A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON STUDENTS’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM ANXIETY THROUGH COOPERATIVE LEARNING ON GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT SAINT JOSEPH BANGNA SCHOOL, THAILAND

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the reported foreign language classroom anxiety of grade 10 students’ and whether students who conferred with a partner before answering a question would report a significant decrease in foreign language classroom anxiety. The study focused on five objectives. The first objective was to discover the level of reported foreign language classroom anxiety of grade 10 students studying English listening and speaking. The second objective was to compare the difference of foreign language classroom anxiety of the experimental group before and after learning through a cooperative learning approach. The third objective was to compare the difference of foreign language classroom anxiety of the control group before and after learning through an individual learning approach. The fourth objective was to compare the difference of the foreign language classroom anxiety of grade 10 students between the experimental group and the control group after learning through two different learning approaches. The fifth objective was to compare the difference of the three specific anxieties, communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and fear of English classes of grade 10 students between the experimental group and the control group after learning through two different learning approaches. At the start of the study, the grade 10 students reported having a mid-level of foreign language classroom anxiety. Students who studied through a cooperative approach did not report a significant difference in foreign language classroom anxiety. Students who studied through an individual approach did not report a significant difference in foreign language classroom anxiety. Students who studied through a cooperative approach did not report a more significant decrease in foreign language classroom anxiety than those students who studied through an individual approach. There was no significant difference in communication apprehension between the group who studied through a cooperative approach and those who studied through an individual approach. There was a significant difference in fear of negative evaluation and fear of English classes between the group who studied through a cooperative approach and those who studied through an individual approach.