A Study of English Language Learning Anxiety and Teaching Strategies: The Context of Saudi Arabia

This study aims to explore learning anxiety related to the English language and review specific coping strategies to develop and propose certain teaching strategies for the students in the preparatory year at the English Language Institute (ELI) studying at the University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This study also looks into the most dominating causes of Anxiety encountered by students and perceived by experienced English instructors in Saudi Arabia. The research questions are: What are the factors affecting the level of Anxiety among the target learners, and how can teachers cope with them to a great extent? An interview schedule was utilized for teachers to address the research questions. In addition, Self-rating questionnaires adapted and modified from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), which Horwitz and Cope (1986) developed, were used as the instruments of the study. Based on the mixed method of analysis, it is revealed that a lot of students faced considerable levels of English language learning anxiety, corresponding to the fear of negative feedback/response and evaluation by many stakeholders. Appropriate coping strategies can accordingly be suggested to make teaching fruitful.