Study on the language anxiety level of boys and girls learning French inonline courses in Iran

پژوهش های زبان و ترجمه فرانسه

Volume 6, Issue 1 - Serial Number 10, September 2023   

Document Type: Original Article

DOI: 10.22067/rltf.2024.86864.1105

Authors

Mahmoud Reza Gashmardi^{* 1}; Fariba Yaghoobi²; Parivash Safa³

¹Department of French Education

²Tarbiat Modares University

³Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

In language courses, anxiety emerges as one of the crucial variables that plays an essential role in learning a foreign language. The level of anxiety may vary depending on conditions, educational environments, and gender differences. Horowitz and colleagues (1986) identified this variable as language anxiety, which occurs during the learning of a foreign language, particularly when the learners cannot use their native language. Among linguistic skills, learners of a foreign language seem to face this type of anxiety more prominently during oral production, fearing judgment from their teachers or peers due to their limited language proficiency (Horwitz et al., 1986).

With the rise of online education after the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of studies on language anxiety in online courses of French as a foreign language, this research, relying on Horowitz's (1986) language anxiety scale, aims to measure the level of language anxiety among 77 young beginner learners aged 9 to 14 at the Language Center of Iran. This study also seeks to explore the relationship between this anxiety and the learners' gender. The results, based on Horowitz's language anxiety theory, reveal that young beginner learners studying French in online courses experience a moderate level of language anxiety, with no significant relationship between anxiety and gender.

Keywords

French Language; Language Anxiety; Young Iranian Learners; Online Courses; Gender

References