Investigating the Role of Helpful Anxiety in Promoting Learning Outcomes in an EFL Context

Abstract

The role of affect in general and anxiety in specific has been stressed for long in the field of second/foreign language learning. This study is a response to a call for clarity about the facilitating role of anxiety whose salience had not been established previously. The present dissertation attempts to delve into the role of ositive anxiety in enhancing EFL learners’ outcomes at the University of Mila. Initially, the scene is set for a nsideration of preliminary background which paves the way for a clear conceptualization of the phenomenon of anxiety, specifying its nature, theories, types, symptoms, and sources. Additionally, it is shown how foreign language anxiety manifests in students’ performance and the relative role of a moderate anxiety level and its potential benefits in improving students’ achievements. Because it has been widely accepted that purported language anxiety is in fact inevitable, this research is devoted also to mitigate it through a wide array of coping strategies, either on the part of the teacher, or on the part of the learner. To verify the hypothesis and to give consistency to the present study, a questionnaire and The Facilitative Anxiety Scale have been submitted to a sample omposed of 70 second year students, plus another questionnaire for 18 teachers from the Department of nglish at Mila University. The findings indicate that facilitative anxiety exists in foreign language classrooms and it can serve as an alert or a motivator for their learning. Besides, the results of the analysis confirm and recommend that teachers’ role is important in alleviating students’ anxiety to a proper amount that may push them to erform better