چکیده:
The present study was an attempt to determine a relationship between foreign language reading anxiety and reading strategy use among a group of EFL Iranian readers (no = 100) with low vs. high proficiency levels. To this end, FLRAS (Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale) developed by Saito, Horwitz, and Garza, (1999) was used in order to measure the participants’ level of anxiety in reading and SORS (The Survey of Reading Strategies) adapted from Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002), was utilized to gauge the participants’ strategy uses. The students’ responses to reading strategies when faced with anxiety-provoking contexts were categorized into three strategy uses including ‘global’, ‘problem solving’ and ‘support’ and mapped on their total scores in reading anxiety. The results from Multinomial Logit Regression (MLR) showed that the students with lower level reading anxiety indices would adopt problem solving strategies more compared with support and global strategies. Regarding the interaction of proficiency level in the process, the results showed that it was less probable for the students with lower reading anxiety levels to adopt problem solving strategies compared with more anxious students who would adopt global strategies. Some possible implications are discussed in the light of improving reading instructions provided for Iranian students.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Studies carried on 1200 foreign language learners in the US by Oxford and Nyikos (1989) showed more strategy use was related to learners’ higher perceptions of proficiency in reading, listening, and speaking.
In effect, some researchers had demonstrated that the use of language learning strategies might be also be associated with the learners’ proficiency in second language among other things (Green & Oxford, 1995; Wharton, 2000).
Generally speaking, the impact of foreign-language anxiety has been researched with respect to the reading domains; yet, how it affects reading proficiency in relation to test anxiety is yet unexplored (Hou, 2009; Hsu, 2004; Sellers, 2000; Leow & Sanz, 2000).
Results The scores gained from SORS and FLRAS questionnaires were used to answer the two suggested research questions to clarify if there was any relationship between the participants’ strategy use with three levels as the dependent variable and the degree of reading anxiety they experienced and to examine if proficiency could interact in the process to mitigate the results.
In order to find the significant differences between and among the groups (students’ anxiety levels & strategy adoption with the interaction of reading proficiency), MLR was run.
On the other hand, in another study by Lien (2016), self-perceived English level by a group of Taiwanese students and their due satisfaction with reading proficiency was surveyed regarding their strategy use via the direct and indirect effect of foreign language reading anxiety.
Factors affecting language learning strategy choice: a study of EFL senior high school students in Taiwan (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University-Kingsville).