外语课堂中的焦虑研究

第二语言习得中,焦虑越来越成为关注的焦点。很多理论学家都认为焦虑是人类的基本情感之一,是个性的重要表现形式。尽管理论学家和语言学家对焦虑的划分不一,且其表现形式多样,但大量的研究都表明,焦虑对语言学习有着负面的影响。在国外,焦虑研究受到相当重视;在中国,尽管焦虑在英语学习者中比较普遍,焦虑研究仍被忽视。笔者在教学及考试中屡屡发现不少学生高度焦虑(如声音发颤等现象)。这种紧张必将影响学生们的外语学习成绩,值得语言教师和外语研究人员的关注。文章综述国外外语课堂中焦虑研究的发展、外语习得中焦虑产生的原因及其后果,为中国语言教师和外语研究人员研究焦虑提供一些借鉴。

Review of Anxiety Studies in Foreign Language Classrooms

Anxiety has increasingly merited researchers' attention in recent years and has been regarded as one of human beings' basic emotions and major dimensions of personality by many theorists.Classified into different categories and embodied in various forms,anxiety has proved to mainly have a negative effect on students' learning.This paper traces the development of anxiety and examines the cause and effect of anxiety in second language acquisition,thus providing some insights for the study of anxiety in similar contexts in Mainland China.Since English is receiving greater and greater attention in China now and many students exhibit obvious anxiety in language classrooms,it is worthwhile to explore the phenomenon.By understanding its causes and effects,ways can be found to help students reduce or even overcome anxiety so as to improve their performance in language classrooms and language tests.