Researched Literature & Studies

Related to the Proposed Research entitled

The Effects of Communicative Language Teaching in the English Language

Classroom Anxiety of Junior High School Learners

By

Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

EDUC 202/203

Januray 24, 2022

 Review of Related Literature
Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

1. The Relationship between Language Learners’ Anxiety and Learning Strategy in the
CLT Classrooms
Kun-huei Wu
This paper intends to explore how Taiwanese students perceive the relationship between their
language learning strategy and anxiety in the foreign language classroom. Due to their previous
learning experience, most of the participants hold an unfavorable attitude toward a grammar-
translation teaching approach. Consequently, learner-centered instruction has been widely
accepted and acknowledged as a welcome concept and feasible teaching approach in the English
Foreign Language (EFL) context. To improve the proficiency of language learners in EFL
classrooms, it is very important to take into account the need of the learners. The present study
utilizes Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and Communicative Language
Teaching Attitude Scale (COLTAS) to examine the participants’ perceptions about learning
English. The results indicate that most of the participants express a favorable attitude toward the
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach; however, they also reveal their high level
of anxiety in the language classroom. Language anxiety is usually reported to have adverse
effects on the learning of a second language. It is the language instructors’ mission to accelerate
the language learning of their students. One way is to teach students how to learn more
effectively and efficiently. Language learning strategies (LLS) are procedures that learners can
use to facilitate learning. Both teachers and students should develop an awareness of the learning
process and strategies that lead to success. The ultimate goal of this paper is to analyze the
factors that affect the participants’ learning strategies and their language anxiety, and offer some
pedagogical suggestions.
Wu, K. (2010). The relationship between language learners’ anxiety and learning strategy in the
CLT classrooms. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1066074.pdf.
2. Exploitation of Communicative Language Teaching to Mitigate Learner Anxiety in
Speaking English as a Second Language
Karunanayake Savithri
Second language learning has become a traumatic experience for many learners, mainly because
of speaking. This nervousness or anxiety seems to be triggered when the students are asked to
speak in the second language in the class. Through the preliminary investigations done, it was
noticed that, in the context of Faculty of Science, University of Ruhuna, there are a surprising
number of students who insist that they are anxious language learners. The students do not show
any enthusiasm in speaking the target language for any active practical purposes. Therefore, this
research aims at investigating how the communicative approach of language teaching can be
exploited to treat second language speaking anxiety. To accomplish the objectives of this study, a
total of 60 students from the Faculty of Science were selected. Questionnaires, semi-structured
interviews, direct observations, pre-tests, and post-tests were utilized as the primary sources of
data collection. Secondary data were gathered from books, internet sources and related journal
articles. The research findings denoted that the anxiety in speaking English could be treated
efficaciously through less anxiety provoking communicative mechanisms such as group work,
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

role plays, simulations, brainstorming sessions, and games. That is, incorporating the
communicative approach of language teaching in a strategic and prioritized way could succeed in
tackling the speaking anxiety and in making learning collaborative and interactive.
Savithri, K. (2021). Exploitation of communicative language teaching to mitigate learner anxiety
in speaking English as a second language. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=3809055.
3. The Effect of Communicative Based Teaching on Foreign Language Anxiety
Robert Dykes
Research into foreign language anxiety (FLA) is plentiful yet is an area of study and research
that remains incomplete due to anxiety's unique complexity that is affected not only by each
learner's innate disposition, by reaction to certain stressors and stimuli, but also by the immediate
context of anxiety. Results from pre-test/post-test experiments measuring FLA in the classroom
have varied widely. In an attempt to get some clarifying data in this area, this project measured
the FLA of a large group of Japanese university students (N=397) over the course of a mandatory
16-week university English course to determine if a change in FLA would occur in a Japanese
university classroom context. A secondary research goal was to explore what effects a student
centered communicative curriculum would have on FLA. The study found that a significant
decrease in FLA did occur between the beginning and end of the 16-week mandatory English
course. Initial conclusions of the secondary research goal indicated that stressors such as
speaking or peer evaluation in one situation may increase FLA, while the same stressors in a
different situation such as a classroom with a strong sense of community may help decrease
FLA. However, it was also determined that the research design needs to be improved in a
number of ways for subsequent studies.
Dykes, R. (n.d.). The effect of communicative based teaching on foreign language anxiety.
https://www.u-fukui.ac.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/4_DYKES.pdf.
4. Teachers’ Strategies for Decreasing Students’ Anxiety Levels to Improve Their
Communicative Skills
Takako Inada
Students’ high levels of foreign-language classroom anxiety (FLCA) are reported to have a
negative impact on their target language performance in classrooms. There are some anxiety
studies from the students' perspective in the existing literature, but few from the teachers'
perspective, particularly in Japan. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how
teachers managed students' levels of anxiety, which may lead to an improvement in their
communication skills. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with six teachers.
Various strategies that teachers could use to decrease students’ levels of anxiety were introduced.
In communicative lessons, students need to practice speaking and listening in class as much as
possible to improve these skills in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Therefore,
teachers should use various methods to increase the opportunities for students to speak a target
language in class, and to create an unthreatening classroom environment in which students can
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

speak without hesitation. In addition, teachers could use group dynamics effectively to ensure
seamless classroom management.
Inada, T. (2021). Teachers’ strategies for decreasing students’ anxiety levels to improve their
communicative skills. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349635342_Teachers'_
Strategies_for_Decreasing_Students'_Anxiety_Levels_to_Improve_Their_Communicati
e_Skills.

5. The Alleviation of the Language Anxiety of English as Second Language (ESL) Learners
through Communicative Language Teaching
H.H Senevirathne, Harsha Amarasinghe, I. Jayasundara Sabaragamuwa
Language anxiety is identified by many scholars as a significant aspect that inhibits the language
acquisition of English as Second Language (ESL) learners. Student-centered approaches are
widely practiced in ESL context as they are acknowledged and accepted as highly effective in
foreign language acquisition. In Sri Lanka, most of the institutes implement teacher-centered
approaches in ESL classrooms due to various practical issues such as insufficient resources and
consumption of longer time. Thus, this research is an attempt to trace whether the
communicative language teaching, which is one of the most popular student-centered
approaches, can be utilized in order to alleviate the English language anxiety of the respective
learners. The nature of the research demanded a mixed approach in order to validate the
implications. Thus, the sample included 40 students who follow Diploma in English at ESOFT,
which is a renowned private institute. The study utilized an abbreviated form of Foreign
Language Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz and Cope in order to calculate the language
anxiety encountered by the ESL learners. The quantitative data were accumulated by conducting
interviews with academics and students. The research findings bear testimony that students feel
less anxious in classrooms that practice communicative language teaching while they had an
unfavorable attitude towards teacher-centered classrooms. The results also manifested that
communicative language teaching method is an effective strategy that could be utilized in order
to alleviate the English language anxiety of the ESL learners that will eventually have a
significant impact on their language achievements.
Senevirathne, H., Amarasinghe, H., & Sabaragmuwa, I. (2020). The alleviation of the language
anxiety of English as second language (ESL) learners through communicative language
teaching. https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-4-issue
6/549-550.pdf.

6. Foreign Language Anxiety and Learner’s Willingness to Communicate in the L2

Classroom

Nada Alghali

Learning English in a foreign context and communicating in English can be an anxious

experience for learners, which is primarily related to their willingness to communicate (WTC) in
that language. The tendency of a learner’s communication defines the notion of WTC. One factor
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

that is directly related to WTC is Communication apprehension that is one type of foreign
language anxiety related to communication situations. With reference to the “heuristic model of
L2 WTC, there are twelve variables that are explained to have an affective impact on one’s
communication level in L2. This paper reflects those variables on the preparatory year students’
willingness to communicate in the L2 classroom at King Saud University and whether or not
foreign language anxiety affects their degree of L2 communication. The paper also presents the
Saudi learner’s perceptions toward communicating in the L2 classroom in comparison to
communicating in L1. This reflection is approached through understanding cryptic aspects of
students’ attitudes and investigating affecting situational variables through L1 and L2 classroom
observations, student questionnaires, and teachers’ evaluation scales. Results gave both
implementations and suggestions for ESL and EFL educators in creating a better willingness to
communicate environment.

Alghali, N. (2016). Foreign language anxiety and learner’s willingness to communicate in the L2
classroom. http://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/iiclldubai2016/IICLLDubai
2016_25253.pdf.
7. Investigating the Relationship between English Language Anxiety and the Achievement
of School based Oral English Test among Malaysian Form Four Students
Lim Hooi Lian and Mardziah Bt Budin
The purpose of this study was to identify the levels of the English language anxiety experienced
by Form Four students in two selected schools. It was also to find out the extent of the
relationship between students’ English language anxiety and their achievement in school based
oral English tests; and the difference between genders in English language anxiety. A survey was
administered to 200 Form Four students (aged 15-16) of two secondary schools. The
questionnaire reflected three components of English language anxiety, namely: (a)
communication apprehension, (b) fear of negative evaluation, and (c) test anxiety. Descriptive
analysis, independent sample t- test and correlation test were used in the study. The results of this
study revealed that students have a moderate level of English language anxiety and significant
difference between genders in English language anxiety.
Lina, L.H. & Budin, M.B. (2014) Investigating the relationship between English language
anxiety and the achievement of school based oral english test among Malaysian form for
students. https://www.ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter/article/viewFile/32/9.
8. Young learners' perspectives on English classroom interaction Foreign language anxiety
and sense of agency in Swedish primary school
Maria Nilsson
Abstract This thesis explores young language learners’ experiences of classroom interaction in
English instruction, focusing on foreign language anxiety (FLA), sense of agency and learner
beliefs, aiming to inform and problematize language pedagogy for young learners. Learners from
ten classrooms in years 2–5 participated. Study I focused on levels and triggers of FLA, by
means of a learners’ questionnaire about common language classroom practices. Findings
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

revealed that 18% of learners frequently felt anxious during English lessons and that these
negative emotions centered on speaking in class. With this study serving as a baseline, the
following two studies investigated learners’ beliefs about language learning and teaching, as well
as their actual experiences of classroom communication during English lessons, using recorded
group discussions among learners with similar levels of FLA. Study II compared learners in one
year 3 classroom, with many frequently anxious learners, whereas study III centered on learners
with recurrent anxiety across seven classrooms, in years 2–5. Together, the studies illustrate
young language learners’ beliefs, and how they perceive and position themselves in relation to
English instruction. In general, learners expressed positive attitudes to the English subject and
the teaching. Regardless of anxiety levels, learners stressed the importance of extensive English
input and for learners to guess and dare to speak. Learners who experienced recurrent FLA were
confronted with three dilemmas that reduced their sense of agency. Incomprehensible English
input made it difficult for them to follow instructions and understand what they were expected to
say or respond to. Furthermore, the fear of social exposure and negative reactions made them
prefer to remain silent and refrain from speaking or pose questions. Nevertheless, these learners
favored whole class instruction, as they relied heavily on teacher support, and feared falling
behind during individual work, although this setting sparked FLA. The findings foreground the
interaction of social, cognitive and emotional processes of language learning and the
development of learners’ sense of agency in the classroom. The strong consensus and many
recurrent themes expressed across classrooms, related to language use, instructions and
organization, suggest that the findings may have bearing beyond these ten specific classroom
contexts. The perspectives of primary school learners themselves are valuable in the
development of age-appropriate language teaching that strives to foster motivation and a sense of
agency, while counteracting the development of FLA. The thesis hopes to inspire academic and
professional discussion about how to best organize English instruction that benefits all young
learners, with varying language proficiencies in the same classroom.
Nilsson, M. (2020) Young learners' perspectives on English classroom interaction Foreign
language anxiety and sense of agency in Swedish primary school. https://su.diva
portal.org/smash/get /diva2:1459724/FULLTEXT01.pdf.
9. Bilingual learners’ willingness to communicate in English and anxiety when speaking the
language
Olga Khudobina, Olga Hopiaynen and Ekaterina Bondarenko
The present study focuses on bilingual learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English
and foreign language anxiety (FLA) when speaking English in the classroom at Yugra State
University. The paper reviews the theory, experiment and methods of pedagogical correction for
those who are interested in these two phenomena in their research. The aim of the paper is
twofold: to identify the main communicational difficulties faced by learners, explore the
underlying causes, and provide some recommendations to overcome learners’ unwillingness to
communicate in English actively and freely. The findings support the claims that FLA and WTC
stem from issues with foreign language proficiency as well as some personal traits with FLA and
WTC influencing each other and the process of mastering a second language.
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

Khudobina, O., Hopiaynen, O., & Bondarenko, E. (2019). Bilingual learners’ willingness to
communicate in English and anxiety when speaking the language. https://www.shs
conferences.org/articles/shsconf/pdf/2019/10/shsconf_cildiah2019_00058.pdf.
10. Language Anxiety in Focus: The Case of Filipino Undergraduate Teacher Education
Learners
Rhodora R. Jugo
This study has focused on determining the level, sources, and causes of foreign language anxiety
of students taking up teacher education courses in the Philippines and how language anxiety
affects the English proficiency of the respondents and their language learning. A total of 242
learners from a Philippine-based learning institution answered an English proficiency exam
(EPE) and a questionnaire comprising two parts: a 30-item English Language Anxiety Scale
(ELAS) and a set of questions on causes of anxiety and effects on language learning. Means,
standard deviation, frequency, and percentage were calculated and used to characterize language
anxiety level, sources, and causes. Correlation and regression analyses of the language anxiety
variables and English proficiency of the respondents were then conducted. Follow-up interviews
were also done for selected respondents in order to understand the nature and mechanism of the
investigated relationships. The results confirmed that the speaking activity, error correction, and
communicating with English speakers are sources of high anxiety of the Filipino learners, while
the writing activity, negative self-perception, and noncomprehension are sources of moderate
anxiety. All of the sources of anxiety were shown to have a significant negative relationship with
second language anxiety, and simple regression analysis revealed that foreign language anxiety
is a significant predictor of English proficiency. However, further analysis of the specific sources
of anxiety using multiple regression analysis identified speaking activities anxiety as the only
significant predictor of English proficiency.
Jugo, R.R. (2020). Language anxiety in focus: The case of Filipino undergraduate teacher
education learners https://www.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2020/7049837/.
11. Language Anxiety and Achievement
Elaine K. Horwitz 
This chapter considers the literature on language learning anxiety in an effort to clarify the
relationship between anxiety and second language learning. It will first argue that language
anxiety is a specific anxiety — rather than a trait anxiety — and discuss how this
conceptualization has helped clarify the research literature. After Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope
(1986) proposed that a specific anxiety construct which they called Foreign Language Anxiety
was responsible for students’ uncomfortable experiences in language classes and offered an
instrument, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), to measure this anxiety,
findings concerning anxiety and language achievement have been relatively uniform, indicating a
consistent moderate negative relationship between anxiety and achievement. However, some
researchers (Sparks and Ganschow and their colleagues) have suggested that poor language
learning is a cause rather than a result of language anxiety. This review concludes that anxiety is
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Pauline Karen M. Concepcion

indeed a cause of poor language learning in some individuals and discusses possible sources of
this anxiety, including difficulty in authentic self-presentation and various language teaching
practices. In addition, it reports on new trends in language anxiety research that attempt to
identify aspects of language learning (e.g., reading anxiety or writing anxiety) which provoke
anxiety for some individuals.
The possibility that anxiety interferes with language learning has long interested scholars,
language teachers, and language learners themselves. It is intuitive that anxiety would inhibit the
learning and/or production of a second language (L2). The important term in the last sentence is
anxiety. The concept of anxiety is itself multi-faceted, and psychologists have differentiated a
number of types of anxiety including trait anxiety, state anxiety, achievement anxiety, and
facilitative-debilitative anxiety. With such a wide variety of anxiety-types, it is not surprising
that early studies on the relationship between anxiety and achievement provided mixed and
confusing results, and Scovel (1978 – this timeline) rightly noted that anxiety is not a simple,
unitary construct that can be comfortably quantified into high or low amounts (p. 137). Scovel
did not, however, anticipate the identification in the mid-1980s of a unique form of anxiety that
some people experience in response to learning and/or using an L2. Typically referred to as
language anxiety or foreign language anxiety (FLA), this anxiety is categorized as a situation-
specific anxiety, similar in type to other familiar manifestations of anxiety such as stage fright or
test anxiety.
Horwitz, E. K. (2019). Language Anxiety and Achievement https://elainekhorwitz.com/language
anxietyand-achievement/.
12. Changes in and Effects of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Listening Anxiety
on Chinese Undergraduate Students’ English Proficiency in the COVID-19 Context
Meihua Liu and Renqing Yuan
The present longitudinal survey study explored changes in and effects of foreign language
classroom anxiety (FLCA) and listening anxiety (FLLA) on Chinese undergraduate students’
English proficiency over a semester in the COVID-19 context. A set of 182 matching
questionnaires was collected from first-year undergraduate English as a foreign language
learners at two time points of a 16-week semester. Analyses of the data revealed the following
major findings: (1) the participants experienced high levels of FLCA and FLLA both at the
beginning and end of the semester, neither of which changed significantly during the semester,
(2) FLCA and FLLA were highly positively related to each other, (3) FLCA and FLLA
significantly predicted students’ self-rated proficiency in listening and speaking English, and (4)
confidence in using English, efforts and motivation to learn English and interaction with
instructors and peers mediated FLCA and FLLA to exert effects on students’ self-perceived
proficiency in listening and speaking English. These findings indicate that the learning
environment is critical in influencing the levels of and changes in FLCA and listening anxiety
and that these two types of foreign language anxiety are serious issues in the pandemic foreign
language learning context.
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Liu, M. & Yuan, R. (2021). Changes in and effects of foreign language classroom anxiety and
listening anxiety on chinese undergraduate students’ English proficiency in the COVID
19 context. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.670824/full
13. Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Teaching
Zhang Xie, Ji Huanqi
Language anxiety is different from the ordinary anxiety in that it usually arises from a foreign
language learning situation and falls into the specific scope of contextual anxiety. Horwitz,
Horwitz & Cope (1986) pointed out that language anxiety is a type of complex apparently
connected with self-consciousness, belief, emotion and behavior of a language learner in a
foreign language classroom. It comes into being on account of the uniqueness of foreign
language learning process. Horwitz & Young (1991) advanced a similar notion in the book titled
Language Anxiety: From Anxiety and Research to Classroom Implications, in which they stress
the correlation of language anxiety and foreign language classroom and that the former definitely
appears in the language learning process. Meanwhile, MacIntyre & Gardner (1994) believed that
language anxiety is due to nervousness and fear which have special bearing on foreign language
context. In order to understand and evaluate the effects of language anxiety on foreign language
learners, Horwitz (1986) designed a Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) based
on students’ self-report, teaching practice and a series of calculations. FLCAS consists of 33
questions, each of International Conference on Education, Management and Computing
Technology (ICEMCT 2015) © 2015. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 52 which has
five choices ranging from “strongly agree”, “agree”, “not sure”, “disagree” to “strongly
disagree”. Those questions are typically associated with difficulties in listening, speaking,
reading and writing, speed of language processing as well as memory of foreign language.
Students can decide on the one that best fits them according to their own practical situation. In
the process, Horwitz applied the FLCAS to examine 75 American college students from four
elementary Spanish classes, among whom 39 students were boys and others were girls. The
results are as follows: firstly, language anxiety is wide-spread in foreign language classroom (at
least, language anxiety is common at a college elementary foreign language course). Secondly,
students suffering from language anxiety can be identified and their anxieties have quite a lot in
common. Thirdly, students with high language anxiety are usually afraid to speak the foreign
language in class. Since the advent of FLCAS, it has been applied to different foreign language
teaching classes. Satio, Horwitz & Garza (1999) surveyed 383 American college students who
just started their French, Japanese and Russian classes and found that students’ language anxiety
increased with the intensity of foreign language reading. Cheng, Horwitz & Schallert (1999)
examined 433 Taiwanese English majors and revealed that language anxiety varied conversely
with students’ oral and writing performance. Still, Elkhafaifi (2005) conducted a survey among
233 American college students studying Arabic and disclosed that language anxiety in listening
comprehension can produce an obviously negative effect on their language study. All those
above-mentioned researches almost reach the same conclusion: language anxiety can affect the
study in a foreign language class and varies inversely with students’ performance.
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Xie, Z. & Huanqi, J. (2015). Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Teaching. International
Conference on Education, Management and Computing Technology.

14. Levels of Language Anxiety Towards English: A Sample from Davao Del Norte
Annie Mae C. Berowa
This study was conducted to provide insights on the levels of language anxiety experienced by
learners of English as a second language (ESL) in Davao del Norte, Philippines. Additionally, it
tried to determine the significant relationship between anxiety vis-à-vis gender and year level
variables that could be influential factors in the success or failure in learning English. The data
were obtained from 60 university students using a two-part questionnaire which contained Park’s
(2014) modified version of the 33-item Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). The results
showed neutral level of language anxiety among the respondents in all areas. Furthermore, no
significant relationship between English language anxiety vis-à-vis gender and year-level of the
students was found. Since all the aspects that could provoke anxiety are kept to their adequate
level, it could be a good indication of the learning and teaching environment of the students since
neutral level of anxiety is believed to perform a positive role in keeping the motivation of the
learners to maintain their efforts in language learning.
Berowa, A.M. (2018). Levels of Language Anxiety Towards English: A Sample from Davao Del
Norte. https://www.tojned.net/journals/tojned/articles/v08i03/v08i03-12.pdf
15. Anxiety over EFL speaking and writing: A view from language classrooms
Christina Gkonou
The assumption that foreign language learners experience a high level of anxiety mainly when
faced with speaking activities implies that research should focus on those learners prone to
anxiety over that skill. Despite not being widely investigated, foreign language writing anxiety
also seems to be a concern for a large number of students. Drawing on questionnaire findings,
the study reported in this article examined the nature of, and the connection between the English
language classroom speaking and writing anxiety of 128 Greek EFL learners in private language
school settings. Speaking anxiety was operationalised by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope॓s (1986)
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and wriƟng anxiety was measured by Gungle and
Taylor॓s (1989) ESL version of the Daly and Miller॓s (1975) Writing Apprehension Test.
Interconstruct and intraconstruct associations between the two instruments were examined
through principal components analysis with varimax rotation and correlations check. A
significant and high correlation was found between classroom anxiety and speaking anxiety, thus
indicating that the English language classroom context is a source of speaking anxiety. Writing
anxiety was found to load primarily on items relating to attitudes towards writing in English
followed by self-derogation for the process and fear of negative evaluation by the teachers and/or
by fellow students. On the basis of the findings, suggestions are made concerning the
reassessment of the influence that writing anxiety exerts on classroom performance and the
adoption of teaching techniques that promote topic-centred process writing.
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Gkonou, C. (n.d.). Anxiety over EFL speaking and writing: A view from language classrooms.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1136465.pdf.