ERIC Number: EJ1075432
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1916-4742
EISSN: N/A
An Elaboration on the Effect of Reading Anxiety on Reading Achievement
Mohammadpur, Bijan; Ghafournia, Narjes
English Language Teaching, v8 n7 p206-215 2015
The present study was an elaboration on the effect of foreign language anxiety on reading comprehension achievement of Iranian EFL learners. The participants comprised 100 BA students, doing General English Course in different academic fields at Islamic University of Neyshabur. The participants took a reading proficiency test of TOEFL and answered a likert scale reading anxiety questionnaire, derived from Sarson's (1975) anxiety scale. The collected data were subjected to a set of parametric statistical analyses, including descriptive and inferential statistics such as one-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests. The findings presented significant differences among the participants at different reading ability levels. The students at the high and intermediate reading levels differed significantly from the students at the low reading level in reading anxiety. To put it simply, there is a negative relationship between the students' reading level and reading anxiety. The findings are of significance for language teachers as well as curriculum planners to reduce the affective filters and debilitating factors in language-learning environment to improve language learners' reading ability. One important way to reduce reading anxiety is to expose language learners to comprehensible reading sources and culturally familiar texts, which develop learners' feeling of reassurance and self-confidence.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Anxiety, Reading Attitudes, Reading Achievement, English (Second Language), Reading Comprehension, Undergraduate Students, Reading Tests, Likert Scales, Language Tests, Second Language Learning, Statistical Analysis, Reading Ability
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Test of English as a Foreign Language
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A