The paper titled "The Level of Anxiety on the Achievement of the Saudi EFL Learners" by Merzin Awdah Alshahrani focuses on the relationship between foreign language anxiety (FLA) and English language achievement among Saudi students at King Khalid University (KKU). The primary research question addresses whether FLA affects the academic performance of Saudi students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, with an additional inquiry into whether gender influences FLA.
The study aims to explore the extent to which FLA impacts the English language achievement of Saudi tertiary students, particularly in relation to gender differences. The research is contextualized within the Saudi Arabian educational environment, where learning English poses challenges, and FLA is identified as a potentially significant barrier to language acquisition.
To investigate this, the study employed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), developed by Horwitz et al. (1986), as the primary research instrument. A total of 75 Saudi students (24 males and 51 females) participated in the study. The FLCAS was used to measure their levels of anxiety, and their English language achievement was assessed through their Grade Point Averages (GPA). The data were analyzed using t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients to determine the relationship between FLA and language achievement.
The key findings revealed a significant negative correlation between FLA and English language achievement (r= -0.42, p<0.01), indicating that higher levels of anxiety are associated with lower academic performance in English. Additionally, the study found no significant difference in FLA levels between male and female students, suggesting that gender does not play a significant role in anxiety levels or its impact on language achievement.
The study concludes that FLA is a critical factor that negatively influences English language learning among Saudi students. It recommends that educators create more supportive and less anxiety-inducing classroom environments to improve students' language performance. The paper emphasizes the need for further research on FLA within the Saudi context, particularly exploring other factors that may influence language learning, such as motivation and attitudes, and suggests the inclusion of qualitative data for a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.
The significance of this study lies in its contribution to the understanding of how anxiety affects language learning in Saudi Arabia, offering insights that could guide educational strategies to mitigate FLA and enhance English language acquisition.