Factors causing anxiety among young learners in English classes (a case study at a primary school in Duy Xuyen, Quang Nam)

Abstract

Young learners’ anxiety in learning English at primary schools has been considered as a psychological issue of their learning process. This article is aimed at studying the factors causing anxiety to young learners in English classes, their effects on language skills and exploring the effective teaching methods to help learners overcome their embarrassment in learning English and gaining higher achievement. This study focused on three main components of anxiety (communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation). Based on the inquiry of the research, this study combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches to address research questions. The study result showed that the anxiety for fear of disappointing parents in test anxiety was the most adverse factor for young learners. Furthermore, anxiety negatively impacted their learning of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, among which listening and speaking were most affected.

Keywords

• anxiety
• young learners
• foreign language learning
• causes of anxiety
• english classes