Title: Validating a Reading Anxiety Scale and Exploring the Impact of Anxiety and Aptitude on Non-English Major Learners’ Reading Performance
Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Lian Zhu, University College London, United Kingdom
Abstract:
The aim of the present study is twofold: to validate a pioneering second language reading anxiety scale (Cheng, 2017) and to examine the relationship between reading anxiety, language aptitude and reading achievement in a Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Participants were first-year medical students (phase 1, n = 400; phase 2, n = 112) at a large local university. In the validation phase of the study, the modified version of the second language reading anxiety scale demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Thus, this instrument was used to measure participants’ reading anxiety in the relationship phase of the study, in which their language aptitude and reading achievement were assessed using the LLAMA subtest B and reading materials chosen from College English Test Band 4 (CET4), respectively. The results revealed the complexity of the relationship between reading anxiety, language aptitude and reading achievement, suggesting no interaction effect of reading anxiety and language aptitude on students’ reading achievement. However, it was found that language aptitude had no impact on participants’ reading achievement, whereas reading anxiety was associated with their reading achievement in terms of vocabulary, reading comprehension and total scores. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed in light of the findings.
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