STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE EXPOSURE, MOTIVATION, AND ANXIETY

TOWARD LEARNING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Precious C. Domingo
Visayas State University
preciousdomingo@gmail.com

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of language exposure, level of
motivation and level of anxiety toward learning the English language of the Senior
High School students of Visayas State University. The researcher adapted
instruments used in previous studies to survey students’ responses on these three
variables. Results show that students have moderate level of exposure, high level
of motivation and moderate level of anxiety toward learning the English language.
Considering the advancement of technology today, students were exposed to the
second language be at home, school, or community. Their motivation in learning
English was high knowing that being competent in the English language has
become a requirement in the competitive world of today. However, most students
have language anxiety since English was not their native tongue. Hence, it is a
challenge to everyone to take part in learning and using English as a second
language.

Keywords: anxiety, language exposure, motivation

1. INTRODUCTION
Several factors could affect the
language proficiency of a student and among
these are the exposure to the target language,
motivation in learning the language, and the
anxiety towards learning the language.
In a study conducted by Magno
(2009) about assessing the level of English
language exposure, results show that
exposure to the target language affects the
learners. In his study, exposure refers to the
total amount of time in which an individual
has contact with a language, may it be in
verbal or written form, formal or informal
ways of communication and in which an
individual may have either an active, or
passive role. In todays’ modern technological
advancement, students can be exposed to the
target language in many ways. Exposure to a
second language occurs whenever
individuals engage in conversations in the
second language with family members,
friends, classmates, and colleagues;
whenever they read books, magazines, and
newspapers written in that language;
whenever they come across information
being disseminated in different multimedia
sources; or even when they are mere passive
listeners in any activity or place in which the
second language is being spoken.
Exposure to the second language is
just one factor that could affect language
proficiency. A person’s desire to be engage or
exposed to the second language and
eagerness to learn the target language is also
another factor. Motivation in learning
English language affects language
proficiency. Gardner (2006) stated that
motivations are options through which people
decide their goals and aims.
Another factor that could affect
language proficiency is anxiety. It is
described as an uncomfortable emotional
state in which one perceives danger, feels
powerless and experiences tension in
preparation for an expected danger events
(Ellis, 2004). Students have anxiety in using
the second language and it is generally has
three varieties: Communicative apprehension
occurs when learners have immature
communication skills although they have
mature ideas and thoughts. It is a fear about
real communication with other people. Fear

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of negative evaluation occurs when second
language learners feel that they are not able
to make the proper social impression. It is an
apprehension about others’ evaluation,
avoidance of evaluative situations, and the
expectation. Lastly, test anxiety is an
apprehension over academic evaluation. It is
a fear of failing in test situations and an
unpleasant experience held consciously or
unconsciously by learners in many situations.
It is a type of anxiety concerning
apprehension over academic evaluation
which comes from a fear of failure (Horwitz
and Young, 2006).
In general, when a student is highly
motivated in learning a language, he will
expose himself more to the target language
and use this language frequently. Being
motivated in using the language would also
mean less anxious in using English as a
second language. Hence, the purpose of this
study was to determine the English language
exposure, motivation and anxiety toward
learning the English language.
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research Design
The present investigation followed a
descriptive research design. A survey
questionnaires were provided to the students.
2.2 Participants
The study was conducted at Visayas
State University in 2018. The respondents
were the students in Senior High School
enrolled in the university.
2.3 Instruments
English Language Exposure Questionnaire
An English language exposure
questionnaire was adapted from Magno, et.
al. (2009) to determine the frequency of time
in which individual has contact with second
language. The instrument was developed for
those students whose second language is
English.
The items for the English exposure
questionnaire reflect different situations
where English is spoken in home (e.g.,
speaking and conversing in English at home),
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friends (e.g., conversing in the English
language with friends), school (e.g., teachers
and classmates speaking in English, activities
in school conducted in Engish), and media
(e.g., watching English television shows,
listening to English music, reading English
books). There is a total of 23 unidimensional
items that depict situations where an
individual comes in contact with the English
language. The questionnaire used a Likert
type scale where students select among
always, often, sometimes, rarely, and never.
Score in each item ranges from 5 – always, 4-
often, 3-sometimes, 3-rarely, 1-never. The
higher the students’ score, the more exposed
he is in the target language. The lower the
score is, the lesser he is exposed to the
English language. Scores of the students on
the English language exposure were
categorized on the following level: high for
scores between 85 to 115, moderate for
scores between 54 to 84, and low for scores
between 23to53.
Motivation Questionnaire
The questionnaire is an adaptation of
the Attitude and Motivation Test Battery
(AMTB) developed by Gardner and Lambert
(1972), which has been translated and
employed to describe students’ learning
English as Secondary Language in many
countries. It consists of a series of Likert scale
items such as "I would like to know more
about English speaking people" where
students indicate one of several responses
from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree".
Questions highlight how motivated they are
in learning English and using it in everyday
communication. Points on each item are
given based on the following: Strongly
disagree- 1, disagree- 2, uncertain- 3, agree-
4, strongly agree- 5. The higher the score
would mean students are greatly motivated to
use and learn the English language. Low
score would mean students are less motivated
in using and learning the English language.
Scores on the motivation questionnaire were
then correlated with the scores in the
proficiency tests to determine whether
motivation affects the language proficiency
of the students. Scores of the students on the
motivation in learning the English language
were categorized on the following level: high
for scores between 30 to 40, moderate for
scores 19 to 29, and low for scores between 8
to 18.
English Learning Anxiety Survey
The instrument in this study is a
modified version of English Learning
Anxiety Survey (ELAS), which is partially
based from Foreign Language Classroom
Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire,
developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope
(1986) to assess learners’ anxiety about the
target language. The questionnaire was used
by Mei-Ling Lee (2011) in her study 14
Differences in the Learning Anxieties
Affecting College Freshmen Students of EFL.
The first part of the questionnaire is a
personal English learning background
questionnaire. It is intended to investigate
students’ general English learning
experience, especially those experiences
related to learners’ English learning anxiety.
The second part of the questionnaire is
English learning anxiety survey (ELAS),
which is used to investigate participants’
language anxiety in English learning. In the
ELAS, there are 32 question items, which are
divided into three broad categories of English
learning anxiety: communication anxiety, test
anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. This
modified version of questionnaires—English
Learning Anxiety Survey (ELAS) with 32
items used a 5-point Likert type scale ranging
from “Always” to “Never”. “Never” was
counted as 1 point, “Rarely” as 2 points,
“Sometimes” as 3 points, “Often” as 4 points,
and “Always” as 5 points. The higher the total
points, the more anxious the students are.
Scores of the students on the language
anxiety survey are categorized on the
following level: high for scores 118-160,
moderate for scores 75-117, and low for
scores 32 to 77. The items on the language
anxiety survey are categorized into three:
communication anxiety, test anxiety and fear
of negative evaluation.
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3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Students differ on the degree they are
exposed or in contact with the English
language. Table 1 shows the mean score of
each students in contact with the English
language in each situation. Table 1 also
shows the interpretation for each situation
based on the students’ response. For
situations in “home”, students have moderate
exposure to the English language on these
situations. For situations under “friends”,
students do also have moderate exposure to
the English language. For situations under
“school”, students have high exposure to the
English language and for situation under
“media”, students have high level of language
exposure.
Table 1. Summary of the distribution of students’
response
MEAN SD INTERPRETATION
School 3.77 0.41 High
Media 3.34 0.40 High
Friends 2.96 0.16 Moderate
Home 2.72 0.29 Moderate
It is expected that students are highly
exposed to the English language especially at
school since basically, English is used as a
medium of instruction and students are
required to use English in conversation. In a
study conducted by Palermo and Dixon
(2015), they found that combined English
exposure at home and in the classroom
improved children’s English vocabulary
skills. Specifically, results showed that the
learners’ exposure to English at home from
parents allowed students to learn and express
new English words, while exposure to
English from classmates in preschool allowed
students to practice using the new words.
Table 2 shows the summary of the
students’ level of language exposure. Forty-
seven students or 23.15% from the total
population have high level of exposure to the
English language, 121 students or 59.61%
from the total population have moderate
exposure to the English language and 35
students or 17.24% from the total population
have low exposure to English language.
Language exposure is necessary for second
language learning and language proficiency.
High exposure to the target language
provides more opportunities for the learners
to practice and be proficient to the target
language. According to Dulay, et. al.(1982),
language environment encompasses
everything the language learner hears and
sees in the new language. It may include wide
variety of situations- exchanges in restaurants
and stores, conversation with friends,
watching television, reading street signs and
newspapers, as well as classroom activities.
The quality of the language environment is of
paramount importance to success in learning
a new language (Ismail, 2013). If students are
exposed to a list of words and their
translation, together with a few simple
readings in the new language, they will
perhaps be able to attain some degree of
reading skill in language, but listening and
speaking skills will remain fallow. If one is
exposed only to classroom drills and
dialogues, one may acquire substantial
mastery of classroom communication skills
but still remain at loss in other areas of social
discourse. Moreover, with no exposure at all,
no learning can take place.
Table 2. Students level of English
Language Exposure
Motivation
A total of 35.47 percent or 72 students
have score that falls between 30-40, with a
mean score of 31.24 and considered high
level of motivation. A total of 78 students or
38.42 percent from the total population fall
on the moderate level of motivation. Their
score falls between 19- 29 with a mean score
of 25.47. Lastly, 53 students or 26.11 percent
from the total population got a score between
8-18 and a mean score of 14.62 have low
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level of motivation. Based on the results, it is
implied that teachers and educators should
motivate the students more especially those
that have low motivation to learn and use
English as second language. There will
always be a student who will have a high
motivation and a student who will have a very
low motivation. Showing in Table 15, though
it is only 0.49 percent or only 2 students have
low level motivation, it is still disturbing
knowing that there are students who do not
see English language useful.
In a study conducted by Lamb (2002),
he suggested that motivation is necessary
when learning opportunities are scarce. He
found that self-motivated students were more
willing to seek and exploit the resources
available in their learning environment.
Similar results were obtained by Wong and
Nunan (2011). Their findings revealed that
the more effective learners spent significantly
more time practicing English outside of the
classroom than the less effective learners. In
addition, in a previous study, Nunan claimed
that the ‘good’ foreign language learner finds
ways of activating his or her language out of
class. This statement is in agreement with
research on successful language learners,
which has demonstrated that L2 development
can be attributed, in part, to the learners'
determination to use the target language
outside of the classroom (Hyland, 2004).
English Language Learning Anxiety
Table 3 presents the summary of
students’ level of language anxiety. Scores
are divided into three: scores from 118 to160
will be considered to have high level of
anxiety, scores from 75 to 117 will be
considered to have moderate level of anxiety
and scores from 32 to 74 will be considered
to have low level of anxiety. Thirty-three
students or 16 percent from the total
population is recorded to have high level of
anxiety with a mean score of 131. Ninety-five
students or 48 percent from the total group
have moderate level of anxiety and seventy-
two students or 35 percent from the total
population have low level of anxiety.
Students differ in the level of anxiety in terms
of learning the English language and this
could be because of the experiences they
have. Learners are worried with what others
think about themselves including their
opinion. Also, learners are anxious about
what other think about their linguistic
knowledge. The finding of the negative role
of anxiety has been noted in many previous
studies, e.g., Tang (2005). Usually, high
anxiety can make learners get discouraged,
lose faith in their abilities, escape from
participating in classroom activities, and even
give up the effort to learn a language well.
Therefore, the learners with high anxiety
often get low achievement. And low
achievement makes them more anxious about
learning.
Table 3. Students’ Level of Language
Anxiety
4. CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
More than half of the total population
of the respondents are moderately exposed to
the English language. Moreover, students are
exposed most to the English language when
they are at school or with the use of different
media compared to when they are at home or
communicating with friends. Schools do
promote the use of English language. The
medium of instruction is English and teachers
do encourage students to speak English.
Lambert (cited in Ismael, 2013) indicated that
using the target language- English- as a
medium of instruction increased proficiency in
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the language. With the use of different media,
activities such as chatting online, browsing the
internet, watching the television, listening to
music in English, reading magazines and books
and sending or receiving text messages in
English provide students more time to be in
contact with the English language. The use of
these different media can and does have
positive effect on students who study English
as a second language due to the fact that several
media genres are primarily in English
(Livingstone, 2002).
Students’ motivation in learning the
English language also shows a good result.
Students have high level of motivation in
learning English language. Students think that
they need to learn English because it can help
them finish their studies and find a better job in
the future. Enhanced communication skills in
English can result to not only an improved
social life, but also better job opportunities in
the future. In job interviews, most interviewers
conduct interviews in English. Interviewers
quickly make judgments and give great
importance to first impressions. Poor skills in
the language can mean smaller chances of
landing a job. On the other hand, being
proficient in the language can help one leave a
good first impression which means higher
chances of getting the position one is applying
for. English language proficiency is very
important, if English is poor, being shortlisted
to the roles applied becomes very challenging
and the choices of occupation becomes
circumscribed (Bright, 2014). Students’
anxiety in using the English language
debilitates language learning. Based on the test
results, students differ on their level of anxiety
in using the English language. This is because
of the differences in the degree of exposure or
motivation or even experiences in using the
English language in everyday situation. In
Ohata’s study (2005), language anxiety varied
with five Japanese students because of their
different personalities, ages, learning attitudes
toward English, and levels of English
proficiency. Generally, students do have
moderate to low level of anxiety in learning the
English language. The most common anxiety in
learning and using the English language occurs
when students are asked to speak in front of
audience unexpectedly. Some reasons are that
they are afraid to make mistakes, others may
laugh at them, and they think less of themselves
in using the English language. In a study
conducted by Jin Y., Boy, K., and Keijzer, M.
(2015) about the anxiety-proficiency
relationship and the stability of anxiety: The
case of Chinese university learners of English
and Japanese, results suggest that anxious
students are liable to avoid engaging in
communication activities in class.
Having the results on three variables,
the researcher recommends that teachers and
educators should be able to provide activities
that would engage the students more to learning
and using English language inside and outside
the classroom. They have to help the students
realize that English language is more than a tool
that they could use to get a good job or finish
school. Adequate and appropriate exposure
must be provided to help students increase not
only their instrumental motivation but also
integrative motivation. For anxiety, knowing
that it exists inside the classroom setting,
teachers can make students feel safe to speak or
express their views by avoiding negative
evaluation of students in classroom and
comment on students’ behavior with more
encouragement.
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