Foreign language classroom anxiety among English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the degree of Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) towards the learning of English that English for Specific Purposes students report experiencing. The participants in this study were 67 undergraduates at the University of the Balearic Islands enrolled in two university degree programs. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Howitz & Cope, 1986) was used to collect data. The findings reveal that most students suffered from average to high anxiety levels. Communication apprehension was found to be the main source of participants’ FLA followed by fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety. The data also showed statistically significant differences across students’ university degree programs related to test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. No statistically significant gender differences in FLA levels were observed. Finally, correlation analyses revealed significant negative associations between participants’ self-perceived English proficiency and their FLA levels associated with listening and speaking skills.