焦慮的成因與對策：從課堂走向社群

Abstract

語言焦慮長久以來一直被視為影響語言學習的重要因素。雖然國內外以語言課堂焦慮作主軸的研究已累積相當豐碩的成果，但大部分的語言焦慮研究仍以外語課堂焦慮為重點，鮮少針對課堂外的真實溝通情境作探討。然而，有鑑於臺灣學生留學英語系國家人數高達九成，確有特別瞭解留學生在異鄉所遇到之英語溝通問題的必要，以作為英語教學之參考與改進。據此，本研究探討117名留學美國之研究生於不同溝通情境下口語焦慮之成因及焦慮與個人背景之關聯性。本研究編製「英語溝通焦慮量表」來瞭解留學生在生活情境中之英語溝通焦慮並利用探索性因素分析及多元回歸進行資料分析。研究結果顯示害怕負面評價為課堂及社群溝通焦慮的共同成因。而兩種口語焦慮的不同點在於英語溝通焦慮產生之因素包含社會溝通情境中的變數與文化隔閡，而英語課堂焦慮產生之因素包含對參與英語課堂活動之憂慮。另外，學生個人對自己的英文程度的認知也是造成口語焦慮的主因之一。研究最後提出英語教學實務上之建議。

Foreign language anxiety has been identified as one of the major factors detrimental to foreign language acquisition and delivery. Much research has focused on language anxiety in classroom environments while relatively little has explored language anxiety in daily social situations. With the consistently high number of Taiwanese students studying in English-speaking countries, it is necessary to gain more understanding of English communication issues students encounter in a foreign country. This study examines the underlying constructs of English classroom anxiety and English communication anxiety, and the relationships between language anxiety and selected individual difference variables. The English communication anxiety scale was designed to measure students’ English anxiety arising from social interactions. Exploratory factor analyses and multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that students’ English classroom anxiety primarily falls into two dimensions: communication apprehension and fear of negative evaluation. Students’ English communication anxiety falls into three dimensions: social-communication anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and anxiety in cross-cultural interactions. The results also reveal that self-perceived English oral proficiency is the most significant predictor of both types of anxiety. Finally, pedagogical implications and recommendations are discussed.