Examining Language Learning Anxiety among Bilingual and Multilingual EFL Learners[Latin Thesis]

Elham Heidarzadeh

Anxiety is one of the main factors that can affect learning English language. Many studies about anxiety can be found with the focus on types and sources of anxiety. Less research can be found about the impact of the number of languages known on language learning anxiety. Also, the role of local language has not been taken into account in many studies. This study compares Language Learning Anxiety (LLA) of bilinguals and multilinguals regarding their local language and gender. For this purpose, a mixed-method study was conducted in two phases: quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative phase, 195 EFL learners were asked to complete FLCAS questionnaire. They were divided into three groups. The First group consisted of 64 multilingual Kurdish speaking students (28 male and 36 female). The Second group was 64 bilingual Persian speaking students (33 male and 31 female). The last group were 67 multilingual Mazani speaking students (27 male and 40 female). The difference between Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) of bilinguals and multilinguals was identified by Kruskal Wallis Test as a non-parametric test that no difference was found. Mann-Whitney U Test was used for the difference between multilingual with different first languages which showed that being Kurdish and Mazani cannot affect FLA. The difference between anxieties of bilinguals regarding gender was checked by T-Test and multilinguals by Factorial ANOVA. Due to the results, anxiety of male and female are the same. The results of the qualitative phase revealed that most of the participants become nervous in the classroom when they are not prepared enough and when they become nervous they cannot concentrate on what the teacher is teaching. Teachers play a crucial role in increasing and decreasing anxiety. Finally, when results are presented, the implications and suggestion for future are suggested.