A Comparative study of Foreign Language Anxiety Experienced by High School Students in Online and Onsite Classroom settings

Abstract

With the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, most educational centers around the world including the Iranian public schools were forced to close onsite classes and start virtual education. However, as the pandemic situation is getting better, schools in Iran have asked students to participate in both online and onsite classes. The present study aimed to compare the level of foreign language anxiety (FLA) experienced by students in online and onsite classes, and to explore factors affecting FLA levels, and strategies used by students to cope with their anxiety. The participants included 90 female high school students in South Khorasan Province in Iran. In order to make the classroom safer, the school administrators decided to reduce the class size, so each class was divided into two groups. Each week, one group participated in the onsite classes and the other group participated online. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used in order to measure students’ level of anxiety in online and onsite classes. The data were analyzed using paired sample T-test. The findings indicated that the students experienced a significantly lower level of anxiety in online classes. Furthermore, the findings of the interviews showed that some factors such as “lack of feedback”, “technical problems”, and “difficulty level of tests” can cause anxiety in online classes. Compared with onsite classes where “negative past experiences”, “harsh error correction” and “test anxiety” were mentioned as causes of anxiety. “Resorting to religious beliefs”, “remedial learning” and “general anxiety-reducing strategies” were the most mentioned strategies used by the students.