| Summary: | 碩士 === 靜宜大學 === 英國語文學系 === 107 === Literature Circles has been introduced to Taiwan for more than ten years. In the past decade, most studies on Literature Circles in Taiwan focused on its effect on students’ learning performance and proficiency. The present research aimed to detect the rural high school students’ foreign language learning anxiety level, the possible causes of foreign language learning anxiety, effects of Literature Circles on foreign language learning anxiety and students’ self-efficacy of rural senior high school students, and the correlation between foreign language learning anxiety and self-efficacy.
The 56 participants consisted of 2nd grade students in a rural senior high school in central Taiwan. The two questionnaires for measuring anxiety level and self-efficacy level are Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and Questionnaire of English Self-Efficacy (QESE) respectively. Before the instruction of Literature Circles, FLCAS and QESE were distributed to the participants as the pretest to measure the anxiety and self-efficacy level. After the pretest came the implementation of Literature Circles for twelve weeks. In stage three, FLCAS and QESE were distributed again to measure the level of anxiety and self-efficacy after the treatment. All the quantitative data were analyzed through Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0). Qualitative research was done based on the researcher’s classroom observation.
The research findings are summarized as follows:
1. The foreign language learning anxiety level is moderate in four categories in rural high school in Taiwan.
2. Half of the causes of high anxiety are related to listening and speaking.
3. The teaching technique of Literature Circles is proven to be effective in reducing foreign language learning anxiety and enhancing learners’ self-efficacy.
4. The descriptive statistics show that foreign language learning anxiety has a strong negative correlation with learners’ self-efficacy.
According to the results of the study, several pedagogical implications were proposed. First, teachers should observe the level and causes of students’ foreign language learning anxiety in English classes. Second, it is vital for teachers to apply teaching techniques with less anxiety or create a less anxiety-provoking environment to help reduce students’ learning anxiety. Third, students’ self-choice of reading materials gives students stronger motivation to learn and it may help improve students’ English learning. Fourth, students’ mutual assistance and discussion help them inspire and encourage one another and thus learn better. Last, by applying Literature Circles, learning anxiety is reduced and self-efficacy is enhanced. It is also found the two variables have a strong negative correlation with each other. That is, the reduction of anxiety helps students gain more confidence in English learning and they are likely to learn better.
The researcher hopes that the above suggestions can inspire English teachers to come up with better teaching techniques like Literature Circles so that students can learn better and more in the classroom with lower anxiety.
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