Effects of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) on the Alleviation of Chinese High School Students’ English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Listening Anxiety

Abstract

Foreign language learning has been recognized as one of the most important issues in the applied linguistics field and attracted much attention. As a complicated psychological process, foreign language learning is influenced by many factors, including cognitive variables as well as affective variables related to individual learners. Foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) has been an area which inspires much research interest and discussion in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). The existing research literature shows that FLLA could hinder English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from achieving high levels of foreign language listening proficiency (FLLP) to great extent. Many scholars have done extensive studies on this topic in recent years, but my review of the literature suggests that the research on the FLLA is not comprehensive, and those relevant studies mainly focus either on the correlation between FLLA and listening proficiency, the correlation between FLLA and FLLA factors, or the effects of FLLA on listening. To my knowledge, few studies have reported on the effects of a particular teaching method on the alleviation of FLLA. To fill the research gap, this thesis examined the effect of task-based language teaching (TBLT) on the alleviation of FLLA. To verify the effect, 100 students from a Chinese high school were selected as the participants in the study. They were divided into two groups, the experimental (treatment) group and the contrast group, based on the results of a pre-test of their listening proficiency and foreign language listening anxiety that show both groups were at a similar level on both measures. The treatment group was taught by a teacher trained in TBLT, and the contrast (intact) group was taught by another teacher using traditional methods. At the end of the treatment, both groups took a post-test for measuring their changes in listening proficiency and levels of foreign language listening anxiety. Results show that: 1) the participants experienced a relatively high level of FLLA; 2) many factors contributed to these students' FLLA (e.g., lack of listening strategies, nervousness in the listening process, difficulty in comprehending listening materials, and so on); 3) FLLP was negatively correlated with FLLA; and 4) TBLT was effective in alleviating FLLA and improving FLLP. Possible implications for language teaching are also offered. Key words: task-based language teaching (TBLT); foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA); foreign language listening proficiency (FLLP).