A Study of Learner's English Anxiety

With the advent of humanistic psychology in the 1960s, more and more researchers and instructors at home and abroad have paid their attention to learners' affective variables. A great deal of previous study has shown that affective variables have great impact on language achievement, and it can increase or decrease retention and success in foreign language learning. While among the numerous affective variables, anxiety is quite possibly the affective factor that most pervasively obstructs the learning process. China is a nation with many English learners, therefore, discussions on English classroom anxiety possess both theoretical significance and pragmatic value. This paper, first, presents some terms related to anxiety, then, discusses the role of anxiety in foreign language learning. Finally, it provides some suggestions.