An Investigation into How Korean University Students Are Affected by Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety in Online English Courses

Abstract

This study examines the levels of foreign language anxiety that students attending a Korean university have while taking an English conversation course. This study differs from many previous studies on foreign language anxiety as it focuses on university students that are taking English language courses online rather than students taking offline courses. The study also investigates how the variables of gender, major, year and experience of living in an English-speaking country affect how much foreign language anxiety a participant has. The results of this study indicate that there is not a significant difference between the overall levels of foreign language anxiety that students have in online language classes than they do in offline classes. Interestingly, most of the instructors that took part in this study thought that their students appeared less anxious during online classes than students in offline classes. To explore the idea that students are less anxious in online courses it would be beneficial to do a future study on students in the same university when courses are resumed offline.