Introducing “Emotioncy” as an Efficient Way to Reduce Foreign Language Reading Anxiety

مطالعات زبان و ترجمه

Article 2, Volume 52, Issue 2, July 2019, Pages 35-63   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/lts.v52i2.70790

Authors

Sahar Tabatabaee Farani¹; Reza Pishghadam^{* 1}; Sahar Moghimi²

¹Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

²Department of Electrical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

There is no doubt that reading comprehension is one of the main skills of English language that plays a significant role in learning. Foreign language reading anxiety is one of the issues that can affect the quality of reading comprehension. Researchers have identified several factors such as different writing systems, and cultural issues that may be anxiety provoking while the language learners are reading foreign language texts. Given the significant role of positive and negative emotions in the process of language learning, the language learner’s level of emotioncy regarding the content of the reading comprehension text can be considered as another factor that can cause foreign language reading anxiety. Emotioncy that consists of sense, emotion, and frequency deals with different emotions about linguistic items that language learners form due to different sensory experiences they have already had about those items. The present study tries to introduce engaging the five senses of language learners, and improving their emotioncy level for the content of reading comprehension text as possible solutions to control foreign language reading anxiety. Further studies are required to determine different types of emotioncy, and the appropriate order and combination of the five senses to control foreign language reading anxiety.
 

Keywords

English Language Teaching; Foreign Language Reading Anxiety; Emotioncy; Emo-sensory Capital Neurolinguistics

References

ابراهیمی، ش. (1396). بررسی تأثیر تدریس مبتنی بر الگوی «هیجامد» بر یادگیری نکات فرهنگی، هیجامد، هیجانات، غرقگی، هوش فرهنگی، سبک‌های یادگیری و نگرش زبان‌آموزان غیرفارسی‌زبان زن در ایران، (رسالۀ منتشرنشدۀ دکتری). دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم و انسانی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، ایران.

ابراهیمی، ش.، استاجی، ا.، پیش‌قدم، ر.، و امین‌یزدی، ا. (1396). بررسی تأثیر استفاده از الگوی هیجامد بر نگرش به یادگیری زبان‌آموزان. مطالعات زبان و ترجمه، 50(2)، 1-31.

ابراهیمی، ش.، پیش‌قدم، ر.، استاجی، ا.، و امین‌یزدی، ا. (1397). بررسی تأثیر تدریس مبتنی بر الگوی هیجامد بر هیجانات زبان‌آموزان غیر فارسی‌زبان زن در ایران. جستارهای زبانی، 9(3)، 1-35.

ایروانی، م.، و خداپناهی، م. ک. (1396). روان‌شناسی احساس و ادراک. تهران: سمت.

پیش‌قدم، ر.، و ابراهیمی، ش. (1396). معرفی الگوی هیجامد و شیوه‌های افزایش آن در آموزش زبان فارسی به زبان‌آموزان غیرفارسی‌زبان. مجموعه مقالات دومین همایش ملی آموزش زبان و ادبیات فارسی (ص. 112-88)، به همت احسان قبول. مشهد: انتشارات دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد.

پیش‌قدم، ر.، ابراهیمی، ش.، و شکیبایی، گ. (1397). معرفی مفهوم «سرمایۀ هیجانی‌حسی» و بررسی تأثیرات آن در آموزش زبان دوم. مطالعات زبان و ترجمه، 51(2)، 1-26.

پیش‌قدم، ر.، طباطبا ئیان، م.، و ناوری، ص. (1392). تحلیل کاربردی و انتقادی نظریه‌های فراگیری زبان اول: از پیدایش تا تکوین. مشهد: انتشارات دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد.

پیش‌قدم، ر.، و فیروزیان پوراصفهانی، آ. (1396). معرفی هیجامد به‌عنوان ابزاری مؤثر در پذیرش نوواژه‌های مصوب فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی. جستارهای زبانی، 8(5)، 79-105.

غفارثمر، ر.، و شیرازی‌زاده، م. (1390). ارتباط بین کمال‌گرایی، اضطراب و دست‌یافت مهارت خواندن در انگلیسی به‌عنوان زبان خارجی: مطالعه‌ای در روانشناسی یادگیری زبان. پژوهش‌های زبان و ادبیات تطبیقی، 2(1)، 1-19.

 

Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope's construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal, 87, 155-197.

Alpert, R., & Haber, R. N. (1960). Anxiety in academic achievement situations. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 61(2), 207-215.

Alrabai, F. (2015). The influence of teachers’ anxiety-reducing strategies on learners’ foreign language anxiety. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(2), 163–190. doi: 10.1080/17501229.2014.890203

Bailey, K. M. (1983). Competitiveness and anxiety in adult second language learning: Looking at and through the diary studies. In H. W. Seliger & M. H. Long (Eds.), Classroom oriented research in second language acquisition (pp. 67-102). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.

Baines, L. (2008). A teachers’ guide to learning multisensory improving literacy by engaging the senses. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Basavanna, M. (2000). Dictionary of psychology. New Delhi, India: Allied Publishers Ltd.

Bigdeli, Sh. (2010). Affective learning: The anxiety construct in adult learners. Procedia -Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 674-678. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.216

Biçer, S. Y., Asghari, A., Kharazi, P., & Shaygan Asl, N. (2012). The effect of exercise on depression and anxiety of students. Annals of Biological Research, 3(1), 270-274.

Borsipour, B. (2016). Emotioncy and willingness to read: A case of Iranian EFL learners. (Unpublished master’s thesis), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

Brantmeier, C. (2005). Anxiety about L2 reading or L2 reading tasks? A study with advanced language learners. The Reading Matrix, 5(2), 67-85.

Brown, D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. New York, NY: Longman.

Çapan, S. A., & Pektaş, R. (2013). An empirical analysis of the relationship between foreign language reading anxiety and reading strategy training. English Language Teaching, 6(12), 181-188. doi:10.5539/elt.v6n12p181

Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ennis, I. (2006). A qualitative analysis of the kinds of higher-order thinking processes present in the reflective journals of graduate students of reading theory, (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Graduate School of Wayne State University, Michigan, USA.

Flett, G. L., Hewitt, R. L., Blankstein, K. R., & Koledin, S. (1991). Dimensions of perfectionism and irrational thinking. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 9(3), 185-201.

Gardner, R. C., & Macintyre, P. D. (1993). On the measurement of affective variables in second language learning. Language Learning, 43(2), 157-194.

Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R. (2014). Cognitive neuroscience: The biology of the mind (4th ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Ltd.

Geake, J. G. (2009). The brain at school. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Ghonsooly, B. (2003, July). Gender and reading anxiety in IELTS and TOEFL. Paper presented at the 25th LTRC Conference in Reading University, Reading, Berkshire, England.

Ghonsooly, B., & Elahi, M. (2010). Learners' self-efficacy in reading and its relation to foreign language reading anxiety and reading achievement. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 53(217), 45-67.

Greenspan, S. I. (1992). Infancy and early childhood: The practice of clinical assessment and intervention with emotional and developmental challenges. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.

Greenspan, S. I., & Weider, S. (1998). The child with special needs: Encouraging intellectual and emotional growth. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Gregersen, T., & Horwitz, E. K. (2002). Language learning and perfectionism: Anxious and nonanxious language learners’ reactions to their own oral performance. Modern Language Journal, 86(4), 562–570. doi:10.1111/1540-4781.00161.

Hershner, K. (2016). Strategies to reduce foreign language anxiety in adult EFL students of the European Union. (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of San Francisco, USA.

Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112–127. doi:10.1017/S0267190501000071

Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.

Huang, Q. (2012). Study on correlation of foreign language anxiety and English reading anxiety. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(7), 1520-1525. doi:10.4304/tpls.2.7.1520-1525

Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2002). We feel, therefore, we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3-10.

Isen, A. M., & Shmidt, E. (2007, January). Positive affect facilitates incidental learning and divided attention while not impairing performance on a focal task. Paper presented at the Emotions Pre-Conference at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.

Jee, M. J. (2016). Exploring Korean heritage language learners’ anxiety: ‘We are not afraid of Korean!’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(1), 56-74.

doi:10.1080/01434632.2015.1029933

Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., Jessell, T. M., Siegelbaum, S. A., & Hudspeth, A. J. (2013). Principles of neural science. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Khatib, M., & Jannati, S. (2015). Comprehension strategy instruction and Iranian high school EFL learners' reading anxiety and reading comprehension. Issues in Language Teaching (ILT), 4(2), 57-79.

Krashen, S. D. (1985). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New Jersey, NJ: Prentice-Hall International.

Kuru-Gonen, I. (2009). The sources of foreign language reading anxiety of students in a Turkish EFL context. In Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS/IASME International Conference on Educational Technologies (pp. 50-55). Heraklion, Greece: World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS).

Lee, J. F. (1999). Clashes in L2 reading: Research versus practice and readers’ misconceptions. In D. J. Young (Ed.), Affect in foreign language and second language learning: A practical guide to creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere (pp. 49-63). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

MacIntyre, P. D. (1999). Language anxiety: A review of literature for language teachers. In D. J. Young (Ed.), Affect in foreign language and second language learning (pp. 24 – 43). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Companies.

MacIntyre, P., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Language anxiety. Language Learning, 41, 513-534.

Matsuda, S., & Gobel, P. (2004). Anxiety and the predictors of performance in the foreign language classroom. System, 32, 21-36.

May, M. (2007). Sensation and perception. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

Nielen, T. M. J., Mol, S. E., Sikkema-de Jong, M. T., & Bus, A. G. (2016). Attentional bias toward reading in reluctant readers. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 46, 263-271. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.11.004

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Bailey, P., & Daley, C. E. (1999). Factors associated with foreign language anxiety. Applied Psycholinguistics, 20, 217-239.

Oxford, R. (1999). Anxiety and the language learner: New insights. In J. Arnold & H. D. Brown (Eds.), Affect in language learning (pp. 58–67). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Pavlenko, V. B., Chernyi, S. V., & Goubkina, D. G. (2009). EEG correlates of anxiety and emotional stability in adult healthy subjects. Neurophysiol, 41, 337-345.

Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement: A program of qualitative and quantitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 91-105.

Pishghadam, R. (2015, October). Emotioncy in language education: From exvolvement to involvement. Paper presented at the 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language Teaching, Literature, and Translation Studies, Iran, Mashhad.

Pishghadam, R. (2016). A look into the life of the senses: Introducing educational emotioncy pyramid [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://pishghadam.profcms.um.ac.ir/index.php/index.php?option=com_profactivity&task=allPublications

Pishghadam, R., & Abbasnejad, H. (2016). Emotioncy: A potential measure of readability. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 9(1), 109-123.

Pishghadam, R., Adamson, B., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2013). Emotion-based language instruction (EBLI) as a new perspective in bilingual education. Multilingual Education, 3(9), 1-16.

Pishghadam, R., Jajarmi, H., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2016). Conceptualizing sensory relativism in light of emotioncy: A movement beyond linguistic relativism. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 4(2), 11-21.

Pishghadam, R., Shakibaee, G., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2018). Introducing cultural weight as a tool of comparative analysis: An emotioncy-based study of social class. Humanities Diliman, 15(1), 139-158.

Pishghadam, R., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2016). Emotioncy: A post-linguistic approach toward vocabulary learning and retention. Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences, 39(1), 27-36.

Pishghadam, R., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2017a). The consolidation of life issues and language teaching on the life-language model of emotioncy. Humanizing Language Teaching, 19(2), 1-14.

Pishghadam, R., & Shayesteh, Sh. (2017b). Emo-sensory expression at the crossroads of emotion, sense, and language: A case of color-emotion associations. International Journal of Culture, Society, & Language, 5(2), 15-25.

Pishghadam, R., Zabetipour, M., & Aminzadeh, A. (2016). Examining emotions in English language learning classes: A case of EFL emotions. Issues in Educational Research, 26(3), 508-527.

Rajab, A., Wan Zakaria, W. Z., Abdul Rahman, H., Hosni, A. D., & Hassani, S. (2012). Reading anxiety among second language learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 66, 362-369.

Saito, Y., Horwitz, E. K., & Garza, T. J. (1999). Foreign language reading anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 83(ii), 202-218.

Sellers, V. D. (2000). Anxiety and reading comprehension in Spanish as a foreign language. Foreign Language Annals, 33(5), 128-143.

Shahian, L. (2016). Examining the relationship between flow, emotioncy and reading comprehension: A case of Iranian EFL learners. (Unpublished master’s thesis), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

Spielberger, C. D. (1979). Understanding stress and anxiety. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Young, D. J. (1986). The relationship between anxiety and foreign language oral proficiency ratings. Foreign Language Annals, 19(5), 439-445.

Young, D. J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does the anxiety research suggest? The Modern Language Journal, 75(iv), 426-437.

Zhao, A., Dynia, J., & Guo, Y. (2013). Foreign language reading anxiety: Chinese as a foreign language in the United States. The Modern Language Journal, 97(3), 764-778. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12032.x

Zull, J. E. (2011). From brain to mind: Using neuroscience to guide change in education. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC.