An Empirical Study on Chinese University Students' English Language
Classroom Anxiety with the Idiodynamic Approach
Abstract
Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) is a very critical affective
factor for learners’ language learning and development. The present
study was designed to explore the features of Chinese university
students’ FLCA and to investigate the possible influencing factors on
the fluctuations of Chinese university students’ FLCA. Two female and
two male Chinese university students were selected as the participants
and their in-class performances were recorded. Data collection
instrument included the classroom observation, the self-rated evaluation
of FLCA and the stimulated recall interview. In order to capture the
micro-changes of the Chinese learners’ FLCA per second, an idiodynamic
approach was adopted to carry out the exploratory analysis for the
learners’ experiences of FLCA over the language instruction. Zooming in
on the micro dynamic variation of the participants’ FLCA, the final
results indicate that Chinese university students’ FLCA, both within
individuals and across individuals, is characterized of a dynamic
system’s features. Furthermore, a series of contributing factors were
identified to affect the participants’ FLCA, with the classroom activity
types and the teacher’s feedback being the key factors. The idiodynamic
method shed new light on exploring the FLCA from an emic and dynamic
perspective and some pedagogical implications were also put forward as
well.