Creating a Positive Learning Environment for Students with English Classroom Anxiety

Abstract

Students situated in post-structural feminist pedagogical learning (PFPL) in a freshman English course (37 students) were expected to have lower English classroom anxiety, score higher in English, and have greater satisfaction with the class they attended than those in conventional lecture classes (40 students). Seventy-four students participated in the study ( M age = 18.5 yr., SD = 0.5; 34 men, 43 women). The measures included the English Classroom Anxiety Scale (ECAS), English proficiency tests, the Student Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ), and student interviews. After the classes were completed, students in PFPL reported a significant decrease in anxiety toward the English classroom, scored significantly higher on English proficiency, and expressed significantly greater satisfaction with the course. PFPL potentially decreases students' English classroom anxiety and increases their English proficiency.