The relationship between facilitative language learning and oral performance among Iranian learners

Abstract

The present thesis is a response to a call for clarity in the relationship between language anxiety and oral performance. It aims to investigate the most salient facilitative factors, students’ views on the integration of facilitative anxiety, and the degree to which facilitative anxiety improves oral performance. Initially, the scene is set for a reconsideration of the relatively-underexplored role of facilitative anxiety, the potential benefits for pedagogical practice and a preliminary background which paves the way for a literature review. The Anxiety Questionnaire (AQ) and the Foreign Language Oral Skills Evaluation Matrix (FLOSEM) were used to measure anxiety and oral performance, respectively and mixed methods were shown to lend themselves well to such investigation. The present study resorted to the qualitative Constant Comparative Method to derive the factors conducive to facilitative anxiety and students’ views on its integration in classroom practice. The experimental designs are also discussed as the procedure through which the qualitative outcome is tested for its effects. Three 53-student groups from Azad University were randomly selected. The ANOVA and correlation studies suggest that facilitative anxiety exerted positive effect on oral performance. A moderate statistically significant positive (r=0.634) and a moderate to high negative correlation (r=-0.68) were observed in the facilitative and debilitative groups, respectively. The facilitative anxiety group mostly reported moderate anxiety whose finding was consistent with the fact that moderate anxiety exerts maximal positive effects on performance. Finally, the thesis juxtaposes these contributions in the current literature so as to highlight the directions along which future research might proceed and the possible transition from theorizing to practice stressing the importance of facilitative anxiety in any enquiry that sets out to capture the anxiety-performance relationship and the ensuing benefits.