for learners in the intermediate group. Generally speaking, most of the learners were prone to instrumental rather than integrative motivation in terms of learning English, and their levels of English language class anxiety were higher than their levels of English use and test anxiety. The findings can help clarify the nature of both English learning anxiety and English learning motivation as psychological constructs to students
Keywords: Anxiety, English Learning, Motivation, Taiwan English Learners