ANXIETY OVER LEARNING ENGLISH AT PRIMARY SCHOOL: TEACHERS

RLA. Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada Concepción (Chile), 59 (2), II Sem. 2021, pp. 153-172. ISSN 0033-698X (impresa) ISSN 0718-4883 (on-line) https://doi.org/10.29393/RLA59-15ALEF30015 ANXIETY OVER LEARNING ENGLISH AT PRIMARY SCHOOL: TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES LA ANSIEDAD EN EL APRENDIZAJE DEL INGLÉS EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA: PERCEPCIONES Y ESTRATEGIAS EDUCATIVAS ESTHER SANZ DE LA CAL University of Burgos, España Orcid: 0000-0002-7897-5970 FERNANDO LEZCANO-BARBERO University of Burgos, España Orcid: 0000-0001-7866-071X RAQUEL CASADO-MUÑOZ University of Burgos, España Orcid: 0000-0002-9070-6298 ABSTRACT Language learning is a necessary and an effective means of facilitating communication in modern society. Anxiety in the learning process is evident as a limiting factor. The scarcity of research among pupils of young ages and the perceptions of the teaching staff motivate us to identify schools, teachers, and educational strategies that lead to lower levels of anxiety among pupils. We proposed a two-phase mixed methodology study. In the first phase, of a quantitative nature, the Spanish version of the FLCAS was employed in which 255 pupils participated from the 5th and 6th year of Primary Education at 5 schools in Burgos (Spain). In the second phase, of a qualitative nature, we designed a focus-group with 5 teachers around the following categories: learning of English and training in extracurricular activities; factors generating anxiety and organizational and didactic resources to reduce anxiety. The results offer a wide range of useful educational resources to improve foreign language learning in Primary Education. Keywords: foreign language, Primary, anxiety, educational strategies. 153 RLA. Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada, 59 (2), II Sem. 2021 RESUMEN El aprendizaje de lenguas es un instrumento necesario y eficaz para facilitar la comunicación en la sociedad actual. La ansiedad se evidencia como un factor limitante de ese aprendizaje. La escasez de investigaciones sobre edades tempranas y la percepción del profesorado, nos motiva a identificar centros, profesores y estrategias educativas utilizadas que derivan en menores niveles de ansiedad del alumnado. Planteamos un estudio de metodología mixta en dos fases. En la primera fase, de naturaleza cuantitativa, se llevó a cabo la versión española de FLCAS en 255 alumnos de 5º y 6º de Educación Primaria de 5 colegios en Burgos (España). La segunda fase, de naturaleza cualitativa, se organizó un focus- group con 5 profesores sobre las siguientes categorías: factores que generan ansiedad y recursos organizativos y didácticos para reducir dicha ansiedad. Los resultados ofrecen un amplio banco de útiles recursos educativos para mejorar el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera en Educación Primaria. Palabras clave: lengua extranjera, Primaria, ansiedad, estrategias educativas. Recibido: 30/04/2021. Aceptado: 17/11/2021. 1. INTRODUCTION T he need to learn languages is an unquestionable fact nowadays and the development of linguistic skills constitutes a priority line of European educational policy. This priority is due to the presentation of languages as a “real means of communication and openness to the other” (Beacco and Byram, 2007:30). A change is therefore perceptible in the teaching of languages that, rather than centring the objective on the model of the ideal native speaker, considers the need to prepare pupils as plurilingual and intercultural speakers (Beacco and Byram, 2007; Byram and Zarate, 1997). In Spain, the current Foreign Language curriculum in Primary Education (Real Decreto 126/2014, of 28 Febrero) recognizes this need to train children, so that they can participate in that plurilingual context. In addition, it insists that they have to develop their basic communicative capability in the first foreign language, both in communicative interaction and in their understanding and production of texts in real and motivating communicative situations. This initial training in the school system is presented as the basis of permanent learning, hence the recommendation that teachers cultivate a special sensitivity to create an environment that favours language learning (Commission of the European Communities, 2003). Emphasis in the affective dimension of language teaching is placed on stimulating such factors as empathy, motivation, and self-esteem, to 154 Anxiety over learning English at primary... / Esther Sanz de La Cal, Fernando Lezcano-Barbero, Raquel Casado-Muñoz create positive attitudes (Arnold and Brown, 1999). Emotions and their effect in this field should bring teachers closer to didactic proposals that promote such attitudes that will, in turn, reduce other negative elements such as anxiety (Falero Parra, 2016; Liu and Chen, 2013). 2. IMPACT OF ANXIETY ON LANGUAGE LEARNING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION One of the principal factors that complicates the creation of a favourable educational atmosphere for effective interaction in a foreign language is anxiety, and since the 1980s, researchers have shown great interest in studying its causes (Bailey, 1983; Lucas, 1984; Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope, 1986; Young, 1986; MacIntyre and Gardner, 1989). Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) defined it as a subjective feeling of stress, apprehension, nervousness, and worry that leads to weaknesses in learning and performance. It is precisely oral communication in the foreign language that is one of the situations that provokes greater anxiety in the classroom. Likewise, this feeling hinders acceptable functioning, as the working memory is preoccupied by worry instead of focusing its thought on the task at hand (Eysenck, 1992). It occurs most frequently with foreign language teaching than in other areas of the curriculum, due to the difficulty of grappling with communication in a language other than the mother tongue and the methodology that the teacher employs can even generate levels of anxiety (Arnold and Brown, 1999). Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) devised a specific model to measure anxiety in foreign language learning known as the Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). As a consequence of research into the application of the FLCAS and its different versions, the factors that generate anxiety in foreign language classes have been identified, as well as interesting recommendations and teaching strategies to grapple with those factors and to generate a favourable atmosphere for use and communication in the classroom. However, an absence of investigations on anxiety at early ages has also been noted (Chan and Wu, 2004; Yim and Yu, 2011). As Chan and Wu (2004) and Liu and Chen (2013) noted, anxiety is a significant problem that should not be ignored in Primary Education, because of its negative consequences. Along these lines, Liu and Chen (2013) found that pupils of that age presented preoccupations with their actions in the classroom and a lack of confidence in their u (...truncated)