The Influence of Foreign Language Anxiety on Participation of Saudi Female Students in English Classrom

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that English language is still recognized as foreign by students from Saudi Arabia, especially by females. This evidence can be explained with a low frequency of using English language (Alrabai, 2014a). The recent reforms have changed the positioning of the English language in Saudi Arabia; however, they are not effective enough. As a consequence, the feeling of foreign language anxiety is prevailing among Saudi female students. This tendency is reflected in general unwillingness to participate in a classroom activities, so that teachers of the English language are forced to use passive methods of teaching (Alrabai, 2014a). Beyond a doubt, the appliance of passive methods results in a poor foreign language acquisition by Saudi female students. Thus, a need to address this phenomenon has emerged; however, little is known about foreign language anxiety among Saudi females. Still, foreign language anxiety prevents Saudi female students from participation in the English language classrooms.

Foreign language anxiety is described as a state of a vague fear, nervousness, discomfort, which is not linked to a particular situation. It is, however, different from personal anxiety. The latter form of anxiety is a matter of personal traits of character attributed to a certain individual, while foreign language anxiety is based on fears concerning speaking a foreign language (Alrabai, 2014a). The strongest foreign language anxiety is regularly observed among female Saudi students, who learn English or French. Surprisingly, the spread of the English language within Saudi Arabia resulted in a growth of foreign language anxiety among Saudi students. As a consequence, foreign language anxiety dramatically affects the English language acquisition by Saudi female students (Alrabai, 2014a). Females occur to have a more frequent evidence of foreign language anxiety, so that this gender is taken into the focus of the research. Thus, it is becoming increasingly apparent that gender differences in linguistic cognition as well as socio-cultural insights produce their impacts in language acquisition.

In general, foreign language anxiety is explained by the fear to confront the opponent in a conversation, since the reaction of the opponent is unknown to the English learner. As any other process of learning, English language acquisition is accompanied by failures and difficulties, which is why it becomes a burden for many students (Alrabai, 2014a). Hence, the performance of non-anxious students is apparently better. An overall pattern of foreign language anxiety is mainly behavioral, as long as anxious learners adopt behaviors that avoid strong involvement of the foreign language in order to not challenge themselves. A ar worse situation can be observed when a student not only avoids using the foreign language but also finds excuses not to proceed in its learning (Alrabai, 2014a). As it has been mentioned, lack of motivation is mainly based on failures and difficulties that surely accompany a learner during the process of foreign language acquisition.

When speaking about foreign language anxiety within a classroom, it is appropriate to mention that students are usually afraid of confronting their classmates and face peer evaluation. In such a way, anxiety works as a defensive mechanism for the avoidance of a stressful state. This causes anxiety behaviors, which can be take a regular as well as a temporal form. For example, an anxious student may skip English classes or just be always late for them (Alrabai, 2014a). At the same time, the temporal anxiety behavior can be described by trembling hands, fidgeting small objects, nervousness, unclear pronunciation, etc. This form of anxiety behavior is applicable to any situation that requires the use of the English language in a classroom. By the same token, skipping English classes is based on a subconscious fear to ind oneself in an embarrassing situation, which will surely happen in the class (Alrabai, 2014a). Foreign language anxiety in a classroom is not a generalized concept, as its multiple forms can be observed. Different variations of anxiety are possible in a classroom environment, which depend heavily on the circumstances that require an anxious student to use English in a classroom. For example, an anxious student may feel a strong anxiety while speaking to the teacher while conversation with her peers is less challenging (Al-Saraj, 2014). Thus, foreign language anxiety in a classroom is limited to a particular situation. Besides, the variations of anxiety in a classroom enables researchers to measure it quantitatively. Feeling anxious during the exam is evidently a less serious form of anxiety, as it is typical of most students, while anxiety to answer the teacher’s questions or correction of mistakes in a classroom are the circumstances which describe the highest degree of foreign language anxiety in a classroom (Al-Saraj, 2014). The psychological factor is obviously persistent in the variations of foreign language anxiety in a classroom; however, the cultural factor should be also considered.

To be more specific, different cultures formulate different approaches to the establishment of a classroom environment. This factor influences the participation of Saudi female students in class because of such factors as the respect for the teacher, which implies that they do not speak much to him/her. Apart from the respect for the teacher, a deep valuation of senior people is also typical of Muslim culture, and Saudi females consider speaking to adults as an offensive behavior (Al-Saraj, 2014). What is more, in Saudi culture, as in any other Muslim community, patriarchy is present, where the leadership in society and families is obtained by males. Therefore, Saudi females do not use to speak much, especially in public (Al-Saraj, 2014). Thus, foreign language anxiety in a classroom environment is generally explained by psychological and cultural factors, which have been developed into numerous hypotheses. These assumptions are mostly similar to each other, which is why the most prominent hypothetical statements should be given an account.

Theory: The Hypotheses of Second Language Anxiety

The entire research of second language anxiety revolves around two main subtopics. The first one is the identification of salient features that comprise second language anxiety (Kojima, 2007). In fact, the current state of knowledge has gaps regarding the questions of how to determine these factors. Moreover, there has been little understanding of the difference between second language anxiety and lack of internal motivation among students. Generally speaking, it is hard to distinguish whether a student is anxious about using of a foreign language, or she just does not care much about her linguistic education. The second subtopic is related to the attributes that anxious learners apply to their feeling of anxiety in a classroom (Kojima, 2007). In other words, the general pattern of anxiety behaviors is still unidentified. Some students skip classes, some are just late, while other anxious students feel nervous at the English exams. Thus, foreign language anxiety involves multiple forms of unwillingness to participate in the English classes, but the correlation of these choices with anxiety is unclear.

Taking the above points into account, the first hypothesis should be outlined. It assumes that second language anxiety arises because of the students’ fear to be corrected by the teacher in classroom in the presence of their peers (Kojima, 2007). The influence of peer pressure is quite explicit in this hypothesis; however, it is also necessary to note that the fear of a failure is also present. Learning always presupposes difficulties. Feeling upset about personal failures is natural, but the development of a defensive mechanism against this feeling thwarts a student from appropriate foreign language acquisition. These two major factors are quite relevant, which is why this hypothesis is involved in the study.

The second hypothesis claims that the most persistent feeling of foreign language anxiety can be observed before and during the English language exams (Kojima, 2007). Students are anxious to fail the exam, as it seems to be very difficult, just like the entire course of English language is. This type of anxiety is explained by the fear of the students that all their efforts will result in nothing. From this perspective, the credibility of the hypothesis cannot be denied. Furthermore, foreign language anxiety is also present at exams without respect to general anxiety that is usually experienced before any exam.

The third hypothesis is relatively similar to the first one, as it claims that students are anxious about a failure in front of their friends and peers (Kojima, 2007). Henceforth, peer pressure is involved again. Nevertheless, this hypothesis does not consider the anxiety caused by the fear of teacher authority. As a matter of fact, this hypothesis assumes that students are anxious to speak English because they are afraid to look different from their friends, who speak English better. In other words, students avoid speaking English because they are anxious about their inability to belong to a particular social group of friends.

Eventually, the fourth hypothesis argues that the strongest feeling of second language anxiety is based on the fear of failure in communication (Kojima, 2007). Anxious students feel nervous because they do not know how their opponent will react on their speech during a conversation. Psychologically, the fear of unknown consequences produces an impact on an anxious student. Thus, a defensive mechanism is developed. Lack of confidence is an apparent driving force of such foreign language anxiety, as long as students have a limited capacity in the English language. That is why they feel concerned about the situations that will require them to use English, as they feel they will be unable to cope with the task.

Literature Review: The Causes of Foreign Language Anxiety

Cognitive Challenges

To speak about the causes of foreign language anxiety from the perspective of linguistic cognition, two major visions should be presented with Howitz and Yong. However, their theories have been developed by contemporary researchers. Shu-Feng Tseng (2012) claims that the main cause of cognitive challenges is related to the principle of self-conceptualization. Every single individual perceives himself/herself as a certain entity, which includes knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, skills, etc. Thus, it is apparent that self-conceptualization of anxious students estimates the English skills as very low. This causes a feeling that a personal self is not knowledgeable or skillful enough (Tseng, 2012). In practice, this principle is reflected in students’ anxiety about what other people will think of them provided that they speak English very bad. This assumption is generalized but still applicable to almost all types of foreign language anxiety.

Another assumption is outlined by Toth (2012), who considers that the primary cause of foreign language anxiety emerges before or during the exam. Toth defines this process as “a tendency to view the alarm of consequences” (2012). In other words, students are expecting bad consequences of the exam such as a low grade, being expelled, or just a proof of their poor knowledge of the English language. The same tendency can be traced in daily activities within an English classroom. Anxious students are worried about regular tests and assignments to an extent of deciding to quit learning English. Tests are perceived as a source of cognitive frustration, and a student’s brain choses a less challenging strategy of behavior. In such a way, a student becomes unwilling to participate in the English classes, as long as participation presupposes a challenging situation.

Additionally, a claim regarding peer pressure is also present in the related literature. Alrabi describes it as the apprehension about external evaluations and the avoidance of evaluative situations (2014b). This assumption coincides with one of the hypotheses which claims that students worry about their correspondence to the social group of the peers. In other words, students avoid speaking English because they are afraid to look funny, uneducated, or embarrassed in the presence of their friends (Alrabai, 2014b). This factor becomes especially storng since students that look different from others usually become an object of teasing and even bullying. As such behaviors may be present in a student community, an anxious student attempts to avoid any possibility of being teased. Therefore, this assumption should also be considered, as the influence of peer pressure is persistent in the contemporary education. Thus, its involvement in development of second language anxiety is also natural.

Communicative challenges are claimed by Piechurska-Kuciel and Szymanska-Czaplak (2012). They argue that foreign language anxiety arises in terms of interpersonal communication because anxious students are not aware of the opponent’s replies and feel concerned whether they appropriately understand them. Such anxiety is typical for important situations or conversations with authoritative people, so that students are worried about making a negative impression (Piechurska-Kuciel & Szymanska-Czaplak, 2012). Likewise, a fear to offend an opponent is also present, which is why anxious students avoid prolonged conversations, especially with native speakers. Speaking to people they don’t know well, however, is naturally a worrying activity, especially for Saudi females. This may be explained by the fact that they usually have not used to speak to strangers much. In such a way, this is not only a cognitive challenge for Saudi female students but also an evidence that cross-cultural issues produce their effects on the development of foreign language anxiety.

Cross-Cultural Differences: The American Culture Versus the Saudi Culture

Speaking about cross-cultural issues in foreign language anxiety, a strong influence of culture on human behavior can be admitted. Different cultures presuppose different patterns of behavior. Thus, comfortable conditions for one culture may be oppositely stressful for the other. Stereotyping teachers, students, peers, manners of interaction, etc. are also involved, which is why cross-cultural issues are also a comprising element of foreign language anxiety. Their impacts can be traced in cultures that considerably differ from the culture of the target language. Hence, Ying Zheng (2008) suggests that breaking the cultural barrier is essential for a complete foreign language acquisition. For that reason, Zheng (2008) admits that difference in cultures thwarts students from accessing foreign language to a full extent, since learners do not follow original behavioral patterns of the natives. This assumption is clearly applicable to foreign language anxiety among Saudi female students, so that distinct and drastic differences between the American and the Saudi cultures can be observed.

As for the American culture, it can be described as open-minded, liberal, and democratic. It is normal in this culture to speak to elder people first, and differences between genders are not visible in a social perspective. In other words, American communicative culture presupposes a positive attitude towards an opponent. Americans always smile while speaking and demonstrate their participation in the conversation. In the same vein, the relations between leaders and subordinates can be informal, but a basic respect is not denied. At the same time, the American culture of communication is known to be low-contact. It is offensive to touch an opponent, especially when it is an unfamiliar person. That is why Americans prefer to lead a conversation on an informal level without intruding in someone’s privacy. Since Saudi students mostly learn American English, these cultural differences should be considered for overcoming foreign language anxiety.

On the contrary, the Saudi culture presupposes a deep devotion to Muslim faith. Consequently, strict discipline and respect for elder people are typical or its representatives. In communication, younger people rarely speak to adults first. Likewise, women are attached to men, so they don’t speak out loud much, especially in public. In general, a reserved conversation is natural for the Saudi communicative culture. As for the role of females in communication, they do not speak much and usually behave themselves modest and calm. These communicative features of the Saudi culture clearly explain the persistence of cultural perspective in foreign language anxiety. Saudi female students are afraid to speak not only because of limited knowledge of English but also due to the fact that they did not use to speak much in their native language as well, especially with unknown people. This aspect has no relation to their knowledge but rather relates to cultural insights of the target language.

Taking these points into account, lack of cross-cultural awareness is explicit in second language anxiety. This issue arises because Saudi students find it hard to choose the cultural group of the target language as their native. To the greatest extent, Saudi female students cannot emotionally identify themselves with the cultural group of the target language because emotional patterns are dramatically different in comparison with their original culture. Hyesook Park and Adam R. Lee (2014) suggest that the difference in cultural environments affect students on a general psychological level. Students start feeling anxious before they have to speak English, which is why defensive mechanism develops and students attempt to avoid speaking a foreign language in a foreign cultural environment. Cross-cultural differences are also an external factor that causes the development of foreign language anxiety. However, personal traits of a learner are also essential for acquisition of a target language.

Self-Confidence

Besides the external factors that cause foreign language anxiety, personal self-confidence is also an important element for foreign language acquisition. Self-confidence contradicts the internal fears of an individual; thus, it should be also involved in the study of foreign language anxiety. As Yi-Wen Huang (2014) mentions, absence or lack of self-confidence results in a growth of fear of unknown consequences. An anxious student does not know the reaction of the teacher, peer students, or any other opponent in an English language conversation. Thus, a students with lack of self-confidence is more exposed to foreign language anxiety, as their basic fear of negative consequences is facilitated within a learning environment. In a similar manner, a feeling of limited knowledge makes students try to hide their poor knowledge (Huang, 2014). Low self-confidence makes a student consider only negative outcomes of the English language usage. Again, the development of a defensive mechanism is present, and avoidance of the English language becomes a habit.