Saudi University Male Students' Perceptions and Experience of English Learning Classroom Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the experience and perception of Saudi Male Arabic-speaking university students on English learning classroom anxiety. The study has been carried out at the College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. sixty students from English department participated in this study to explore students' English learning anxiety in Saudi EFL classrooms. The data have been collected by means of a questionnaire, namely the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) introduced by Horwitz et al., (1986); interviews and a proficiency English test, designed to measure the anxiety levels of the students. The results indicated that students indeed experienced comparatively high anxiety in English learning. Finally, the possible causes of classroom anxiety as well as the various strategies students used for reducing anxiety in classrooms were discussed and suggestions were proposed for both students and teachers Key words: English learning anxiety, Arabic, Saudi, Imam University, EFL, Linguistics